Crunchy Portobello mushrooms with cashew queso

Serves: 0
Course: Starter
Cooking Time: 0 hr 30 mins
Ingredients
  • 8 Portobello mushrooms 
  • 200ml Sriracha hot sauce 
  • 200g plain flour
  • Salt and pepper to season 
  • 500ml oat milk  
  • 300g panko breadcrumbs
  • 20g dried oregano 
  • 20g dried dill 
  • Oil for frying
  •  
  • For the queso
  • 200g cashew nuts 
  • 300g nutritional yeast 
  • 40g jalapeños 
  • 20ml cider vinegar
  • 1 large smashed clove of garlic 
  • 40ml olive oil  
  • Salt and pepper to season

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Trim and clean the mushrooms. Rub them in the Sriracha and bake for 10 minutes so they are partially cooked, then cool. (You can do this the night before.)

Once cooled, take three bowls. Put the flour in the first and oat milk, salt and pepper in the second. Put the panko in the third and mix in the oregano and dill.

Dip the mushrooms in each bowl starting with the flour, then the oat milk, making sure they are fully covered. Finally coat them in panko and set aside.

Heat the oil in a wide frying pan and fry the coated mushrooms until crispy and dark brown in colour.

To make the cashew queso, soak the cashews in water for 24 hours. They should be fat and plump. Pop them into a blender or NutriBullet with the rest of the ingredients and blitz until smooth. Test for seasoning and adjust if required.

The queso will last in the fridge for a week. Serve it on toast, as a dip or on its own with crunchy radicchio or roasted roots.

Jess Murphy

Jess Murphy

Jess Murphy, a contributor to The Irish Times, is a Kiwi chef living on the west coast of Ireland