Medley of wild mushrooms Recipe | 4Food

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipes Medley of wild mushrooms recipe

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Date Published:: 04/09/2007

It goes without saying that you should never cook a wild mushroom unless you’re absolutely sure you know what it is.

Serves 4

Ingredients

750g-1kg edible wild mushrooms, such as cauliflower fungus, ceps and chanterelles
1 tbsp olive oil or bacon fat
1-2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
salt and freshly ground pepper
half a lemon
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley

Method: How to make medley of wild mushrooms

1. Sort through your mushrooms, brushing away dirt and grit and trimming and discarding dodgy bits. Slice the larger ones, halve or quarter the smaller ones and leave any really tiny ones whole.

2. Heat the oil or fat in a large frying pan and sweat the garlic in it for a minute or so. Before the garlic takes colour, add the mushrooms. You can mix up your whole load, or fry different species separately. It’s a good idea to do the frying in batches, anyway, if you don’t have a very large pan. With a crowded pan, it can take absolutely ages to get rid of the liquid the mushrooms release.

3. Fry gently at first, then turn up the heat as the juices start to run. Season with a little salt and pepper early on. Continue to cook until the watery juices have run out and mostly evaporated (depending on the type of mushrooms and their condition, the amount of liquid may be considerable). Add a squeeze of lemon and the parsley. Taste and check the seasoning.

4. Serve piled on hot, toasted sourdough bread – either buttered or trickled with olive oil - or with fresh haverbread (Cumbrian oatcakes).

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