Fridge Raid Meal: Creamy Miso Mushrooms on Toast
The close friend I live with is certainly the baker of the house, that’s why I’m always rustling up something new the next day with the leftovers of her bakes that may have gone stale.
We both looked at the last bits of ciabatta she had made for mopping up our traybake at dinner, and agreed we’d have them the next morning with something special on top.
Earlier that week we’d seen some mushrooms on reduced price and slung them in the trolley as a treat for the two of us as we love love love mushrooms.
This was the perfect opportunity.
So here’s what I thought whilst I shopped our fridge…
It was obviously going to be mushrooms on toast, so I was very happy indeed when I saw a pot of double cream hanging out in the fridge door. A match made in heaven. Mushrooms and cream, it had to be done.
Flitting through the condiments, pickles and conserves section of the fridge, I saw the miso paste I usually use in ramens. I thought I could enhance the umami flavour of the mushrooms by caramelising them in a dollop of that.
I wanted a couple more layers of flavour on top of just salty, and knowing garlic is a usual suspect with mushrooms, I checked the garlic holder. Bingo, a few cloves I could finely mince and caramelise with the miso mushrooms.
So I had my salty, creamy, garlicky, umami topping.
I wanted to balance the fat and carbs in the dish, a bit of protein wouldn’t go amiss. I checked the pantry for eggs and thought a poached egg would be fabulous on this so I brought a pot to the boil.
Ready to go with a plan in mind, here’s the measurements and how I did it.
Serves 2
2 large slices of crusty bread, ciabatta, focaccia, sourdough, etc.
250g of any mushrooms you like, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
3 large cloves of garlic
1 heaped tsp miso paste
50-100ml double cream
1-3 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 eggs
Place a pot of water on the hob, bring to a boil, we will come back to this
Heat a tablespoon of the oil in a frying pan on a medium heat
Add the sliced mushrooms to the hot oil
Mince the garlic whilst the mushrooms are releasing their moisture, you want the water to evaporate and be left with only oil in the pan for the mushrooms to fry
Add the garlic once the pan is dry and the mushrooms are caramelising in the oil, mix through and fry again for a few more minutes until the garlic is browning
Spoon the miso paste into the pan and fry to caramelise for another few minutes, you want each ingredient to have the burnished colour like the mushrooms above
Turn the heat down to low, pour and stir in the cream
Depending on the amount of cream you have, you can stretch it and make the mushrooms a bit saucier with a splash of water
I went to grab the pepper to finish the sauce’s seasoning and found myself thinking ‘What else could I use to make this a truly interesting dish?’
From the pepper I’d get heat and a bit of spice, where else can I get that?
Trusty Worcestershire sauce
I added a couple of glugs to taste and loved the kick of spice it brought
Whilst this stays warm on a low heat, you can turn your attention to poaching the eggs and toasting the bread.
Put your bread on to toast
Check the water on the hob, you want it at a gentle rolling boil, not too fierce to rip the raw egg apart, but not too soft that the egg falls and sticks to the bottom of the pot
Gently crack the eggs into the water and leave to poach, stirring once they have set up on the outside. Poach for 3-4 minutes depending on your yolk preference
Drizzle the leftover oil on each toasted piece of bread, top each slice with half of the creamy mushrooms and a poached egg
I had mine with my quick homemade chilli oil, but you could finish it with a crack of black pepper, finely chopped herbs or another glistening drizzle of olive oil
