Pineapple Habanero Oyster Mushroom Toast

Sometimes the best lunches start with absolutely no plan.

I went to the Red Stick Farmers Market in Baton Rouge this past Thursday and came home with a bag full of things that looked too good to leave behind. Among my finds were fresh grey oyster mushrooms, a jar of pineapple habanero pepper jelly and a loaf of locally made sourdough sandwich bread.

I didn’t buy those three things thinking they belonged together.

Then I got home.

The pineapple habanero pepper jelly was the first thing I tasted, and it was so good that I immediately started thinking about what I could make with it besides the obvious cream cheese and crackers.

That’s how a few random farmers market finds turned into crispy oyster mushrooms coated in a sweet and spicy pineapple habanero glaze, piled onto toasted sourdough with cream cheese.

It ended up being one of the best lunches I’ve had in a while.

It Started at the Red Stick Farmers Market

The Red Stick Farmers Market is one of those places where I almost prefer shopping without a meal plan.

Instead of walking in with a grocery list, I can see what’s available, pick up whatever catches my attention and figure out what to make with it later.

The market is operated by BREADA (Big River Economic & Agricultural Development Alliance), a Baton Rouge nonprofit focused on supporting local farmers, fishers and food producers and strengthening the local food system.

Red Stick Farmers Market is a producer-only farmers market, which means the produce sold by farmers is grown on their own farms.

The market has year-round locations in Baton Rouge, including the Saturday market downtown at 5th and Main Streets and the Thursday market at Pennington Biomedical Research Center.

Because vendors and what’s available can change with the season, it’s worth checking the current vendor list before going.

This particular trip resulted in quite a haul, but three purchases eventually became lunch.

The Grey Oyster Mushrooms

The first ingredient was a 6-ounce package of grey oyster mushrooms from Chris & Camille’s Family Farm in Baton Rouge.

If you’ve never cooked oyster mushrooms before, they’re a little different from the packages of button or baby bella mushrooms you might normally pick up at the grocery store.

They grow in clusters with broad caps and thick stems, and I didn’t want to lose all of those interesting shapes by chopping them into little pieces.

I trimmed away the tough part at the base and tore the largest mushrooms into substantial pieces with my hands. I left the smaller mushrooms and clusters mostly intact.

That turned out to be a very good decision.

Once they hit a hot skillet, the thin edges became crispy while the thicker pieces stayed tender and almost meaty.

Then There Was the Pineapple Habanero Pepper Jelly

My second find was a jar of pineapple habanero pepper jelly from Lena Farms in Clinton, Louisiana.

This was the wild card.

I knew pepper jelly would be good over cream cheese, but once I tasted this one straight from the jar, I wanted to do something more interesting with it.

The pineapple gives it sweetness and fruitiness while the habanero adds heat.

My first thought was to make a glaze for the mushrooms with the jelly, soy sauce and lime juice.

I originally considered adding quite a bit of soy sauce, but the jelly tasted so good on its own that I didn’t want to cover it up.

So I kept the glaze very simple.

That was the right call.

And Fresh Sourdough to Put It All On

The third farmers market find was sourdough sandwich bread from Tout va Bien Boulangerie in Baton Rouge.

At first I wasn’t even planning to make toast. The mushrooms could have easily gone over rice or into tacos.

But I had this loaf sitting there, and crispy mushrooms and sourdough suddenly sounded much better.

I toasted a thick slice until the outside was golden but the bread still had enough softness to soak up some of the glaze.

That last part turned out to be important.

How I Got the Oyster Mushrooms Crispy

The mushrooms were too good to cover immediately with sauce, so I cooked them first and added the glaze only at the very end.

I heated about a tablespoon of avocado oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Once the pan was hot, I added the oyster mushrooms in a single layer.

This is where you have to resist the urge to keep moving them around.

I let them sit for about three minutes so they could develop a really good brown crust before turning them.

If your skillet isn’t large enough to hold the mushrooms without crowding them, cook them in two batches. Oyster mushrooms release moisture as they cook, and giving them room helps them brown instead of steam.

Once both sides had good color, I added about a tablespoon of butter along with a little salt and black pepper.

And before I added the glaze, I ate one straight from the skillet.

I highly recommend this step.

Fresh oyster mushrooms browned in avocado oil and finished with butter are delicious all by themselves.

Making the Pineapple Habanero Glaze

For my 6-ounce package of mushrooms, I used approximately:

• 1½ tablespoons pineapple habanero pepper jelly
• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
• ½ teaspoon soy sauce

That’s really all it needed.

Once the mushrooms were completely cooked and browned, I lowered the heat and added the glaze.

The jelly melted almost immediately and coated the mushrooms in a glossy, sticky sauce.

I only let them cook in the glaze for about 30 to 60 seconds before taking the pan off the heat.

That’s important because pepper jelly contains sugar. Adding it at the beginning would make it much easier to burn the glaze before the mushrooms have time to brown.

The Cream Cheese Wasn’t Originally Part of the Plan

At this point I had toasted sourdough and a pan full of sweet, spicy, buttery mushrooms.

It needed something creamy.

So I spread cream cheese over the warm sourdough before piling the mushrooms on top.

That might have been the thing that pulled the entire lunch together.

The cream cheese gives you a cool, creamy layer underneath the savory mushrooms and sweet-spicy glaze. I finished mine with a few red pepper flakes for a little more heat.

The final combination was:

Toasted sourdough + cream cheese + crispy oyster mushrooms + pineapple habanero glaze + red pepper flakes.

And it was ridiculously good.

Pineapple Habanero Oyster Mushroom Toast Recipe

Ingredients

• 6 ounces fresh grey oyster mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon avocado oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• 1½ tablespoons pineapple habanero pepper jelly
• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
• ½ teaspoon soy sauce
• Sourdough sandwich bread
• Cream cheese
• Red pepper flakes, optional

Instructions

1. Gently wipe away any dirt from the oyster mushrooms and trim the tough base from the cluster.
2. Tear larger mushrooms into substantial pieces. Leave smaller mushrooms and clusters intact.
3. Heat the avocado oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Add the mushrooms in a single layer. Let them cook undisturbed for about 3 minutes, or until deeply browned on the bottom.
5. Turn the mushrooms and continue cooking until the second side is browned and the mushrooms are tender.
6. Add the butter and season lightly with salt and black pepper. Toss until the butter has melted and coated the mushrooms.
7. In a small bowl, stir together the pineapple habanero pepper jelly, lime juice and soy sauce.
8. Reduce the heat to low and add the glaze to the cooked mushrooms.
9. Toss for approximately 30 to 60 seconds, just until the jelly melts and the mushrooms are glossy and coated. Remove from the heat.
10. Toast a thick slice of sourdough bread and spread it with cream cheese.
11. Pile the glazed oyster mushrooms over the toast and finish with red pepper flakes, if desired.

Don’t Waste the Glaze

This deserves its own mention.

After I finished the mushrooms, some of that pineapple habanero glaze had soaked down through the cream cheese and into the toasted sourdough.

I ate the mushrooms.

Then I ate the glaze-soaked toast.

That may have been one of the best bites.

So don’t be afraid to spoon a little extra glaze from the skillet over the finished toast.

Where I Bought the Local Ingredients

One of my favorite things about this recipe is that its three main ingredients came from local Louisiana vendors I found at the Red Stick Farmers Market.

Grey oyster mushrooms: Chris & Camille’s Family Farm, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Pineapple habanero pepper jelly: Lena Farms, Clinton, Louisiana

Sourdough sandwich bread: Tout va Bien Boulangerie, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

I purchased all three myself. This post isn’t sponsored by the farms, vendors or the Red Stick Farmers Market—I just really liked what I bought.

If you’re in Baton Rouge and want to look for them, check the Red Stick Farmers Market’s current vendor schedule before heading out. Vendors and available products can vary from week to week and season to season.

And if you don’t live near Baton Rouge, you can absolutely still make this recipe. Look for fresh oyster mushrooms, a good sourdough and a sweet-spicy pepper jelly at your own farmers market or grocery store.

This Is Why I Love Farmers Market Cooking

I could have walked into the farmers market with a shopping list.

Instead, I came home with oyster mushrooms I hadn’t planned to buy, bread that looked good and a jar of pineapple habanero jelly that I had absolutely no plan for.

Then I started playing with them.

And somehow those three unrelated purchases ended up becoming a lunch I’m already looking forward to making again.

That’s my favorite kind of cooking: start with something that looks good and figure out the rest from there.

P.S. Credit to my husband, Trevis, for suggesting the farmers market trip that started all of this. Turns out his idea led to a pretty fantastic lunch.