Grilled Portobello Tacos

I think I saved the best for last for Fungus Among Us week.

How do I know that?  Because it is obvious that my home is inhabited by "meat-a-tarians".  We love our meat. So tonight when I made these grilled portobello tacos I thought my picky meatasaurus kids wouldn't like them so I also made our standard beef tacos as a back up.  


To my amazement, after trying one, everyone opted for the portobello tacos over the beef ones.  Even me.  (Don't tell anyone....I don't want my BBQ Card revoked.)

The last topic of Fungus Among Us week is one easy tip.


Grow your own.

There are several advantages to growing your own mushrooms.
  1. Freshness.  You'll get the freshest mushrooms you have ever had.  If you think "store fresh" is good, farm fresh or growing your own will blow your mind.  They have a silky taste and a texture that dances in your mouth.  
  2. Exotic Variety.  You can get grow mushrooms that you'll NEVER EVER EVER find in your chain grocery store and probably not even local markets.  I've never seen a fresh oyster mushroom in a grocery store but a specialty like the blue oyster mushroom?  Fuhget about it!
  3. Micro-farming (or should I say myco-farming...pun fully intended).  There is a big trend towards self sourcing food ingredients.  Gardening, canning, and heck, sourcing your own eggs.  But growing takes land or at least space.  Mushroom kits can be done just about anywhere.
Mushrooms can be grown on inoculated logs or even more easily, in grow kits of sterile hay in bags like this one held by Hugh Brewer.
Photo courtesy of Brewers Mushrooms.
All you have to do is keep them moist and in a mild environment.  I'm absolutely no expert on growing mushrooms but Hugh is.  Check out Tammy and his website for more info, it has tutorials on how to grow your own.  If you still have questions, they'll be more than glad to answer any questions you have.  If you're close enough, they can ship you a "ready to grow" kit.

Grilled Portobello Tacos
Makes 6 tacos

Ingredients
  • 2 ea portobello mushrooms
  • 6 ea white corn tortillas 
  • oil for frying
  • shredded cheese of your choice
  • thinly sliced lettuce

For the marinade

For the Pico De Gallo 
  • 3 small tomatoes, diced
  • 1/2 onion, finely diced
  • 1 jalapeno chile, seeded and diced
  • 2 Tbsp cilantro chopped
  • 1 Tbsp lime juice
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Mix the marinade ingredients and marinate the portobello mushrooms overnight*.
  2. Mix the pico de gallo ingredients and refrigerate for an hour before dinner.
  3. In a small sauce pan, heat 1/2" deep of peanut or vegetable oil to 350 degrees*.  
  4. Place a tortilla in and allow to puff up for 10 seconds.  Poke with the tip of a sharp knife.  Press half of the tortilla under the oil with a metal spatula and fold the other half over with a pair of metal tongs for 30 seconds.  Flip and repeat.  Remove when golden brown, season with salt and place on a rack over newspaper* or paper towels to drain.  Repeat for other tortillas.  
  5. Preheat a charcoal grill to 375f.  
  6. Remove the 'shrooms from the marinade and drain well.  Grill 5 minutes per side.
  7. Have the taco shells already loaded with shredded cheese*.  Dice the mushrooms into 1/4" pieces and divide among the tacos.  
  8. Top with lettuce and some of the pico de gallo.  
  9. Serve with Black Bean Fiesta and pico de gallo on the side.
Notes
  • I intended to do a 4 hour marination time.  Things happened and I cooked it the next night, worried the mushrooms might be over marinated.  Nope!  They were neither soggy nor "burned" from the marinade.  They were perfect!
  • This is NOT a tutorial.  If you don't know how to safely heat oil on a stove top, don't try this.  Go buy a cup of hot coffee from McD's and pour it on your lap but don't sue me.  
  • Do NOT use the online version of your newspaper for this purpose.  It will totally jack up your laptop, tablet, or smart phone.  I told you so, don't sue me.  
  • The mushrooms cool off pretty quick so you want the cheese already in there so the diced 'shrooms are still hot and give a little melty action.   
I switched to a Glad zip top bag when I realized this was going to go overnight.  Works better for flipping and keeping it in the marinade anyway.


This series was written in conjunction with Brewer's Mushrooms.  It is a joint project with a local expert and is not a paid advertisement.  Hugh Brewer is trained in mycorestoration and Brewer's Mushrooms has been specializing in fresh gourmet mushrooms for years.  Brewer's Mushrooms offers fresh mushrooms at local markets, CSA shares, grow kits, and workshops.




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