Over the last few weeks, mushrooms on toast has become the standard Saturday lunch for Big Boy and I. It’s an indulgent treat, because mushrooms are so expensive here – locally grown gourmet varieties retail at the Orange Grove markets for $50/kg. They’re grown in a disused railway tunnel in Mittagong – how cool is that?
Fortunately, there are cheaper varieties available at Flemington Markets, and I’ll usually buy Swiss Brown or large white Button mushrooms to pad out the more expensive exotics. Last week the Swiss Browns were only $5/kg, making them very affordable indeed! If dollars are a consideration, this recipe will work just as well with regular mushrooms – the fancier ones just add extra zing.
Here is Pete’s own recipe for truly fantabulous mushrooms on toast:
1. Start by heating up a generous knob of unsalted butter and a little extra virgin olive oil in a heavy based frying pan. We use our large non-stick Woll pan, which can take a high heat.
2. Once the butter is melted, add a couple of cloves of chopped garlic and stir briefly. Don’t brown the garlic at this stage, or it will burn by the time the mushrooms are cooked.
3. Add the cleaned and chopped mushrooms. In this batch, we used Swiss Browns, Chestnuts, Oyster and Golden Enoki mushrooms. I didn’t weigh them, but I’d guess there were about 200g of Swiss Browns, and 200g of the the other varieties combined.
3. Fry the mushrooms over a medium high heat. They will give out a little liquid to start with, and then appear to re-absorb it back in. Cook the mushrooms until they start to brown and caramelise. Season generously with salt and pepper. We also added a little oregano, which was growing in our garden.
4. Here’s the secret. Once the mushrooms are well-browned and greatly reduced – you’ll be astonished how little you end up with – turn the heat down and pour in a splash of sweet fortified wine. Pete discovered this by chance the last time we had a bottle of port open, and since then we’ve been using this delicious bottle of Seppelt’s Tokay that I found under the house.
5. Continue to fry the mushrooms for a few minutes more, until they’re rich and glazed from the wine. Check for seasoning. Serve over slices of toasted sourdough bread for the perfect Saturday lunch!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
You…never cease to amaze me! Delish….is one word. Now I need to see a photo of the Dulce DL!!!!!!!!
Oh perfect indeed. This is pretty much how I do my mushrooms when having them on toast. I tend to use thyme as I have that growing in the garden and I don’t generally use exotics unless we’ve been lucky enough to spot them growing whilst out walking. But your piece de resistance, I had not thought of at all. A splash of fortified wine will surely be present the next time I do mushrooms on toast.
The first time I heard the name Tokay I was watching a movie called Dean Spanley. Is it an Australian wine? It has magical powers according to that film…. Nice shrooms!
Oz, thank you, the DDL is coming! :)
Choclette, how wonderful to be able to find mushrooms out and about. It’s not really the done thing here, and I’d be too scared of poisoning myself!
Jo, I think it might be. Tokay is a sweet fortified, similar to port or muscat. Some of the best in Australia (and I’d probably argue, the world) is made in Rutherglen, Victoria. More info here and here. Of course, any fortified would work – it’s particularly nice with expensive vintage porto. :)
Wow Celia, I’m so fascinated by the mushrooms that grow in a railway track! Did you go down there and get that photo? That’s amazing! It makes me want to go there and buy some just to try them :D
Lorraine, it really is amazing, isn’t it? The photo is from their website (see link), but maybe you could sweet talk them into letting you do a story on them? I don’t think they’re open to the general public, but they have been on a few foodie shows – think I saw a video on Kylie Kwong a couple of years back. If you want to buy the mushrooms, they have a seller at the Orange Grove Markets every Saturday. :)
That looks yummy. I will have to try your secret ingredient the next time I make mushrooms on toast.
That looks yummy Celia. I never thought about mushrooms on toast. I have to ask, though, you found a bottle of port under your house? We just opened a bottle of port tonight after my birthday dinner.
Linda, actually it’s a bottle of tokay, but there are a few bottles of port under there too… :)