Garlic Mushrooms on Toast

Ingredients

• 400 g mixed mushrooms, torn rather than sliced
• 50 g butter
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• a few sprigs of thyme
• 80 ml double cream
• 2 thick slices of sourdough, toasted
• a handful of parsley, chopped
• a squeeze of lemon

Method

1. Tear, do not slice

   Tear the mushrooms into rough pieces. Ragged edges catch far more colour in the pan than the flat faces of neat slices, and colour is the whole point here.

2. High heat, no crowding

   Get the pan properly hot, add half the butter and the mushrooms in one layer, and leave them alone. They release water first — wait for that to boil off and for browning to start before you stir. Two batches beats one crowded pan.

   8 min

3. Garlic late

   Only once they are browned, add the rest of the butter with the garlic and thyme for a minute. Garlic added at the start would be black long before the mushrooms were ready.

   1 min

4. Cream and acid

   Pour in the cream and let it bubble to a glossy sauce, then season and add a squeeze of lemon. Mushrooms and cream both go flat without acid.

   2 min

5. Serve

   Pile onto the toast with the parsley, spooning the pan juices over. Toast the bread only when the mushrooms are nearly done, so it is still crisp when it hits the plate.