Mushrooms on Toast | Wild Pork and Watercress

I liked doing things for Aunty Bella, she was a real good sort, and made the most beautiful brawn you've ever eaten. And she could turn a bucket of ordinary old mushrooms into the most delicious bacon-y creamy toast-soaking stuff you could image. She had a bit of magic, Aunty Bella. She was my best friend as well.
Wild Pork and Watercress
Barry Crump

I went through a phase I'm sure many did when they were young, where mushrooms were possibly the vilest food imaginable. That was, until, I read and subsequently became obsessed with The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. This new knowledge that my absolute favourite creatures (I'm quite short, I think I likely thought I was a hobbit at this age) were obsessed with mushrooms and craved them incessantly? Well then, guess what my new favourite food became?

The absolutely gorgeous book, Wild Pork and Watercress, from which the above quote has been taken from, inspired this late lunch this past Sunday. The book itself is a beautiful story set deep within the bush of New Zealand, any fans of Taika Waititi's work have likely seen Hunt for the Wilderpeople, which is based upon this book. The thought of going mushroom picking and then indulging lavishly in your findings feels like a distant dream when living in a city.

I have faint, faint memories of being young and being dropped at a family friend's house, spending the day with the other children running off into the neighbouring farms with a bucket, hunting down the wild mushrooms that we could find. Returning, only to have the mushrooms cooked and mushed down into almost pate that we spent the afternoon devouring.The recipe below isn't quite matching up to that memory exactly, but instead something that has become a sort of staple over the years for my own dinner. Affectionately called, stuff on toast. As it is hard to find a decent vegan ricotta or cheesy like spread without spending a small fortune, the below cashew cream spread recipe has become my go to, the perfect tart-y and creamy differentiator between the crisp toast and buttery mushrooms.

If you are a meat eater, I would highly recommend cooking up some bacon to go with this and then cooking your mushrooms in the leftover bacon fat. I believe the results would perfectly summarise the delight of Aunty Bella's mushroom dish. 

Mushrooms on Toast(with cashew cream)
Makes approx. enough for two servings
Ingredients
400g mushrooms, any kind of mushrooms will be delicious with this, sliced
2 tbsp butter
1 1/2 lemon, juiced
150g raw cashews
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup cold water
2 slices thick sourdough toast
2 - 3 sprigs fresh thyme
Sea Salt
Fresh Pepper

1. Soak the raw cashews in water for at least two hours - you can hurry this along by breaking them up into smaller pieces.

2. Drain and rinse the cashews before placing them into a blender or food processor, along with the cold water, juice of one lemon, apple cider vinegar and a good few twists of salt and pepper. Blend until smooth - it will likely have a few cashew chunks throughout, if this doesn't bother you feel free to leave as is. Place cashew cream to the side.

3. Heat a frying pan on medium heat, adding in the butter. Let the butter melt and start frothing slightly before adding in the sliced mushrooms, thyme and a few twists of salt and pepper. Cook for around ten minutes or so, moving the mushrooms around the pan to prevent them sticking, adding in a few squeezes of lemon juice. They should soak up the butter and appear a lovely caramel-y brown colour. When cooked, remove from the stove.

4. Get your toast ready and spread a good, thick layer of the prepared cashew cream on before placing the mushrooms on top. Season with a little extra salt and pepper or lemon, if you like. Enjoy!