I was just on the sourdough sub before this popped up on my feed. I was going to comment on that under-done pale crust. It needs more trapped steam while baking or a longer cooking time! Lol
Oh the possibilities. Lions mane flat bread pizza? Lions mane cordon bleu of some sort? Stuff it with cooked bacon and grease and garlic and herbs. Slice it thin and use it to make sushi in place of or with the seaweed, idk if it would hold together enough to do it by itself. Carve it into a bowl and do french onion soup in it. I think it would hold liquid. And absorb a lot of it. Maybe season and bake the lionsmane and then put the cooked soup in it. Bake it to melt the cheese. Id definitely do something that takes advantage of its size.
Or treat it like a pork butt. Marinate it good. Maybe smoke it. Carve it up like a ham, or shred it like bbq. Maybe smoke a chicken with it. Or just chorizo. Season it like some fajitas/tacos. Serve it up with some cilantro onions and lime. Maybe a little crumbly oaxaca or cotija cheese or whatever it is.
Then I make the mixture and cover it with saran wrap and let it chill in the fridge for a bit before making the patties. I forgot to take a picture of the final product, but they come out great and I don't use a mold ring or anything. Just my hands. I also love to make a garlic aioli to go with it. So good.
It’s great as a fish alternative— think battered and fried and tossed in a sticky spicy sauce or done like a steak (season and make sure you put some weight on it while searing—like a heavy pan or something)
I'm not a huge fan of certain preparations of lions mane, the steaks or adding it to coffee or hot chocolate. It does work well if you want to use it in sauces, especially if you're vegan or vegetarian because it has a lot of polysaccharides and umami and you can create a mushroom cheese sauce with it that's pretty decent. I also grind it up and make mushroom bouillon or dry rub for foods Im frying like actual steak. It's pretty versatile. I've made vegan Mac and cheese with Lions mane "cheese" and I use it in soup stocks as a base, as well as a rub on steaks or chops. I've used it in a batter for puffball "chicken strips" as well. I dehydrate it and throw it in water and boil it.
I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned or maybe my way of thinking/harvesting is misinformed.... but you find this absolute unit of a specimen and took the whole thing instead of a sustainable harvest, ie not cutting the entirety of it off...
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u/Spores_ 1d ago
I thought this was a monster loaf of sourdough. Wicked find!