Portobello Mushroom Steak

You'll need: 1 tablespoon avocado oil · 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced · small handful fresh thyme sprigs

Pour the avocado oil into a dutch pot or heavy-based pan and warm it over a medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the sliced garlic and the fresh thyme sprigs. Keep things moving gently. You are not frying hard here, you want the garlic to soften and the thyme to release its oils into the pan, building a fragrant, flavoured base that the mushrooms are going to soak up. This is patient work, do not rush it. Gate 01 is done when the garlic is soft and lightly golden at the edges and you can smell the thyme coming through clearly.

You'll need: 3 tablespoons soy sauce · 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar · 1 teaspoon smoked paprika · half a teaspoon garlic granules · half a teaspoon freshly ground black pepper · 4 large portobello mushrooms, stalks removed and scored

This is where the dish gets serious. Add the prepared marinade directly into the pan with the garlic and thyme. Let it hit the heat and bubble up immediately, stirring it through the oil. Then lay your portobello mushrooms in gill-side down, pressing them gently into the pan. Turn the heat up to medium-high. You want a proper sizzle here, not a gentle steam. Let them cook undisturbed for 3 to 4 minutes. The marinade is caramelising into the surface of the mushroom and that is where the steakhouse character comes from. Resist the urge to move them. Flip with tongs, press down lightly, and cook the other side for another 3 minutes, basting with any liquid in the pan as you go. Gate 02 is done when you have a deep, glossy, caramelised crust on both sides and the smell in the kitchen is properly smoky and savoury.

You'll need: the portobello mushrooms already in the pan

Gate 03 is about confirming the mushrooms have cooked all the way through and have the texture and substance that earns the name steak. Press down on the centre of each mushroom cap with the back of a spoon or your tongs. They should yield but still have some resistance, not collapse completely. If they feel firm and undercooked in the middle, drop the heat to medium, add a small splash of water to the pan, cover with a lid or foil, and let them steam for another 2 to 3 minutes. This is the technique that gives you a mushroom that is genuinely meaty in the centre rather than chewy or spongy. The body of this dish is the mushroom itself, treated seriously, and when it is right you will feel it.

You'll need: 60ml good quality vegetable stock · 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce · half a teaspoon tomato paste

Drop the heat to low. Add the vegetable stock, dark soy sauce, and tomato paste to the pan. Stir everything together around the mushrooms, lifting any caramelised bits from the base of the pan. This is the pan sauce and it should be rich, dark, and glossy rather than watery. Let it reduce for 2 to 3 minutes, spooning it over the mushrooms as it thickens. You want a proper coating sauce, something that clings. If it reduces too fast, add another small splash of stock. Gate 04 is done when the liquid has thickened into a glossy sauce that coats the back of a spoon and the mushrooms are sitting in it looking properly restaurant-level.

You'll need: half a lemon · small handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly torn · 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast (optional but recommended)

Pull the pan off the heat. Squeeze half a lemon over the mushrooms right now, straight into the pan. You will hear it hit and the smell will shift immediately, that lift is the whole point of Gate 05. Taste the sauce and adjust if needed, a little more lemon if it wants acidity, a pinch of salt if it needs it. Scatter over the flat-leaf parsley, roughly torn rather than finely chopped, you want texture and freshness rather than a garnish. If you have nutritional yeast to hand, a light dusting over the top adds a savoury depth that is bare hard to beat. Plate the mushrooms with the pan sauce spooned generously over the top.