‘The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude – Julia Child 1912
Whether it is in cooking or life, a fear of failure can stop you doing so many things. It’s strange that we develop this much later in life, as we become attached a perfect image of ourselves. As babies it is vital that we fail, trying to form words or moving from crawling to walking. It’s why so many parents have videos of the first time their child walked. They have seen their child try over and over again, with a quizzical look on their face and a lot of the time a smile. What if we could learn to try new things, to dare to fail, with a smile on our face. What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?
In cooking it is vital you open yourself up to failure, when trying a new concept or recipe. When I first saw this recipe, I was terrified. It looked more complex than it was and I couldn’t conceptualise how you could get from the raw ingredient to the final dish. In reality it was much simpler than I thought, I just broke it down into a few stages.
The recipe is from wickedly healthy, a team in the UK originally from New England, who have been breaking the boundaries of healthy cooking, creating new ways to incorporate more plants into our day to day diet.
Whether it is this dish or another, I encourage you to embrace the concept in cooking and life. There is no failure except in no longer trying.
Ingredients
• 4 tbsp. coconut oil
• 1 lb Maitake mushrooms, in a few clusters to make the steaks
• 1 tbsp. BBQ seasoning
• 2 cups. BBQ sauce (vegan)
• Salt and pepper
Method
- Heat a large heavy pan (such as cast iron) over medium heat until very hot, about 2 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil, swirling to coat the pan. Add half of the mushroom clusters and use a second heavy pan to weight down and press/sear the mushroom clusters. Cook for 2 minutes, then remove the weight and the mushrooms to a work surface.
- Add another 1 tablespoon oil to the pan, swirling to coat. Flip the mushrooms and season the cooked side with the seasoning. Return the mushrooms to the hot pan, raw-side down. Return the weight to the mushrooms and press/sear the other side. Cook for 2 minutes, then remove the weight and flip the mushrooms in the pan. Season the newly cooked side with the BBQ seasoning.
- Return the weight to the mushrooms and cook another 2 minutes. Repeat this process of flipping, weighting down, and searing the clusters until the mushrooms are condensed and pressed into crispy golden-brown steaks with almost no liquid left in the pan, about 10 minutes total. Poke the mushrooms to test whether they are finished cooking. They should feel compact yet fleshy. Repeat with the remaining oil and mushrooms.
- When the mushroom steaks are compact and golden brown, remove them to a baking sheet. Brush generously with a thick layer of sauce on both sides and let marinate at room temperature for at least 1 hour.
- Heat the oven at 350F and bake until bubbling and sticky
- Serve with taco’s, scallions and chipotle sauce (see last recipe for smoked chipotle cashew sauce)
