Lobster Mushroom Crostini

We had grand plans for dinner, a mushroom crostini, large salad, pickled cucumbers, and a nice grass-fed steak that we picked up at the Farmers market in Seattle but it was derailed by these absolutely perfect mushrooms.

I know very little about mushrooms and asked the farmer at the market to recommend his favorite. He had obviously been asked that question before and replied, “What do you like to cook?” I had improvised a mushroom puff pastry before and explained what I was thinking about and he steered me towards these grotesque, bright red lobster mushrooms. They look like giant tumors, only more so and he explained that they weren’t mushrooms but fungi that grew on mushrooms. He also explained that they had a fishy (ugh!) odor and when we sniffed them I recoiled in agreement. He also pulled out a recipe sheet and explained that if we were to buy them we had to buy a small piece of cheese from the guy at the next booth. This type of salesmanship is right up Peter’s ally and I think he shouted ‘Sold” and looked at me expectantly. In a show of good faith, and to make up for my years of proclaiming that I didn’t like avacados, salsa, shrimp, fish, and “sauses”, I bought them and the cheese and hurried my way.

Now that we were locked in a small cabin 20 minutes from the nearest food store I was faced with the fishy parasitic mushrooms. I prepped them, Peter sautéed them, and we devoured every last bite (including the bits I dropped on the grass) while watching the sunset over the mountain, warming ourselves on the rocks and their last bit of daytime heat, and laughing at ourselves.

After the sun finally set, the temperature dropped about 30 degrees and we hustled inside to make out steak. We were so full we skipped the steak and ate just a small salad with bacon, eggs, and the bits of fried garlic generated from the garlic oil that graced the lobster mushrooms.

Lobster Mushroom Crostini

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

½ lb Lobster mushrooms, cleaned and diced
½ a baguette, sliced horizontally, with some of the bread hollowed out
4 tbs olive oil
4 cloves garlic, pressed through a garlic press
Enough seastack cheese sliced thin to cover about ½ of the break

Add the pressed garlic and olive oil to a cold pan. Turn the heat on to medium, occasionally stirring to break up the garlic until it turns a dark golden color. Strain the garlic and catch the oil.

Brush the baguette slices with 2 tbs of the garlic oil and toast in the oven until they are golden brown. Wipe out the sauté pan and add the remaining tbs to the pan and heat over medium. Add the diced mushrooms and sauté until soft. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper. Slice the cheese and lay on the bread, allowing it to melt a bit. Spoon on the mushroom mix.

If I were to make this again I would most likely dice the cheese and mix it thoroughly with the mushrooms to ensure an even mix in each bite. Peter thought there was too much cheese and I thought there was too little.

I’m not sure what Seastack cheese it other than a soft ripened pasteurized cow’s milk. It has an ash layer under its rind. I suspect this would work just as well with a mild goat cheese.