Our Summer Oyster Po’boy

If you’re like us you’ve probably been feeling shitty every time you get in and out of an automobile, what with the evil oil gush that’s still spurting all over our southern coast right now. Make no mistake, we’re complacent. Dirty South indeed.
What better reason to prepare for summer barbecues, picnics, and Sunday fish fries without the seafood, huh? We give you the vegan “oyster” Po’boy — a winner of a recipe that sandwiches crunchy-fried, Southern spiced oyster mushrooms and sweet peach ketchup as well as a runny, salty, creamy radish remoulade all between two cute buns. No Louisiana oyster (or costly gas mileage) required! ‘Course if you follow our twatter, you already knew that.
Warning: This is just the beginning in a long spurt of veggie Southern goodies you’ll see here this summer. Hot Knives is knee deep in recipe testing for a kick-ass Deep South ho-down wedding for some new friends of ours. Think ginger beer mules, Cajun mac & cheese, definitive cornbread, blackened potato salad and raw collards coleslaw. We hope that means you’ll come along on the journey with us, spilling fry oil and corn meal all over your laptop screens like the god damned crude itself.

Peach Ketchup
1 large white onion
12 oz. can peaches in syrup
2 cups peeled tomatoes in sauce
6 oz. tomato paste
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 bay leaves
1. Chop the onion and sauté in a large saucepan on medium heat with a touch of canola oil to keep from sticking. Cook until tender and see-through, about 8 minutes.
2. Add the peaches with their syrup, and the tomatoes with sauce. Stir and add tomato paste, sugar, vinegar and bay leaves. Cook for about an hour on low heat, stirring every 5 minutes or so. Watch for it to reduce by about a centimeter, and thicken. Remove from heat and let cool for 20 minutes before blending.
3. Place cooled sauce in a blender and pulse for several minutes until consistent. Refrigerate and use once cold.
Radish Remoulade
8 radishes
1/4 cup Veganaise
1 bunch chives
1 lemon
2 tsp. black pepper
Salt to taste
4. Scrub and trim radishes of tips and butts.
5. Prepare a mixing bowl with 3 or 4 cups water. Juice half the lemon into the water.
6. Slice radishes with a mandolin, or as thin as possible with a chef’s knife. Now line them up and julienne as thin as you can (they should look like tiny matches.) Let your julienned radishes sit in the lemon-water for 5 minutes.
7. Wash and mince the chives.
8. Combine black pepper, chives, the juice of the other half of the lemon, and the drained radishes with the veganaise. Season with salt to taste.
Fried Oysters
2 lbs. oyster mushrooms
1 tsp. smoked salt
1 tsp. smoked paprika
canola oil spray
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tbs. corn meal
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. ground white pepper
1 tsp. Aleppo pepper (or chilie powder)
12 oz. pale ale
9. Pre-heat oven at 375 degrees. Prepare mushrooms by splitting large caps into thin strips. In a mixing bowl, coat the mushrooms with smoked salt, paprika and spray thoroughly with canola oil. Then place the spiced mushrooms on a sprayed cookie tray and slide into oven. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until slightly crackled and brown. Remove and set aside to cool.
10. While they cool, prepare a fry batter. We went with an all-purpose Southern “fry dredge” as dictated by the Lee Brother’s excellent Southern cookbook along with a simple beer batter. Start by mixing fry dredge: 1/2 cup of the flour, the cornmeal, the salt, pepper.
11. Next make the batter, really just a slushy mix of 1.5 parts ale to one part flour that you’ll use to wet the mushrooms.
12. Once the mushrooms are cooled, get your fry oil ready. Empty 6-8 cups canola oil into a deep pot and set on high heat for at least 10 minutes.
13. Batter the shrooms: take each one and dip into beer batter, shake off excess and then dredge in flour mixture, patting off the excess as well. Reserve on a plate for once the fry oil is hot enough.
14. Fry 5 or 6 at a time for about 30 seconds or until crispy. Fish them out with a spider or slotted spoon and let drip dry on paper towels. Keep on top of the oven so they stay warm.
15. Serve by opening each bun and pinching out about a teaspoon of extra bread to make room for your oysters. Slather with ketchup first, then place shrooms down, and finish with a dollop of radish remoulade and the top bun.
Beverage: Buckeye Brewing 1776 IPA
Soundtrack: ” “ Indian Jewelry’s “Going South”