Mark Hix on the best way to show off your mushrooms
Times are tough, so let me make my usual reminder: foraging is free and you can find some of the best produce in this land or any other just by knowing what to look for. This dish is virtually free for those in the know – all that’s required is a bin bag and an afternoon in the right kind of woodland.
If you’re not an experienced forager, make sure you go with someone who is, however, because mushroom picking can be a dangerous pastime for the uninitiated. The last thing you want to do right now is end up in A&E because you served up the wrong type of fungus at a dinner party.
Anyway, you can knock up this salad all the way through the mushroom season, depending on what’s available in the woods and/or in your garden. Simplicity is key here: it’s basically two ingredients, mushrooms and tasty home grown salad leaves.
Woodland mushroom salad (serves 4)
- 200g or so of wild mushrooms, cleaned, and cut if they are large
- 2tsp rapeseed or olive oil
- A good knob of butter
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- A couple of handfuls of small tasty salad leaves and herbs
For the dressing
- 1tsp cider or sherry vinegar
- 4tsp walnut or hazelnut oil
- 1tsp caster sugar
To make
- Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and cook the mushrooms for 3-4 minutes on a medium heat, seasoning as you go, until tender.
- Add the butter and keep them warm.
- Whisk all of the ingredients together for the dressing.
- Arrange the leaves and mushrooms on serving plates and spoon over the dressing.