Creamed Mushrooms on Toast with Poached Eggs

I HAVE always loved making good snacky food into a main meal. As a child, like most, I looked forward to having beans on toast, but I rarely have a tin in the house.

It must be a guilt complex that when I walk around the supermarket, someone notices me placing some convenience food into my basket, therefore I tend to improvise. Button mushrooms are not expensive, wild mushrooms more so but, combined with a little cream and white wine, and topped with a poached egg, it can make a fabulous main meal, second only, obviously, to a tin of beans.

Creamed Mushrooms on Toast with Poached Eggs

Ingredients (serves 4)

Dash of olive oil

250g mixed wild mushrooms

2 cloves garlic crushed

1 shallot finely chopped

1 dsp unsalted butter

Chopped parsley

4 slices thick granary bread

Sea salt and freshly-milled pepper

4 eggs

Good dash of white wine vinegar

Sprigs of picked parsley

Creamed chive sauce

For the Chive Butter Sauce

1 shallot, peeled & finely chopped

½ glass white wine

125m double cream

Sea salt and freshly-milled pepper

2 heaped dessertspoons of chopped chives

Method

1. First make the chive sauce. Place the shallot and wine in a small pan and bring to the boil until only a third of the liquid remains.

2. Add the cream and boil for about one minute. Season with sea salt and freshly- milled pepper and add the chives.

3. In a thick-bottomed pan, add a dash of olive oil and the mushrooms and cook well until starting to crisp slightly. Add the garlic and shallot and continue to cook for a further minute before adding the butter and season with sea salt and freshly-milled pepper and chopped parsley. Reserve to one side.

• Post to:
•  del.icio.us
•  Digg
•  Newsvine
•  Nowpublic
•  Reddit