I was busy prepping for and competing in the second vegan cook-off here last weekend (hors d’oeuvres was the theme) so I sort of dropped the ball with blogging. I made “Bro-stini,” my Bro’d up version of crostini. It was a waffle fry topped with a scoop of buffalo mac and cheese, drizzled with ranch dressing and garnished with shiitake bacon and scallions. I didn’t place, but judge Terri Hope Romero gave me an honorary mention, saying that if my fries weren’t cold (this was served at room temp.), my dish would’ve been awesome. Her kind words were reward enough!

I don’t want to share my buffalo mac recipe just yet, because it needs some tweaking (it wasn’t stick-together-y enough for what I wanted), but I’ll share my shiitake bacon recipe, because that seems to be the hot new thing. These mushroom bits go great with anything that needs a smokey touch. They’re also excellent on their own, and I stood around my kitchen munching on them before I realized I needed to save them for the competition.

Also, I apologize for the shoddy iPhone photos. I didn’t have my fancy camera on me.

Enjoy!

Makes approx. 1 – 1 1/4 cups of bacon bits

2/3 lb. Shiitake mushrooms, wiped clean with a damp paper towel and stems removed
11/2 tsp. liquid smoke
3 tsp. Bragg’s liquid aminos, or soy sauce
2 tsp. canola oil
1/2 tsp. fine sea salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Dice Shiitake mushrooms and toss with the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Spread the mushrooms out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake in 15 minute intervals, stopping to check on the mushrooms and toss them around on the baking sheet to ensure minimal burning. Should take 30-45 minutes total. Allow shiitake bits too cool and store them in a plastic bag or tupperware container.

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