Creamy tarragon mushrooms on toast

Serves - 4

You’ll need

• 500g mushrooms, a mix of chestnut, portobello or wild mushrooms if you like, sliced or torn if large
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 25g butter
• 1 small shallot, very finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 100ml double cream
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp fresh tarragon, finely chopped
• Small handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 4 thick slices sourdough or other good bread
• Sea salt
• Black pepper

Method

1. Get the mushrooms going

Heat the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook for 6–8 minutes, stirring only now and then, until they have given up their moisture and started to colour properly. You want them golden and savoury, not pale and damp and wondering what happened.

2. Build the base

Add the shallot to the pan with a small pinch of salt and cook for 2–3 minutes until softened. Stir in the garlic and cook for another minute, just until fragrant and heading in the right direction.

3. Make it creamy

Turn the heat down slightly and stir in the cream and Dijon mustard. Let it bubble gently for 2–3 minutes until the sauce thickens lightly and coats the mushrooms rather than racing about the pan. This wants to feel rich and silky, not heavy and overworked.

4. Add the tarragon

Stir in the tarragon, most of the parsley and the lemon juice. Give it a taste and add salt and black pepper as needed. The tarragon should lift the mushrooms rather than overpower them, and the lemon should sharpen things up without making itself too obvious.

5. Toast the bread

While the mushrooms finish, toast the bread until golden and crisp at the edges but still with a little give in the middle. Good toast matters here. It is not just a plate to carry the mushrooms from pan to mouth.

6. Serve

Spoon the creamy mushrooms generously over the toast and finish with the remaining parsley and a final grind of black pepper. Serve straight away while the toast still has some crunch and the mushrooms are properly warm and glossy.

A couple of helpful notes
- A mix of mushrooms gives the nicest depth of flavour, but chestnut mushrooms alone will still do a very good job.
- If the sauce thickens too much, loosen it with a tiny splash of water or milk rather than adding more cream and making it heavier than it needs to be.
- This is very good with a softly poached egg on top if you want to make it feel a little more substantial.