Maitake mushrooms are very common and much-loved in Japan. In the US they are often known as Hen of the Woods mushrooms (not to be confused with Chicken of the Woods, which is completely different - or Chicken of the Sea, for that matter). They are an easy wild mushroom to enjoy; the flavor is pretty much similar to a button mushroom, just more intense.

My favorite restaurant preparation of maitake has always been tempura. Thinking about how I could put a little different spin on that got me pondering about fish n' chips, so I went for a beer batter instead of traditional tempura, and made a tartar-style sauce with Japanese flavors to complement it. So I guess what we have here is a cross cultural vegetarian fishless fry. Fleur de sel with black sesame seeds, a slice of fried lime (or yuzu if you can get it), and a slice of fresh grapefruit round out the plate.

By the way, the Wikipedia page about fish and chips is hilarious! For example, did you know all the names for the little tasty bits of batter that come out of the fryer with no filling? How about: scratchins, scrumps, scraps, scrobblings, gribblings, bits, fishbits, crimps, fishcrimps, or crispy bits. Mmm, pass the scrobblings! And the Tinactin!

I know, I know, most folks just won't deep-fry at home. I don't blame you, because it is kind of messy and may waste some oil, and even be a little unhealthy :), but it doesn't have to be that big of a deal either. This dish is certainly worth making as an appetizer for a dinner party. Or better yet, a cocktail party. Fried stuff goes great with an adult beverage. 

Beer Battered Maitake Mushroom With Japanese Tartar Sauce
Serves 4
Vegetarian; not vegan or gluten-free

For the tartar sauce:

• 1/2 cup high-quality mayonnaise
• 3 green onions, finely diced (white parts and some of the green)
• 1 small dill pickle, finely diced
• 1 tablespoon umeboshi vinegar (or rice vinegar if not available)
• 2 teaspoons wasabi powder (or to your taste)
• (a little minced ginger would be nice too)

For the mushrooms:

• 4 fist-sized maitake (hen of the woods) mushrooms, halved
• 4 very thin slices of lime
• one 12 oz. bottle of beer, preferably a hoppy microbrew
• 1 cup all purpose-flour
• oil for deep frying (at least 3 inches deep in a decent sized pot, or mini-fryer; if you try to use too small a pot, the oil will cool when you add the food and make the batter soggy)

Garnish:

• 4 slices of grapefruit, pith and seeds carefully removed (see picture)
• 1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel
• 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds

1. Combine all of the sauce ingredient and let flavors marry. Taste and adjust before serving.
2. Preheat oil to 370 degrees Fahrenheit. Use proper safety precautions for deep frying.
3. Whisk together the beer and flour. It should be a fairly thin batter.
4. Dip each piece of mushroom and lime in the batter, allow excess to run off, and fry until golden brown, turning occasionally. Carefully remove from the fryer and allow to drain briefly on a paper towel. When removing the mushrooms, tilt in all directions to allow any excess oil to leave the crevasses.
5. You'll have batter leftover and a fryer full of hot oil, so now is the time to raid the fridge and fry some other stuff that sounds good. You don't do this very often, so why miss your chance.
6. To serve, arrange on individual plates as pictured above, or all on one platter with the sauce in a bowl.

There are more variations of pozole than you can count, but as long as it has hominy and some kind of red chili in it, you are in the ballpark. Actually that is for pozole rojo. (There is another version, pozole verde that involves ground pumpkin seeds; I've never tried it but it sounds amazing).

For this particular batch I added pinto beans, which makes it pozole de frijol. I like to use tomatoes and a lot of lime juice to make a somewhat sour broth.

Much of the fun comes with the accompaniments, which you can put out on a big platter and let everyone choose for themselves. Popular options include: avocado slices, cilantro, lime wedges, tortilla chips, shredded cabbage or lettuce, onions and radishes. If you want to make a true feast, fry up some homemade tostadas and make a batch of guacamole.

The recipe below calls for canned hominy and beans for simplicity. Made this way, it can even be a weeknight supper. But if you want a more leisurely and even better soup, you can cook them both from scratch. Hominy corn is available dried, in which case you would soak it overnight and boil it for several hours, very much like with dried beans. Or if you are really motivated, you could try to find maiz para pozol and soak it yourself in lye water and then remove the end of each kernel. Sounds like fun!

Vegetarian Pozole Rojo de Frijol
Serves at least 4 as a one-pot meal
Vegetarian and gluten-free; vegan if you don't offer cheese as a condiment

• 1 or 2 (or more, if you are a chili head) dried chilis de Arbol, ancho, or guajillo chilis to suit your preference
  
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• optional: 6 cups mild vegetable broth
• 1/2 15 oz. can diced tomatoes - those "fire roasted" ones would be good if you have them
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 15 oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 15 oz. cans hominy, drained and rinsed
• salt
• juice of 2 limes
• garnishes: see the list in the discussion above

1. Soak the chilis in a bit of boiling water for 20 minutes or so, then puree in a mini food processor.
2. In a large soup pot, saute the onion and garlic in the oil for 2 minutes over medium heat.
3. Add the tomatoes, 2 teaspoons of salt, the oregano, and 6 cups of vegetable broth or water and bring to a simmer.
4. Add the pinto beans and hominy and bring back to a simmer. Allow to simmer for ten minutes.
5. Add the pureed chilis, lime juice, stir, then add salt and more lime juice or more of the tomatoes as needed to produce a piquant broth. You might like to add the chilis a little at a time and taste to make sure you are't exceeding your heat preference. You can always serve the remainder of the chili sauce on the side.
6. Serve it forth, with a good selection of garnishes.

For those of you who aren't familiar with her work (most famously Strangers With Candy), Amy Sedaris is crazy. Bug f'ing nuts. Mad as a hatter.

"I can't write good, but I can cook even better" - Amy Sedaris

While most of us who came of age in the late 60's and early 70's raced away from the aesthetics and values of that time, Ms. Sedaris wholeheartedly embraces them. Her genius is that while she adores the avocado-colored wallpaper and ham salads, she really thrives on the dark side of that era - overwhelming social pressure to be a perfect housewife, with the bottles of white Zinfandel under the kitchen sink and mother's little helper in the medicine cabinet.

Munchies:
- Toasted frozen waffles with ice cream between them
- Mozzarella sticks dipped in Cool Whip
- Crushed pretzels with cream cheese on toast

Your first impression of I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence might be that it is a joke cookbook. Nearly every page is festooned with hilarious photos of food and entertaining, as if Life Magazine from 1968 ran a special issue with the entire art department either drunk or made up of 7 year olds, or both.

But there is more here than meets the eye. Virtually every one of the hundreds of recipes in the book are legitimate, edible, and often delicious. This is especially the case for Greek recipes, which is the Sedaris family heritage. Who wouldn't like Arty Sarayiote's Koulouraki (Greek Cookie Twists), or spaghetti with thick Greek yogurt, pine nuts and Kefalotiri cheese, not to mention cocktails like the Salty Dog (vodka and grapefruit juice with a salted rim).

"I recently stabbed myself in the nose with a 3-in-1 tool and I didn't have an ice bag. I was forced to quickly create one by filling a dish towel with ice, cutting up a pair of pantyhose, and tying together the loose ends to secure the ice on my face, bandit style. The one plus of my makeshift ice bag was that because it was fastened to my face, I could walk around with it and finish my scraping."

After introductory remarks on the art of hospitality, the book is divided into short chapters based on different entertainment scenarios (Entertaining The Elderly, Ladies' Night, Lumberjack Brunch and so on). Amidst the hilarious headnotes you will find very practical advice, like this handy chart of guest combinations to avoid:

And let's not forget the bonus chapter, where she demonstrates in great photographic detail how to put on pantyhose.

So should you buy this book, for yourself or as a gift? I'd say so if you can answer yes to any of the following questions:

1. You already think Amy Sedaris or her brother David are hilarious.
2. You grew up in the 1960s or 70s, or have an unnatural fascination with them.
3. You love kitschy American food.
4. You have "gone straight" and are pretending to be an upstanding member of suburbia, but actually long for the days of getting stoned in the shag-carpet and wood-paneled basement.

Here is the recipe for the Greek koulourakia cookies, which are quite delicious. They are similar to the biscocos that my family makes, but a bit fluffier and with a hit of cardamom. Reminiscent of a sable cookie. Very nice with a cup of coffee. I've added a few italicized notes to the recipe.

Arty Sarayiote's Koulourakia (Greek Cookie Twists)
From I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence, by Amy Sedaris

• 1 lb. sweet butter
• 1 to 1.5 cups sugar
• 2 eggs, separated
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom [ed: well worth grinding your own in a mortar and pestle; can use 1/2 teaspoon if you like cardamom a lot]
• 6 to 7 cups flour [ed: I'd go for the 7 and use half pastry flour to keep them tender]
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 pint heavy cream
• sesame seeds

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, vanilla, cardamom.
3. Sift flour and baking soda together. Add to the butter and sugar mixture, along with the cream and mix well.
4. Shape by taking a tablespoon or two of dough and rolling into 7" ropes. Fold the rope in half and twist together. [ed note: if the dough is too sticky, put it in the refrigerator four 30 minutes or so before shaping]
5. Place the koulourakia on a foil-lined cookie sheet, brush with egg whites, top with sesame seeds, and bake 25 minutes or until light brown. [ed: light brown for a cakier cookie, dark brown for crunchier; I'd use a silpat, not foil]