Lions Mane Steaks with Venison Kadhai
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Lions Mane Steaks with Venison and Kadhai
This dish is sophisticated yet simple to make. It is ideal for dinner parties or a date night and the spice in the Kadhai with the texture and butteriness of the charred mushroom steaks are a match made in heaven. Although Chicken Kadhai is more common, I absolutely love the depth of flavour it brings to beef and venison.
You can choose to have Kadhai runnier or less and it keeps amazingly well in the fridge. The flavours will continue to intensify over 2-3 days.
For this recipe, I pair it with BBQ venison backstrap.
Ingredients
Serves 2
For the Mushroom Steaks
200g intact Wainui Valley Mushrooms Lions Mane mushroom
Blackening spice of choice (I use a mix of garam marsala, salt, and ground cumin)
2 tablespoons butter (melted)
For the Kadhai
2x Brown onions finely chopped.
1 tbs ginger and garlic paste (crush 4 garlic cloves and 2cm ginger together) or use a store-bought mix.
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder (or regular chilli powder)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp garam masala
3 tbsp canola oil
1 x 400 g can of crushed tomatoes
2 fresh tomatoes, diced.
1 lemons (juice and zest finely chopped) olive oil.
For the Venison
1 x 250-500g venison backstrap (depending on how hungry you are)
Or as an alternative, if you can’t find venison backstrap, buy a
1 x 250g pack of Silverferns venison steaks from the supermarket
4 tablespoons SPG mix (see note in method)
Mustard or horseradish cream to lather the venison it (this helps the spice stick)
Method
For the Kadhai
1. Dice and cook the onions on medium heat until they turn golden brown.
2. Add in the ginger-garlic paste.
3. Reduce to low heat and cook for 6 minutes. Add a little more oil if needed.
4. Add in all dry spices and cook for another 3-4 minutes until they are fragrant and well
combined.
5. Add the crushed tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes on medium heat.
6. Add in the fresh tomatoes, lemon juice and lemon zest.
7. Stir and cook for a further 5-10 minutes, before setting aside. (I like the Kadhai on the stodgier side, so I cook it until I feel the consistency is right).
For the Mushroom steaks
The mushroom is quite delicate. Handle it with care as you want to try and keep the steaks intact.
1. Slice the mushroom into 2 generous steaks.
2. Brush the steaks with butter and sprinkle generously with your blackening spice.
3. Heat a non-stick pan with a splash of canola oil to medium-high. Wait until it smokes.
4. Place the mushroom steaks in the pan and place wax paper on top.
5. Place a pot filled with water on top of the mushrooms to apply pressure. The mushrooms will release a lot of moisture. Once the moisture stops bubbling from the mushrooms, remove the pot, flip it with a spatula, paper, and pot back onto the mushrooms.
6. Wait until the second side is browned, drop butter into pan and let melt.
7. Drop in a garlic clove roughly crushed.
8. Spoon butter over steaks.
9. Remove from heat.
10. Keep loosely covered with foil until serving.
For the Venison Backstrap
Venison is an unfussy meat. It doesn’t need a lot of attention and is gorgeous with minimal effort. I rub the venison in salt, pepper, and garlic (SPG) which you can make by either combining equal parts of kosher salt, crushed peppercorns, and dried garlic flakes, or you can buy it pre-made from most butcheries. Make sure your venison is at room temperature by removing it from the fridge no less than 30 minutes before cooking.
1. Cover a chopping board with your SPG mix.
2. Smear your venison in a thin layer of any mustard or horseradish cream.
3. Roll your venison in your SPG mix to make sure it is well covered but not caked on.
4. Heat your BBQ flat plat or a cast iron skillet on high until smoking.
5. Sear the venison on all sides until browned and a thin crust forms.
6. Place on the grill for 3 minutes on each side or if using pre-cut steaks just 2 minutes. You’re shooting for rare to medium rare.
7. Remove from heat and wrap in foil.
8. Rest for 10 minutes.
To plate
1. Preheat your plates in the microwave for 2 minutes.
2. Reheat the Kadhai if not warm.
3. On each plate, dollop 3 heaped tablespoons of the Kadhai.
4. Cut the venison into generous portions if not portioned already.
5. Stand your venison against your Kadhai.
6. Finish by placing the mushroom steak against your Venison fillet.
7. Finish with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of Maldon finishing salt.
8. If you have a fresh herb of some sort, place it on top for a nice finishing tough. Thyme works well.
Prep Time
30 minutes
Cook Time
40 minutes
Total Time:
70 minutes
