Wild Mushrooms on Toast

No pictures for this one yet, but I’ll edit them in next time I make it.

When I was but a tiny and adorable child I lived in a pub. My parents ran the place and we lived upstairs.

The best thing about the place (I was too young to appreciate the free booze) were the woods that started at the bottom of the garden and stretched out further than a child can walk, and were therefore, in my mind, infinite. There were broken trees and stumps to play on and bluebells everywhere. I found the mushrooms the most fascinating. I didn’t spot many varieties, mainly just the yellow spongy ones and the ones that make trees look like they have ears.

You think that looks weird now? Try being a child faced with that shit. It blew my square mind.

Anyway, even though I would certainly never recommend just eating any old fungus that you find, I’ve always thought of foraging with a certain sense of enchantment, and if I had the choice I would absolutely turn into a Wild Woman of the Woods. I would no doubt be misunderstood and eventually burned as a witch, but it would definitely be fun while it lasted.

All of this has absolutely nothing to do with where I get the wild mushrooms for this dish as I don’t pick them myself but get them from my greengrocer. But the fact that someone has picked them makes me feel happy. Plus they look really, really cool. Tinges of blue and orange mixed with beige, cream and bright white. It’s like Changing Rooms on a plate, but tasteful.

You can make this easily enough with regular button mushrooms, but wild mushrooms are meatier and don’t expel as much liquid. If you do use farmed mushrooms I would recommend straining the liquid off rather than let it evaporate. It’s lovely with a bit of bread to dip in or added to a soup or gravy.

Ingredients

Wild mushrooms (a couple of small punnets or handfuls will serve two)
1 Garlic clove
Olive oil
Handful chopped parsley
Salt and pepper
Dried thyme
2-3 tbsp crème fraiche
1 tbsp white wine vinegar

Crush the garlic and soften in a little olive oil on a low heat.

Clean the mushrooms with a kitchen towel – they’ll absorb water and go slimy if you wash them. Roughly chop and add to the garlic oil.

Season with salt and pepper and leave to fry for 5 - 10min. Add the parsley, vinegar and thyme and continue to cook until the parsley has wilted and melded with the soft mushrooms. Take off the heat and stir in the crème fraiche to finish.

Serve on wholegrain toast.

This is one of my favourite lunches, but I always forget how much the mushrooms reduce during cooking, so throw in a handful more than you think you’ll need. On the other hand, they are quite filling, so you’ll probably be alright. So ignore what I just said.