Garden Café Recipe: Lion’s Mane Mushroom Steak

Try our delicious Newt twist on a classic ‘steak’, showcasing cultivated estate Lion’s Mane mushrooms and soft garden herbs .

Lion’s Mane mushrooms are just one of the exotic varieties you’ll find lining the shelves in the estate Mushroom House. Renowned for alleviating brain fog, boosting the immune system and supporting gut health, it’s a rare and unique mushroom that’s been used in traditional medicine for centuries. Fuzzy and cauliflower-like, with a meaty texture that’s perfect for ‘steak’, this highly nutritious fungi is as beautiful to look at as it is to eat.

Garden Café Sous Chef Beth and team are cooking this marvellous mushroom as one of the sharing mains at our special Valentine’s Day dinner on 14 February; but you can also pickup the ingredients online, and prepare a feast for celebrating at home.

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RECIPE: Lion’s Mane Mushroom Steak, with garden herb dressing

Serves 2 (with your choice of vegetable sides)

Ingredients:

For the garden herb dressing

Two large handfuls fresh soft herbs (parsley, mint, dill, tarragon, chervil, mustard leaves) plus a few more sprigs to garnish
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
200ml olive oil
2 tbsp capers
Salt to taste

For the mushroom ‘steaks’

2 fist-sized Lion’s Mane mushrooms
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Equipment:

2 heavy frying pans
A thick tea towel

Cook’s note: Beth suggests making the dressing a couple of days in advance, as the flavours only improve as they combine. 

Method:

For the garden herb dressing

Finely chop the herbs, including any tender stems, and the capers. 

Combine with the mustard, olive oil and a little salt to taste. (It will seem a little lacklustre at this point but will improve no end given a little time in the fridge).

Set aside while you prepare the mushroom steaks.

For the mushroom steaks:

Set a large heavy frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil over a medium heat. 

Trim the base from your mushrooms, just enough so they sit flat in the pan, while taking care to keep them whole.

Add the two mushrooms to the pan and leave for a minute so they begin to slowly cook.

Once you can see a little colour on the sides of your mushroom, set the second pan on top, and use the tea towel to press down firmly. (A note of caution here: both pans can get hot and the moisture coming from the mushrooms will cause the oil to spit.)

Keep even pressure on both mushrooms until you can see that most of the moisture released has evaporated and the oil is sizzling again. This can take four or five minutes, especially at a gentle heat, so patience is key!

Add a drizzle more oil to the pan and flip your steaks with a spatula.

Leave for a further five minutes or so, until the top side is evenly coloured and slightly crisp.

Remove mushrooms to your serving plates and season generously with sea salt and black pepper.

Drizzle with the garden herb dressing, scatter with your reserved herbs and enjoy!