Creamy Garlic Mushroom Starter Recipes

Steps:

• Soak dried ceps in hot water for 5 mins. Strain ceps, keeping the liquid for the sauce. Squeeze ceps dry, then finely slice. Heat a large pan with unsalted butter until it just begins to foam, brown and bubble, add the button mushrooms, and the ceps. Sprinkle with salt if you want, then fry for 2-3 mins until lightly browned. Pour in the cep liquid and reduce until it becomes thick and syrupy. Stir in the double cream and boil for a min or so until sauce starts to thicken.

Steps:

• In a large skillet, saute the mushrooms and onion in oil for 6-7 minutes or until mushrooms are browned. Stir in the cream, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. , Meanwhile, place baguette slices on ungreased baking sheets. Broil 4-6 in. from the heat for 1 to 1-1/2 minutes on each side or until toasted. Rub garlic over toasts; discard garlic., Stir the basil, parsley and thyme into mushroom mixture; heat through. Spoon about 1 tablespoon onto each toast. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Pour the oil into a flat, shallow frying pan and place over a gentle heat. Finely slice the garlic and shallots and add to the pan. Fry gently for a few minutes, stirring occasionally and ensuring the garlic and shallots do not start to brown or burn.
• Prepare your mushrooms by gently wiping any dirt from their surfaces with a piece of kitchen towel - never wash mushrooms as they will absorb the water and become slimy. Slice the mushrooms into chunky pieces and add to the pan, stirring so that they become coated with the oil.
• Once the mushrooms have all started to colour, pour the glass of wine into the pan and turn the heat up so that the alcohol burns off and the liquid starts to reduce.
• After a few minutes, the mushrooms should be cooked, so turn the heat back down quite low and add the cream to the pan along with black pepper according to taste. Stir everything around and heat gently for a couple of minutes.
• Preheat the grill to high.
• Transfer the mushrooms and cream mixture to two shallow, heat-proof dishes. Spinkle the grated cheese over the top of each and place the dishes under the grill. Keep an eye on these so that they don't start to burn - it should only take a couple of minutes for the cheese to be browned and bubbling.
• Stand each dish on a large plate (don't forget to warn guests how hot the dishes will be!) and serve with granary toast for mopping up the sauce.
• Variations:
• Reduced fat cream such as Elmlea works perfectly in this dish if you are counting calories. You could also omit the cheese and skip instruction point 6.
• For a slightly sharper taste, try using creme fraiche in place of the cream.
• To make the dish more substantial, try using finely sliced baby leeks in place of the shallots.
• If you are fond of blue cheese, you could grate a strong cheese such as stilton over the mushrooms before grilling - this produces a much richer dish.