Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: The Sayers Swindle. Brunch

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Mushroom hash and eggs

By Victoria Abbott - aka those brunch-loving Maffini women.

We love brunches and lunches around here. We particularly appreciate the fresh and unusual meals you can make with veggies and eggs. For those of you who are seeking low carb or low GI foods, these can be a boon and introduce much needed variety.

This mushroom hash is a variation on a mushroom-hash recipe from Steven Raichlen’s High-flavor, Low-fat Italian Cooking. It is an inspired cookbook. Of course, we weren’t seeking low-fat so there’s a bit of butter and oil. The original is served with polenta and that was ‘off the table’ for us at least for a while.

We served ours with poached eggs. It was a huge hit and had to be made again the next week as we’d all enjoyed it. The egg poaching was less than stellar, but we’ll try again. Third time lucky, as they say.

You could serve yours with polenta if carbs are not an issue. The mushroom hash and polenta are a marriage made in heaven.

Mushroom hash - you will need:

1 ½ pounds sliced mushrooms. We used a blend of cremini, white mushrooms and baby portabellas. You can mix it up with other types of mushrooms to suit yourself and you don’t have to be too finicky about exact amounts of anything!

4 sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in boiling water for a half hour, then chopped

½ cup of chicken or veggie stock.

3 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup finely chopped parsley (or 4 tablespoons prepared parsley)

2 tablespoons EVOO

2 tablespoons butter

4 green onions, white and green parts, sliced

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Salt and pepper

This serves two with lots of leftover mushrooms. They reheat beautifully .

You will also need:

4 eggs – poached (good luck with that)

2 ounces or more of good quality Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano.

Directions:

In a large heavy skillet, heat the butter and oil until foamy. Sauté the green onions and the garlic over medium heat for five minutes. Don’t singe the garlic!

Add the mushrooms and cook for about ten minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes, parsley, and stock. Cook for another ten minutes or so. Add the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm.

Meanwhile, convince someone to poach the eggs. Around here people will jump ship like rats. But never mind. We love poached eggs so … Our new egg poacher was a bit of a letdown. Our experiment with the rings from mason jars not much better. Our attempts to poach them without constraint in boiling water led to a so-so result. Of course, they tasted fine. We were just trying to make them pretty for the pix.

Heat a large pan with about an inch of water. Place egg poacher or rings inside and bring to a boil. Crack eggs into poacher or rings. Cook until white is opaque. Hope for the best. Try not to overcook them or use bad language.

Place a serving of mushrooms on each plate. Remove eggs from poaching device and top mushrooms.

We thought our mushrooms were much prettier 'in person'. They may look like a Sesame Street monster here, but they tasted great.

Don't forget to grate cheese on eggs.
Enjoy!

Okay, who are these people? Here's a little bit more about Victoria Abbott, author of the book collector mysteries.

Victoria is an artist and photographer and MJ is the author of 13 books in three other series, as Mary Jane Maffini. They really really like dogs. They try not to fight when they're working on their books or recipes.

Deep down, they really love each other and they really really love their book collector mysteries and are happily waiting for The Wolfe Widow, third in the series, due September, 2014.

Pre-order it here!

They're very excited about the The Sayers Swindle which is out now!

The Sayers Swindle, the second in the book collector mysteries is now available.

You can click here to order The Sayers Swindle!

Or here for the Kindle version!

Or order through your favorite bookstore - in person or online.