Portobello Fries

[mish]

I would like to serve this with a dipping sauce as an appy (or as a side), & come up with ONE better recipe. Don't have a deep fryer, and not wild about mint. Any ideas for a dipping sauce as well? (One I recall seeing was banana ketchup - hopefully no ketchup was involved - perhaps it was a plantain-like? dipping sauce.)

Portobello Fries
YIELD: 4 servings

Breading:
1 lb. panko bread crumbs
8 oz. Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, finely grated
4 oz. Romano cheese, finely grated
1 oz. ground black pepper
1 oz. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1/4 cup lemon peel, finely grated
1/4 cup orange peel, finely grated

Mushrooms:
8 oz. sliced portobello mushrooms
1/4 cup all purpose flour, sifted
1/2 cup egg wash
1/2 cup savory breading (above)
Canola oil, for frying, heated to 350°

In a bowl, thoroughly combine breading ingredients.

Dredge portobello slices in flour, shake off excess. Place in egg wash followed by savory breading. Place breaded mushroom slices in hot oil for 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown. Drain and serve.

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Portobello Fries
4 large portobello mushroom caps
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling, plus 1/4 cup
Steak seasoning blend, such as Montreal Steak Seasoning, or coarse salt and black pepper
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup shredded or grated Parmesan

Preheat a grill pan over medium high to high heat.

Scrape the gills off the underside of portobello mushroom caps with a spoon. Brush caps gently with a damp cloth to clean them. Drizzle caps with oil to keep them from sticking to the grill pan and season the caps with steak seasoning or salt and black pepper.

Grill mushrooms 3 or 4 minutes on each side under a loose tin foil tent until just tender. Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes.

Slice grilled caps into 1/2-inch strips. Turn strips in egg, then coat in mixture of parsley, bread crumbs and cheese. Cook fries over medium high heat in enough extra-virgin olive oil to coat a nonstick skillet in a thin layer, about 1/4 cup. Fries will brown in 2 or 3 minutes on each side.

 

[mish]

Another thought was to serve them with a recipe called Tostones(?) - plantain pancakes.

 

[Constance]

Mish, I like the sound of that first recipe. I'd substitute sweet basil and/or thyme for the mint. Pan frying will work just fine...that's how we do our morels.
I'd suggest a marinara sauce for dipping.

 

[urmaniac13]

I agree with Connie about basil and pan frying... but the breading seems to be seasoned distinctly, and tasty enough just by themselves... I wouldn't worry about dip, I would just pop them in my mouth and enjoy them nice and crunchy...

 

[mish]

Thank you Constance & urmaniac. Sign me up for anything Italian. My other thought, as an appy... dunk 'em in bleu cheese or Ranch - or as a side to a boiga. But, want to come up with something a little exotic - shrooms and plantains, etc.? Anyone tried Tostones?

 

[ironchef]

To get a better french fry texture, I would probably dice up the portabellos, incorporate them into polenta and make polenta-portabello fries instead. But that's just me.

 

[grumblebee]

To get a better french fry texture, I would probably dice up the portabellos, incorporate them into polenta and make polenta-portabello fries instead. But that's just me.

This sounds interesting.. Would it be mostly portabello with the polenta just glueing things together, or would it be mostly polenta with little bits of portabello? Then would you pan fry or bake them? Hmmmm... I'm curious about this now.

 

[ironchef]

This sounds interesting.. Would it be mostly portabello with the polenta just glueing things together, or would it be mostly polenta with little bits of portabello? Then would you pan fry or bake them? Hmmmm... I'm curious about this now.

Either way, but you'll have to adjust your water proportioning accordingly. The more portabello you add, the less water you add to the polenta so that it will bind together. You could possibly even add egg yolk to it as well once the polenta cools a bit. One thing to remember is to make an even layer of the polenta mixture while it's cooling so that it cooks evenly when you fry it, and to let it chill so that it firms up and won't fall apart when you cut it and cook it. A rolling pin covered with a layer of plastic wrap works well. As far as cooking method, I would deep fry it in the restaurant because it's faster, will cook more evenly, and will get a better crust. At home I would pan fry it. I guess you could bake it if you're looking for a healthier alternative as well.

 

[Constance]

Please...just don't do so much to them that you lose the portobello!