crispy portobellos w/ creamy cajun sauce

boy, there are a lot of C's in that title isn't there?

anyways...

many years ago a group of my friends and i went up north to a a place in minnesota called grand marais. it's really beautiful up there, especially if you take the north shore scenic drive right along lake superior. while we were visiting we stumbled upon this little restaurant/bar called "my sisters place"

we absolutely fell in love with this place for all of it's unique decor and it's wonderful theme of "sisters". much to our surprise the menu offered quite a good amount of meatless dishes (unfortunately they list fish as meatless....hmmm, not so much) and great bar appetizers. the one that stuck with us all was the deep fried portobellos served with a horseradish dipping sauce. cold beer in one hand, portobellos in the other, we were very happy travelers.

i don't think they serve these delicious deep fried goodies anymore, so in honor of them i have taken it upon myself to keep 'em going here in minnesota with my own little rwv twist.

try these things...you'll love 'em.

crispy portobellos w/ creamy cajun sauce

serves 4

2 large Portobello caps – sliced ½ in thick

2 cups tempura batter – (prepared per the instructions on the box)

2 cups panko breadcrumbs (kikkoman has a vegan panko)

2 tbsp cajun seasoning (garlic powder, onion salt, smoked paprika, oregano, cayenne pepper)

1/2 cup vegenaise

1 tbsp dairy free sour cream

1 tbsp fresh parsley - chopped

deep fryer

canola oil

salt and pepper

in a medium bowl combine your vegenaise, sour cream and 1 tbsp of the Cajun seasoning. Set in fridge to keep cool.

heat your deep fryer (if you don’t have one heat a pan with enough canola oil to cover the bottom about ¼ in high) to 375 degrees.

in another bowl combine your panko with the 1 tbsp of Cajun seasoning.

after slicing your portobellos, roll each one in the tempura batter first, then into the cajun/panko mix. drop into the oil immediately for approximately 3-5 minutes or until a golden brown. (fry no more than 3 at a time to keep the oil at the desired temp).

remove, drain excess oil and sprinkle with salt.

once you have deep fried all of them, garnish with the parsley and serve with the creamy cajun sauce.

serve with a cold beer.

enjoy!