Sirloin With Hedgehog Mushrooms

                                                                  Sirloin With Hedgehog Mushrooms


I started by picking out two of the best looking steaks I could find. Wagyu-calibur, at $6.49/lb (Yep!). I also saw some hedgehog mushrooms, which look kind of like chanterelles, and since mushrooms and steak are always a winning combo, quickly had a meal going in my head.
I seared the steaks with salt and pepper in my grill pan over medium-high heat for exactly 3 minutes per side, while I worked on the hedgehog mushrooms.
For those, I first melted about a tablespoon and a half each of ghee and duckfat in a pan over medium heat, then dropped in the mushrooms, making sure not to crowd them. After about 5 minutes, I added a generous few sprigs worth of fresh thyme, 4 minced cloves of garlic, a pinch of salt, and – secret ingredient time – a generous dusting of porcini mushroom powder.
Porcinis are kind of like truffles in their intense umami mouth-feel, and since I tasted a hedgehog mushroom prior to adding this stuff, I knew they could use a little help. 5 minutes later, I finished the mushrooms with a quick drizzle of REALLY nice balsamic vinegar. This stuff is like $50 a bottle at Williams-Sonoma (luckily it was a gift).
After final taste and seasoning with salt and pepper, what we had was possibly the richest, most umami-concentrated explosion of flavor ever. I dumped the whole contents of the pan over the steaks, then put them in the warming drawer to rest and marry all the flavors.
Then I started the puree. This was nothing fancy, but it worked brilliantly as a mop for the intense flavors and juices that would soon go over top. I used my previous technique but I omitted the nutmeg and garlic and added 2 small bulbs of fennel.
This was a nice, neutral bed, and when I finally took those very well rested steaks out, you wold have thought they were cooked sous-vide. What was probably VERY rare at the onset settled into a brilliant top-bottom medium rare that really exemplified the importance of resting steak. Wish I had a pic.
So long grain fed steak. I’ll miss you!