taco

Lion’s Mane Mushroom Tacos

Seaneen's Sunnyside KitchenLeave a comment

I recently grew some lion’s mane mushrooms from a kit. Having not used them before I’d no idea what to do with them.

Terry from Hearty Growers told me their texture was similar to lobster so this gave me a idea. On a previous holiday I was at a very fancy restaurant I had lobster tacos which were devine. This inspired me, I decided to cook the mushrooms in a super light tempura batter for a bit of crunch. If you like fish tacos you’ll love these.

If you haven’t made tempura batter before it’s really simple and suitable for vegans because there’s no egg in it. What makes it super light is the use of ice cold sparking water. The bubbles help makes the batter super light, so make this at the very last minute before frying the mushrooms

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 200 Grams Lion’s Mane Mushrooms (oyster mushrooms would also work well), cut into 2-3cm slices
  • 6 Small tacos
  • 150 Grams Canned black beans (drained)
  • 1 Avocado (skin removed and cut into slices)
  • 100 Grams Cherry tomatoes (halved)
  • 50 Grams Red Onion (finely sliced)
  • 2 Tbsp Mint or Coriander, or mix of both (finely chopped)
  • 1/2 Lime
  • Salt
  • Finely chopped chilli or chilli powder

Method

  • Heat vegetable oil, about 4-5cm deep on a pot, or use a deep fat fryer if you have one. I don’t have a thermometer, so I judge the heat to be OK if I can drop a small junk of bread and it starts to sizzle
  • Assemble all your ingredients, and evenly distribute the beans, red onion, herbs, and avocado onto the tacos
  • Add the flour and corn flour to a bowl and whisk in the ice cold sparkling water and whisk quickly (the tempura batter should be about the consistency of cream)
  • Dip the mushroom in the batter and then add to the hot oil (don’t add too many at once)
  • Fry the mushrooms until they are a light golden colour. Remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper before sprinkling with salt
  • Top the tacos with the mushrooms and sprinkle with finely chopped red chillies or chilli powder depending on how spicy you enjoy your food, and a squeeze of lime

Carnitas (Mexican Pulled Pork)

Seaneen's Sunnyside Kitchen1 Comment

Everyone loves Mexican food, and while I make no claims that someone from Mexico would say this is just like their Mum would make, I think it tastes amazing. If you like pulled pork but never thought of trying it at home, you should give this a go. It really is simplicity itself, all you need is time, so perfect for the weekend when you kick back or get on with other things while the oven does all the work for you.

When you go a little crazy on taco Tuesday

I love this in tacos but you can add it to burritos or sandwiches. While this does take some time, it’s a simple recipe and is ideal to feed a group of people cheaply. I used pork shoulder which is inexpensive and really benefits from being marinated and cooked long and slow.

Delicious in wraps too.

Ingredients

1 Kg Pork shoulder

100 ml Orange juice (I used the juice of 2 oranges)

1 Tbsp Tomato puree

1 Tsp Oregano

1 Tsp Chilli powder

2 Tsp Smoked paprika

1 Tsp Ground Cumin

1 Tsp Ground Coriander

1 Tsp Minced Garlic

Method

  1. Cut your pork into 4 chunks
  2. In a sealable freezer bag add all the other ingredients and squish together to make sure they are well mixed
  3. Add the pork to the bag and seal, rub the bag to make sure the marinade covers the pork and then put in the fridge. If you can marinade this for 24 hours this is ideal. If you don’t have that sort of time try to marinade for least an hour
  4. Pre-heat your oven to 160 degrees (Celsius). Put your pork and the marinade in an oven proof dish with a lid and place in the oven for 3.5 hours.
  5. Remove from the oven and shred the meat with two forks and mix in with the cooking juices for super tasty pulled pork