It’s week three of Tacbar’s month-long I love Tacos series and on the eve of Ash Wednesday who better to spotlight than Stush in the Bush co-principals Lisa and Chris Binns with their plant-based edition? It was a match that left patrons craving more.

Bringing a true farm-to-table experience, the pair started patrons off with their flavoursome signature King Oyster “Crab” Taco. A plant-based play with locally grown king oyster mushrooms, the Crab 2 Ways Taco, was paired with the evening’s Dark Rose speciality cocktail.

The duo’s signature Chocolate Chili Taco followed. Dessert is essential, and what better way to tantalise the tastebuds at Tacbar than with a chocolate taco! All of the things that Mexico is famous for… corn and chocolate, tributes to their ancestry. There is something really beautiful about being as authentic as possible when you pay homage to another culture.

Join the Tacbar team and Thursday Food for the final week of the I Love Tacos series with guest Chef Andre Sewell. Until then join us as we try to recreate Stush In The Bush’s offerings.

King Oyster “Crab” Taco

Ingredients:

4 cups Jamaica Exotic Mushrooms (once steamed they should reduce to half)

3 tsp plant based mayo

1 tbsp (maybe more) fresh squeezed lime juice

Pink Himalayan salt

Fresh cracked pepper

1/4 cup red onion

1/4 cup celery

1/2 cup yellow red sweet pepper

1/2 tsp Stush Blow Fyah Gourmet Pepper Sauce

1 tsp old bay seasoning

1 tbsp mint

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

2 scallions

1 tbsp olive oil

Also included:

Charred Corn

Watermelon Radish – Thin Slices & Spirals

Stush Cilantro Crèma

Stush Chimichurri Drizzle

Stush Burnt Scallion Creme

Pineapple; Cucumber Ceviche

Method:

To make the oyster mushroom filling, begin by sweating the mushrooms in a skillet with a little water and salt after you have shredded them by hand. Allow them to cool and squeeze out the excess water. Transfer to a new bowl, and then add the plant-based mayo, lime juice and about the scallion.

Season to taste with fresh cracked pepper and pink salt. Dice up your yellow and red sweet pepper, celery and red onion, slice your scallion, rough chop your cilantro and mint, add in the old bay seasoning and a touch more plant-based mayo if you want it to be a little creamier. Mix everything together in a bowl, adjust your seasoning (maybe a touch more lime juice) and viola, you have a “crab filling” that is fully plant-based and delicious.

Quick tip, you can add in some chopped capers and a cup of bread crumbs and turn this into a “crabcake.” Bread and lightly, do a light pan fry and whip up some dill tartar sauce and you have gone clear!

Chocolate Chili Taco

Ingredients:

1 cup of Golden Corn Masa Harina (we use Bob’s Red Mill)

1 tbsp brown sugar

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp pink salt

3 tbsp cacao powder

3 tbsp shaved dark chocolate couverture

Hot water

Method:

In a bowl, combine all of the above ingredients and mix well. You want to slowly add hot water to combine everything together and form a ball of dough. The dough should be reminiscent of play dough, so it should be soft and pliable but not crumbly.

Cover the dough in plastic and rest the dough for 15 minutes. You want to roughly pinch off about a tablespoon of the dough to form a small ball. If you have a tortilla press, now’s the time to use it! If you don’t, you can roll out the dough using a rolling pin, place between either payment paper or plastic wrap to form a circle. Using a hot skillet you, no oil, place the taco in the center and cook it about a minute on each side.

Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:

6 oz dark chocolate

1/2 cup almond milk

1 tsp orange zest

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 cup Stush Coconut Yoghurt (thick and cold)

Method:

This mousse is soft and light and yes orange and chocolate is a thing too! Start by rough chopping your couverture, and then adding warm almond milk (or any plant milk of your choice). Whisk away till your dark chocolate and milk is nice and glossy.

Fold in your maple syrup, orange zest and coconut yoghurt off the heat. Refrigerate overnight for a firm set. We spread this on the base on the taco but you can also scoop it next to that vanilla ice cream.

Chili Spiced Candied Cacao Nibs

Ingredients:

2 tbsp Cacao Nibs

1 tsp Ancho Chili Powder or any chili powder that you like

1/3 cup brown sugar

4 tsp water

Method:

If you love chili and chocolate, this is so easy to make and really adds a nice touch to ice cream or any chocolate dessert. Add everything into a shallow saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly until all the sugar evaporates and the sugar crystallises coating the nibs. Remove from the heat, and place on parchment paper to dry.

Also included:

Maldon Finishing Salt

Candied Ripe Scotch Bonnet Pepper

Stush Coconut Whipped Cream

Stush Vanilla Ice Cream

Chocolate Ganache

Shaved Chocolate

Dulce de Leche Drizzle

Dark Rose Cocktail Mix

Ingredients:

1.75 oz Appleton Estate Rare Blend 12-Y-O

0.25 oz Lime juice

0.5 oz Simple syrup