This is such a simple dish, the trick is to cook the mushrooms right and be extremely generous with the garlic. Chestnut, button, or large flat mushrooms are great, and we also have a mix of more exotic mushrooms from the New Forest which include yellow and pink oyster mushrooms, Shitake, white shimeji, Enoki and others. These autumn rains will also bring on a flush of wild mushrooms before the week is out.
It also helps to have really good bread. The sourdough from Bread Addiction is perfect.
Nigel Slater starts by roasting a whole head of garlic until it’s soft and golden, then squidging out the cloves and adding a little cream to make a mighty garlic paste that you spread on your toast. If that’s too much, then chop as much garlic as you want and cook it with the mushrooms. If the mushrooms are different sizes, try and slice so that are of equal thickness. You want to cook them in a mix of butter and oil, and season with salt, over medium heat. You need to be patient, and let them sweat out the moisture. If they are wild mushrooms and it’s been raining, there will be lots of liquid. If they are store-bought, they will have already dried out a bit, but once the moisture has bubbled away, the mushrooms start turning from slimy to a more nutty, firmer consistency. Taste and then season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley or thyme and serve.
The perfect autumn dish.