Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Mushrooms on Toast


Lately Michael & I have been going for nice long walks each weekend & going out for brekky with Miss Chloe which is something we all seem to like & behave for. This weekend however we went out for a quick dinner while giving the grandparents a trial run at babysitting. It didn’t go quite to plan with Chloe deciding she would not drink one drop of her expressed milk from grandma so I fear we will be needing lots more practice before we are able to leave her for more than a couple of hours, which we need to do in December for a wedding and various Christmas functions. Anyway the point of this is that as we went out for dinner we skipped our breakfast ritual & instead I cooked up a delicious breakfast at home. Of course I turned straight to Bill Granger for inspiration as I looovvee his breakfast recipes. This one was from Bills food & was no exception, I used some Hope Farm Rye & Caraway Sourdough that I picked up from the inaugural Carlton Gardens Primary Farmers Market which was delicious. The caraway seeds gave the bread a flavour that I have missed for years, my grandparents used to buy a particular rye bread all the time & have it out for sandwiches whenever we would visit & this is exactly what it tasted like. Thanks Haalo for your market listings which I regularly check & discovered this new market in. The mushrooms were simple & tasty, put the whole lot together with some ricotta & a beautiful dish is created once again.

Mushrooms on Toast

40g unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra, for brushing
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
500g mixed small mushrooms
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
4 slices sourdough bread
1garlic clove, extra, for rubbing on bread
250g (1 cup) ricotta cheese

Put half the butter with the oil & chopped garlic in a saucepan over medium to high heat. Add the mushrooms, 60ml water & sat & pepper to taste. Cover & cook, stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes or until the mushrooms are cooked & the liquid is syrupy. Stir in the balsamic vinegar, parsley, tarragon and lemon zest. Taste for seasoning & adjust if necessary. Whisk the remaining cold butter through to thicken the mushroom sauce.

Towards the end of the cooking time, brush the bread on both sides with the extra oil. Grill until golden on both sides, then rub both sides with a cur garlic clove & place on serving plates. Top with ricotta & then mushrooms & serve immediately. Serves 4.

3 comments:

The New Epicurean said...

This may seem weird, given all the beautiful pictures you've taken, but that is the most delicious-looking dish I've seen yet!

And hurrah for the rye bread tip - I was weaned onto caraway rye, and it's not as easy to find as it should be. Mmmm, real bread.

Rosie said...

Now this is something I would enjoy eating ange! I adore mushrooms and rye bread and what a treat this would be. Wonderful picture of the dish too!

Rosie

claire said...

Yum, nice looking mushrooms! When I make mushrooms on toast, my secret ingredient is to add 1/4 of a porcini mushroom stockcube imported from Italy. It makes them taste soooooo good! :)