Mushroom Meats!
Another personal project — I’m quite obsessed with cooking fancy mushrooms like Lionsmane and Oyster Mushrooms and preparing them as delectable alternatives to meat. There’s a technique I learned from the chefs at Wicked Kitchen who press mushrooms and it shortens the fibers within them, making them even meatier and delicious. My go-to favorite is pressed Lionsmane steak, sliced and marinated into thin strips, then sautéed and served on slices of toasted Italian bread that’s coated in a layer of chimmichuri aioli and garnished with pickled red onions. It is divine.
Gourmet mushrooms can be difficult to find though and many people wouldn’t want to spend the time to do this process, so my idea is to sell these pressed and marinated mushrooms in vacuum sealed packaging so all that customers have to do is cook the mushrooms to their liking. I find mushrooms incredibly satisfying and my wish is for everyone to experience how incredible and versatile these third kingdom foods can be.