Foraging for food is something I have started to do over the last few years. Hunting down blackberry bushes in the autumn is something I’ve always done but I’ve never considered it to be ‘foraging’. To me, proper foraging involves a wicker basket, curiously shaped knives and an innate ability to avoid thorns and nettles. Since I started to appreciate the other things that can be found outdoors I have added other wild foods to my repertoire: rosehips, sloes, plums, strawberries, elderflower and now, at last, wild garlic. Somehow this most pungent of wild foods has eluded me until a few days ago when I finally found an abundance of it not a ten minute walk from my house. Creamy mushrooms and wild garlic sounded just perfect for lunch and even better on brioche toast.

Ingredients

You will need (for two):

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 250g mushrooms
• 150ml single cream
• 16 small leaves wild garlic, roughly chopped
• Salt and pepper
• Butter
• Brioche, two slices

Method

Melt a knob of butter in a frying pan on a medium heat and fry the onion for at least 15 minutes or until starting to turn golden at the edges. Increase the heat, you may need to add some extra butter, then add the mushrooms.

Fry the mushrooms until they are golden and sticky before turning down the heat to low and stirring in the cream. Simmer the cream, stirring occasionally, until it’s reduced then add the wild garlic and some salt and pepper.

Turn the heat off and let the garlic infuse with the cream while you slice and toast the brioche. Serve the mushrooms atop the brioche. read more