Cooking: Faux Sausage

This is another work in progress, but as it is, it's surprisingly good.

I had this one lonely portobello mushroom cap that didn't make it into the Slow Cooker Vegetable Lasagna, so I got to thinking how I could make it taste sort of like breakfast sausage.  The process was definitely "kitchen alchemy".  I knew the earthy sort of taste that a portobello has and tried finding spices in the pantry (by smelling them) that would give it a sort of sausage taste.

In truth, it's more of a fried, breaded mushroom.  But it's not bad.

What you need:
1 cleaned portobello mushroom cap, stem removed, and cut into quarters
flour
ground sage
ground cumin
garlic powder
Olive oil

In a shallow plate, mix together your flour, sage, cumin, and garlic powders.  How much you need depends on the size of the mushroom cap.  And you might want more spices in your flour mix.

In another shallow dish, pour a little olive oil, enough to cover the bottom.  Dip all sides of one piece of mushroom in the olive oil, adding more if necessary.

Dip all sides of the oiled mushroom into the flour mixture.  Place the piece in a skillet, and do the other three pieces the same way.

Brown the mushroom on all four flat-ish sides.  When you're on the fourth side (I'd finish up on either the gill or top side), place a lid on the skillet and continue cooking until fork-tender.  Blot excess oil out with paper towels.  Serve hot.

I'm out of ground mustard, and I think this recipe could use it.  I also should have probably included something like brown sugar in the flour mixture, although maple syrup may work.

What stunned me was that the mushroom pieces had the look of a sausage patty when done, and almost the texture.  Although I could taste the flour, the seasonings worked fairly well with it.