Mushrooms on Toast

by Kiteman

6.0K4524

Intro: Mushrooms on Toast

This is one of my mother's recipes - it starts with the simplest possible white sauce, and finishes with a really delicious, warming comfort food.

This used to be sooo good to come home to after walking home from school on a dark and wet October evening...


The recipe as presented will make two portions - it will serve two at once, or you can chill half the sauce to use the next day.

STEP 1: Preparation

First, slice your mushrooms.

I use 250g ordinary button mushrooms, supermarket basic label, but you can use any mushrooms you like.

The mushrooms do reduce dramatically during cooking, so there's no need to be fussy about cutting thing slices.

Set the mushrooms aside for later.

STEP 2: Weighing Out Ingredients

Put your saucepan on to heat, weigh out 50g of your buttery stuff, and drop it straight into the pan.

While the pan is heating, and the butter is melting, weigh out 50g of your plain flour.

STEP 3: Start the Sauce

When the buttery stuff is melted and starting to bubble, turn the heat down to about ⅔ of maximum, and sprinkle in some of the flour, stirring madly as you go. It's important for this recipe that you don't stop stirring - if things sit still too long, they could burn.

When the flour is all mixed in as smoothly as possible, add a little more flour and stir more.

Keep sprinkling and stirring until all the flour is mixed in - the mixture will end up as a dough-like paste, even a lump of play-doh - and keep moving it around and heating for another minute or two.

STEP 4: Adding Milk

Once you have created your paste, it's time to add milk. Again, it is important to keep things moving in the pan.

The amount of milk you add depends on what you're going to add to the sauce. Mushrooms release a lot of water, so I compensate for that by only adding 400ml milk. If you're using dryer ingredients, such as cheese or pasta, then add 500ml milk.

Add the milk a splash at a time, and stir it into the paste.

Once it's as smooth as you can manage, add another splash and stir again.

Real chefs will tell you it's important to stir the mixture until it is creamy-smooth. In my experience, a few lumpy bits don't really matter, especially if you are going to be adding solid ingredients like mushrooms. Just get it as smooth as you can manage, then simmer & stir for a couple of minutes to let it thicken.

Add your seasoning to your personal taste - I used a big pinch of ground black pepper, and a small pinch of salt.

STEP 5: Add Mushrooms

Once you're happy with your sauce, dump in your mushrooms.

You can stir more slowly now, but you need to make sure that all the mushrooms are coated in the sauce.

As the mushrooms cook, they will release moisture into the mixture. As you stir, the mushrooms will shrink and the sauce will get more fluid. Stirring occasionally, simmer your mixture for another 5-10 minutes until the mushrooms are properly reduced, and the extra liquid has evaporated so that the sauce gets thicker again.

STEP 6: Toast

When you reach the point that you're almost happy with your sauce, it's time to put your toast on.

STEP 7: Serve

That's it - put your toast on your plate, buttered if you fancy, and dollop on about half of the mixture on top.

Enjoy it with a nice mug of builder-strength tea or a strong black coffee.

16 Comments

Trelligan 1 year ago

Using mushrooms instead of sausage is a delightful change from the regular SOS (Sausage on a Shingle).
For anyone trying to cut down carbs, the sauce can be created using 1/2 brick of Philadelphia Cream Cheese and one cup of Heavy Cream. Warm the Cream Cheese in the microwave and toss both in the saucepan. You will want to cook down the sauce to thicken. This is a cheese sauce that is bland enough to support the delicate mushroom flavor. One or two slices of bread won't break the bank for most.

PKM 1 year ago

It struck me that being protein in white sauce on toast means it's basically vegetarian "Stuff" on a Shingle...

charlessenf-gm 1 year ago

Philly cream cheese? Any will do! It's all the same stuff!
SOS? Sausage on a shingle? Sausage? That's not what we called it in the Army!
Or was that Chipped Beef on Toast they were serving?

wdkdave 1 year ago

Yes SOS. My father was in the air force - Korea. Anytime I made something like this, he'd remind me of what it looked like.

shalnachywyt 1 year ago

Ooooo!!!! I have mushrooms already cooked and in the freezer; I have some toast I made this morning and a couple of bricks of Cream cheese... Guess what's for dinner? With a salad on the side? Yummy.

maxman 1 year ago

I made this and it was great. Funny how I'd never thought of making this instead of sausage gravy. This is killer.

I see you make yours in a saucepan. That might help with rendering the mushrooms. I've always used a skillet for sausage gravy.

lindaE 1 year ago

I add a can of very well-drained tuna.

Kiteman 1 year ago

Oh? Interesting...

jbtech2 1 year ago

That is a beautiful toaster! what country did you get it in? The recipe is gorgeous also.

Kiteman 1 year ago

Hi, I bought the toaster in the UK - I bought it in a sale, so it might not be available any more.

temper 1 year ago

Have made this many times, it's a family favourite. We often added rashers of bacon. Yum!

shalnachywyt 1 year ago

What's in the bag? What's in the bag? I can't read!!!! It's BACON!!!
Sorry. From an old commercial for dog treats. :)

maxman 1 year ago

Can't wait to try this.