Mushroom fritters

I love mushrooms; they are earthy, chewy, and delicious. We are fortunate in India to have numerous mushroom cultivators who grow organic varieties, from common shiitakes to oysters, chanterelles, enoki, and lion's mane. I cannot seem to get them on my menus often enough.

This is a lovely appetizer. The fritters are soft and fluffy and have a lovely mushroomy flavour. It si best to use a variety of mushrooms together as they each add different nuances to the fritter. It is served with a vinaigrette that lightens up the fritter and neutralizes the grease on your palate. I also served it with an Indian cucumber atjar that complimented the dish well.

Cindy Pawlcyn began working in a Minneapolis cooking school at the age of 13 and ran a catering business while still in high school. After college and formal training in Paris, she worked at The Pump Room in Chicago before moving to California, where she established herself as one of the most influential chefs and pioneering restauranteurs in Napa Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. Cindy was an early advocate of using local, sustainable ingredients in her restaurants. She used the organic bounty grown in the gardens of her flagship Mustards Grill to supplement other locally sourced produce. In addition to launching Mustards Grill in 1993, Cindy opened other properties such as Tra Vigne, Brix, Roti, Betelnut, Buckeye Roadhouse, and Rio Grill. She's recently operating two other wine country restaurants, Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen and Brassica. This cookbook is just spectacular. The flavors are from across the globe are detailed, authentic and always turn out well. A great book for themed dinner parties or dinner clubs.

For more recipes from this book, click here.

Ingredients:

1 lb mushrooms, fresh button, oyster, shiitake or other, diced

Juice of 1/2 lime or lemon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

For the vinaigrette:

1 shallot, minced

1 tablespoon champagne or apple cider vinegar

Juice of 1/2 lime or lemon

Salt, to taste

1/2 teaspoon pepper

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh dill, minced

For the batter:

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Salt, to taste

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3-4 tablespoons milk

Olive oil to fry

Mix all the ingredients for the vinaigrette and set aside 1 hour for the flavours to integrate.

Mix the mushrooms with the lime juice, salt, and pepper and allow to sit for 30 minutes.

Mix all the ingredients for the batter. You are looking for a very thick batter.

Heat a large frying pan and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the marinated mushrooms to the batter and mix in well.

Add a tablespoon-sized scoop of the mushroom to the pan. Repeat with about 34 more scoops. Do not overcrowd the pan, or the fritters will not fry well. Fry for 1 1/2 -2 minutes on medium-low until the bottom is well browned. Flip and pat down the fritters. Fry for an additional minute until the second side is also well-browned. Remove onto a plate lined with paper towels.

Add more oil and repeat with the remaining batter until it is finished.

Serve on a platter drizzled with the vinaigrette.