Photo by Annaliese Bischoff
Provenance of Dish
This recipe is a variation on my oyster mushroom fried cakes, inspired by my Rhode Island clam cakes. This recipe uses mixed mushrooms and is scaled down.
Recipe
Ingredients
@1 tbl. dried porcini mushrooms
2 oz. hot water
Glug of olive oil for frying
4 oz. fresh mixed mushrooms (shiitake, chanterelle, and cremini) cleaned and sliced (you want ½-3/4 cups cooked)
Kosher salt and pepper for seasoning
1egg
3 oz. buttermilk (or regular whole milk mixed with 1 tsp. plain yogurt)
3 oz. beer, lager suggested
2 oz. porcini-infused water
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, to taste
Canola or grapeseed oil for deep frying
Instructions
• Pour the hot water over the porcini mushrooms and let sit for 20 minutes. Save the water for later. Cut up the rehydrated porcini and add to the fresh mushrooms.
• Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan to medium heat and then add the sliced mushrooms in a single layer. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until they are golden brown and release their water.
• Let the mushrooms cool and mince into 1/8-1/4 inch pieces.
• Mix the egg, buttermilk, beer, and porcini water together. Stir in the minced mushrooms.
• Mix the dry ingredients together. The stir in the wet ingredients.
• Heat your oil in a Dutch oven or deep fryer (I like to cook these outside on my deck). In a small Dutch oven the oil can be about 3 inches deep. When your oil is sizzling (@ 350 degrees), drop a tablespoon at a time of the batter into the fat. The fritters puff up quickly, within 5 minutes. When each has turned golden brown and floats to the top, scoop out to drain on paper towels. Serve in parchment cones while hot, about 5-6 per person. Serve immediately! Serve these up plain or with some bread and butter pickles for our odd Rhode Island tradition.
