Suspiciously Simple Meat Cheats

Double-Double Big Portabella Burger
The Double-Double-Big, Double Bang, Double Trouble Portabella Burger. This is great for a meat-free meal using some big, hearty and meaty portabella mushrooms, garlic seared white button mushrooms and some flavourful slabs of smoked tofu. Seasoned just right, we'll toast and press our way to a deliciously filling breakfast, lunch or dinner that will impress friends and family.

Today’s masterpiece is brought to you in partnership with the Mushroom Council® of course!

Double-Double Big Portabella Burger
(Makes 2 hearty or 4 regular-sized sandwiches)

Ingredients:

4 medium portabella mushrooms
300 g white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
300 g Firm tofu (smoked or regular), sliced lengthwise into quarters
6 Tablespoons neutral flavored oil
2 – 4 Soft buns, ready to be butter toasted
3 Garlic cloves, finely minced
2 Tablespoons, Vegan Butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 Tablespoons Vegan Mayo
2 – 3 Tablespoons BBQ Sauce (your favorite kind)
1 tablespoon dried sage
1 teaspoon granulated onion
1 teaspoon black pepper
salt to taste

Instructions:

Heat a cast iron skillet on medium-high and add about a drizzle of oil to coat the pan until it sizzles when splashed with water. Caution is key here.

Place portabella mushrooms gill-side down. Press firmly with an additional cast iron pan or weighted pan, flipping occasionally, until they develop a dense, meat-like texture, adding a drizzle of water now and then to steam them to perfection. This takes a few minutes. Patience yields taste.

Near the end of cooking, add the butter pad and cook to melt, then season the mushrooms with granulated onion, sage, salt and pepper. Glaze one side of the mushroom with a drizzle of maple syrup and set them aside on a baking sheet.

Warm the oven to 400 F (200 C) using convection settings, or a touch longer if you're baking the old-fashioned way.

Use the same pan to cook the white button mushrooms and garlic, pan roasting them for 5 – 10 minutes. Add a splash of water or feel free to add wine or broth here, sear until they're golden brown and form crispy edges, dust with salt and pepper to season.

Sear the tofu slabs in the same pan, giving them 2 – 3 minutes on each side to develop a crisp golden exterior. Sprinkle with seasoning, then place them to the baking sheet with the portabella mushrooms.

With everything on the same baking sheet place the mushrooms and tofu into the oven for a 10 - 15-minute finale, ensuring everything is piping hot and flavors have melded.

While the oven works its magic, butter toast the buns in the pan face down until they’re golden and crisp to your liking.

It's time to build your burger masterpiece, stacking ingredients in your preferred order and crowning with a dollop of mayo and a generous drizzle of BBQ sauce.

Dive in and savor!

[TaylorLavendar]

Both you and Frankie have a very calming effect in the kitchen. Not only will I strive to mimic that, but I aim to make some of your delicious plant-based recipes. I hope to be as chill a chef as you some day! Thanks for sharing and helping the planet 🌎🐸🐾🤗

[ritabutler]

Am I the only one who loves the speeded up chopping?

[Winnywutz]

I think I have to stop watching your Videos. Everytime I watch a Video I become hungry and start cooking. I definitely gain weight since I found your Channel a few weeks ago😂 but my dogs are happy because I couldn't eat all by myself they got a little bit more food than normal

[sarahgutierrez]

Have you experimented with red lentil meat? We don't feed the boys soy so we have created lentil meat as an alternative that holds flavor very well. We have used it for burger patties, Ginger beef, orange chicken, burritos, breakfast sausage patties, cabbage rolls, Thai basil chicken and so on.
We soak the lentils in hot water, blend with minimum water, bouillon, onion powder, garlic powder and poultry seasoning, then cook on the stove until thick, then form into patties or spread out on the baking sheet and bake at 325. It can be cooked less for a chewy softer texture or longer time that dries it completely out. Then, when you cook it in the pan, reconstitute with stock and poultry seasoning and cornstarch or tapioca (to crisp up a little for texture) or whatever seasoning you want for whatever purpose you want it for.
An air fryer would really be useful and make it more versatile.
But thought I'd share as you have the chef skills to perfect something like this. We love mushrooms but it's so expensive and lentils are a very economical protein alternative for us.

[deniselabrie]

Another great recipe. I'd add seared red pepper to my sandwich. Thank you for giving us great recipes. Take care, Denise

[marycooper]

On January 1st it became three years of being plant based/vegan. Thank you for all of your great videos.

[SommerCrushT]

I LOVE this method to cook mushrooms 😊 I did it to make gyros 🥙 for my parents when they visited and they can’t stop talking about how good they were ❤ Thank you!

[ericmccreary]

I just pressed some oyster mushrooms that other day, which completely changed their flavor. I just picked up some portabellas from the local mushroom farm in Landenberg, PA, so this recipe will be on the menu in the next day or so. Thanks again for another great recipe to try.

[tyghe_bright]

None of the grocery stores around Dallas ever have smoked tofu, but I can try using some liquid smoke!

[marilynmoon]

Yup! Another brilliant recipe, not surprising!!! Just add Derek, Frankie and plant based products and a very creative mindset.

[loudboomboom]

I picked up a cast iron burger press for mushrooms and it works pretty great if you don’t want to manage a second skillet

[ocelotcat]

Once again, another perfect recipe! Thank you 🙏. Lovies to Frankie 💜🐾💜

[MaryJoHeadrick]

There's a bbq restaurant in Kansas City that has a sandwhich very similar to this with an onion ring on it, it is SO good

[lucasfalcaod]

I don't like mushrooms too much, but strangely I'm salivating watching this video.

[ChiefTakinawa]

Thank you for this as always! You’ve made the last half of my first year of being vegan so much fun and nutritious.
Excited to see what you do in 2024! 🙌🏾♥️🙌🏾

[MrJustCallMeJames]

Why not use panini press for the mushrooms?

[BT-ktgb]

Derek, I'm about tired of you making all this good food! 😅 You are amazing, and your show is amazing!

[thomsencummings]

not vegan but id easily fuck up two of those big time, you guys are so innovative with layering flavors and manipulating textures

[dereinzigwahreRichi]

I did that compression while frying with parasol mushrooms last fall, was really good and somehow more healthier than what we usually do with them, which is breading and pan frying.
I have some giant oyster mushrooms I found in the woods at home right now, I'll try this with those!

[terencejlewis]

All I have to say is Wow!! Please keep the delicious recipes coming. Thank you very much!!!