What to do with a 3+ pound Lion's Mane?!??

And what a terrific problem to have!! 

We found this beauty in Southern Illinois on a magical, not-another-human-in-sight trail. Ryan spotted it from a good distance, glowing on the end of a fallen tree.

Thankfully, I had just gifted him a proper specimen collecting bag from Fungi Perfecti, so we had a proper place to store it while we finished our hike! The bag is nice because the netted design and hoop around the bottom helps ensure the 3 key qualities for mushroom storage: dry, cool, and air flow. 

We kept the mushroom (along with some oysters we found further on) in my hatchback overnight, as the weather was in the 30-50F degrees range. We set it on the scale and realized what a beautiful and weighty specimen we had collected, and immediately set to googling recipes.  

Thing is, most recipes call for a half to a full pound - at most - of Lion's Mane. We had 3+ to manage! And neither of us had ever eaten Lion's Mane, only heard how incredible it tasted. So add a touch of 'maybe YOeatLion'smaneO,' and I was a little anxious about wasting this beauty. 

The bounty of this single haul meant we had an opportunity to try Lion's Mane in a couple different preparations. After some searching, we went with 1) a simple sliced with butter and garlic, so we could really get to know the essence of the flavor, 2) crab cake style, and 3) risotto. 

I used a vegetable brush to dust off the larger dirt particles. Where the dirt was too much to brush out without bruising the mushroom or crumbling off the bits of comb, I trimmed as conservatively as possible. Then, I lined up my recipes, weighed out what was needed for crab cakes and risotto, and sauteed slices of the amount that remained.

The slices were fantastic. We did the dry sautee first, to expel most of the moisture. Then, when the liquid had evaporated, we added in some tablespoons of unsalted butter, some whole garlic cloves, and a generous salting. YUM. We snacked on these while we made the other preparations. Lovely earthy mushroom flavor full of all the butter, garlic, and salt the mushrooms had soaked up into the spaces left by the dry sautee. 

Next, we did the crab cakes. It was easily the most-recommended preparation on my local mycological society Facebook page. I followed this recipe and used a Creole seasoning I had prepared for something else. (Why do we not have Old Bay??? Must remedy.) I think that sauce was leftover from some carryout...

Crab cakes were AMAZING. Yes, they pretty much taste just like the real deal! These would make a perfect vegetarian substitute, and are vegan do-able with an egg substitute, vegan mayo (which I use anyway), and a Worchestershire substitute, like one of these options.

Risotto was a little more time-consuming and higher-maintenance, as risottos tend to be. All that stirring takes a long time standing over the stove. I used this recipe as the base, because it called for the greatest amount of mushrooms. For the white wine in the instructions but missing from the ingredients, I used 1/4 cup of cooking sherry, based on proportions I had found in other recipes. The rice, mushrooms, and squash played really nicely together. 

All told, the crab cakes were most impressive. I will most look forward to finding more Lion's Manes specifically for that purpose. Risotto is a terrific way to use a larger quantity of mushrooms or to make a dish that can be shared with people who just want a taste but you wouldn't want to waste a whole crab cake on them if they're not going to savor it as they should. ;) The slices were the perfect way to get familiar with the flavor. I ended up putting slices on the risotto whenever I ate leftovers. 

There are plenty of options for enjoying Lion's Mane, in whatever large or small quantities you are lucky enough to encounter!