Mushroom Cakes W/Avocado Pesto and Red Pepper Coulis

Manami's Note:

These vegetarian friendly cakes are served with an addictive nontraditional pesto that gets its creaminess, and lovely light green color from avocados; complete the meal with a salad of sliced tomatoes and onions and a nice bottle of rosé.This comes from Cuvée World Bistro in Tucson, AZ. There they make it with the wild mushrooms, as I posted but because of personal preference here at the home we have only gone as far the cremini's! Need I say more? Oops, I almost forgot - this was in Bon Appetit, January 2010.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 45 mins
• Prep Time: 50 mins
• Cook Time: 55 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

RED PEPPER COULIS

• 2 red bell peppers
• 2 small garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1 ½ teaspoons honey

MUSHROOM CAKES

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 16 ounces button mushrooms (2 - 8 oz packages sliced mushrooms)
• 2 large potobello mushrooms (about 6 oz total, gills scraped out & sliced, here we used 1/2 button mushrooms and 1/2 cremini mush)
• 8 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms , stemmed, sliced (we used cremini mushrooms)
• 2 garlic cloves , minced
• 2 large eggs , beaten to blend
• 2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped basil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• ½ cup panko , plus additional for coating (Japanese breadcrumbs)

AVOCADO PESTO

• ¼ cup pine nuts or ¼ cup cashews , toasted
• 1 cup coarsely chopped avocado (from 2 large avocados)
• ¼ cup finely grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
• ½ cup olive oil plus 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

1. RED PEPPER COULIS:.
2. Char peppers over gas flame or broiler until blackened all over.
3. Seal in plastic or paper bag; let stand 15 minutes.
4. Peel and seed peppers; place in blender.
5. Place garlic cloves in small dry skillet.
6. Cover, cook over medium heat until browned and tender, shaking skillet occasionally, about 7 minutes.
7. Cool, peel garlic; add to blender with peppers.
8. Add milk and honey to blender.
9. Puree until smooth.
10. Transfer to bowl.
11. Season with salt and pepper.
12. *DO AHEAD - can be made up to 2 days ahead.
13. MUSHROOM CAKES:.
14. Melt butter with oil in large heavy skillet over medium high heat.
15. Add all mushrooms and sauté until browned and edges begin to crisp, stirring often, about 14 minutes.
16. Add garlic; stir 1 minute.
17. Transfer mixture to processor.
18. Add eggs, Parmesan, herbs, salt and pepper to processor.
19. Pulsing on/off turns, process until mushrooms are coarsely chopped.
20. Transfer to large bowl & mix in 1/2 cup of panko.
21. Divide mushroom mixture into 8 equal portions (1/4 to 1/2 cup each.).
22. Form each into 3/4 inch thick cake.
23. Spread additional panko out on plate.
24. Coat cakes with panko.
25. Place on rimmed baking sheet.
26. **DO AHEAD - Can be made 4 hours ahead: cover & chill.
27. AVOCADO PESTO:.
28. Place pine nuts or cashews in processor, pulsing on/off turns, process until coarsely ground.
29. Add avocado, Parmesan, cilantro, parsley, and lime juice.
30. Process to blend.
31. With machine running gradually and 1/4 cup oil through feed tube.
32. Transfer to bowl.
33. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
34. ***DO AHEAD - Can be made 2 hours ahead: cover & chill.
35. Preheat oven to 300ºF.
36. Melt butter with 2 T oil in large skillet over medium heat.
37. Working in 2 batches. add mushroom cakes; cook until browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.
38. Transfer to baking sheet; place in oven.
39. Spoon about 1/3 cup avocado pesto into center of each plate, using back of spoon, spread out to 5 inch round.
40. Place 2 cakes on each plate.
41. Drizzle with red pepper coulis.

Reviews

[Chef #1527521]

I saw this in Bon Appetit and thought it sounded interesting. It is a lot of work and very mediocre, in my opinion. It is simply missing something (or several somethings). The avocado pesto is interesting, but bland. The red pepper coulis is just plain boring. The mushroom cakes are good, but be sure to chill them so they will hold together before cooking. I would absolutely not bother with this again. Even for a veggie main, I was desperately disappointed. I will use my leftovers in a frittata or something.