With the holidays fast approaching, I thought I would post a few favourites. I created a “king mushroom ‘scallop'” recipe last year (here) but the pic was awful and I wanted to try the recipe again using Mycryo®, the powdered cocoa butter that sears and seals in flavour. The mushroom ‘scallops’ seared beautifully, just like a real scallop and as I mentioned before, they have an uncanny textural resemblance to real scallops, without the price tag!
Scallops, these days, are outrageously priced and I don’t know why. Costco has a bag of extra large frozen scallops that used to go for about $17 but over the years have snuck up to almost $30 which works out to just less than $3 each! Even though this recipe uses a vegetarian mushroom, you won’t miss real scallops. These tasty little morsels are sitting on a pillow of creamy avocado paste and then drizzled with caramelized shallots, deglazed with a hint of champagne vinegar. The flavours are sophisticated and the presentation is easily eaten by hand, good enough for any upcoming cocktail party, or before a dinner party and they are vegetarian. If you can’t get your hands on Mycryo®, use ghee, or if you wish to make them vegan, use a good quality oil with a high smoke point.
King Oyster Mushroom “Scallops” on Crostini
A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe
Makes 5-6 pieces
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 small shallot, finely chopped
- 60 mL (1/4 cup) champagne vinegar (white wine vinegar works too)
- 2 relatively thick stemmed King Oyster Mushrooms, cut into 2 cm (0.5 inch) thickness (tops removed and reserved for another recipe)
- 2 tbsp Mycryo®
- 2 tbsp avocado paste (recipe here) or pesto
- 5-6 crostini
Directions:
- Melt the butter in a small frying pan, add the shallots and cook until caramelized. Deglaze pan with the champagne vinegar. Scrape into a small bowl and set aside.
- Coat the king oyster mushroom slices generously with Mycryo®. Heat the same frying pan until very hot, add the mushroom ‘scallops’ and sear each side until golden and heated through. Remove from heat.
- Return the caramelized shallots with vinegar to the pan with the seared mushrooms and coat mushrooms well.
- Prepare each crostini with a good smear of avocado paste or pesto, add one mushroom ‘scallop’ to each toast and spoon caramelized shallots with deglazing sauce over the crostini. Garnish with tiny basil leaves. Serve warm.
Notes:
- White wine vinegar is a good substitute for champagne vinegar.
- Fry a little pancetta before melting the butter for added flavour (not vegetarian).
- Substitute real scallops for the mushrooms (not vegan).
- Try to get King Oyster mushrooms that are about the same thickness as a good-sized scallop.
Kitcheninspirations 