Thursday, 24 June 2010

Magic Mushrooms

This is a fantastic recipe because you can make it for one or you can make it for twelve; there is not much of a difference. This is a recipe I got out of an Elizabeth David book. I served it at a dinner party, with some misgivings at its simplicity, but it was a great success

Grilled Mushroom

one large flat mushroom (like a portobello) from a store
salt
butter

1. Wipe clean your large flat mushroom and gently cut out the stem.

2. Sit it on a thin layer of salt on a plate until 12 minutes before you want to eat it.

3. Set the grill at a medium temperature. (Elizabeth David says you are going to "gently grill".)

4. Put a pat of butter in the centre of the mushroom and put it under the grill for ten minutes.

5. Periodically check the mushroom to see if it is drying out. If it is, add more butter.

6. Serve blazing hot on a little plate. It will have shrunk a bit.

According to Elizabeth David, the culinary apostle to the Anglo-Saxons, this is the very best way to cook mushrooms. It makes a splendid starter.

4 comments:

theobromophile said...

...and it's a vegetarian recipe, too! Thank you!

I've always used olive oil to cook mushrooms. Butter ought to be interesting. It might taste a bit different if one adds, say, tomatoes and fresh basil to the cooked mushroom immediately before serving.

Now, the recipe says to put "under" a grill. Do you mean an oven grill or a gas grill?

Seraphic said...

E.D. just said to "gently grill." I put mine under the oven grill.

We have a two-compartment electric oven, with a big fan oven on the bottom and a small oven on the top that can work as a grill.

Kate P said...

I was wondering if a broiler (oven broiler) would work.

That's probably a good way to make portobello "burgers" as well--which I might do when things cool down in my neck of the woods. Thanks for the recipe!

Seraphic said...

Yes, I think the broiler is what we are talking about here.

Yes, the marvellous thing about mushrooms is that they taste so meaty!