Mushrooms and toasted brioche sounds awfully pretentious doesn’t it? Well, take mushrooms on toast and you can literally wake me in the middle of the night with it. Make that toast, toasted, buttery brioche and I have no resistance.

Mushrooms and toasted brioche just happened as an quick fix after an event from which I had mushrooms and the most delicious buttery bread (hence the name, boere brioche) leftover.

Whilst catering for function on Klein Roosboom, I got to taste Vytjie, the family cook’s home-baked bread. I have never tasted bread like hers. It is buttery, light yellow in color and is slightly sweet. She was not prepared to share the recipe, but she told me the bread had not butter, no eggs ( where does the yellow come from then?) and no sugar (Sweet?). It looked like a farm loaf, but it had the flavor and texture of a brioche or mosbolletjie bread. So armed with one of Vytjie’s breads I headed home after the function.

Kotie van Tonder delivered a box filled with the most beautiful mushrooms from Darling Gourmet Mushrooms to use in a soup for the event. I met Kobie at Palms Market where she sells delicious grilled mushrooms to eager market visitors. A visit to the market will not be the same without one of Kotie’s Mushroom Kebabs. The Pink Oyster, Tree Oyster, King Oyster, Brown Oyster and Shiitake mushrooms each have their own unique flavor and I had visions of pan-fried mushrooms and toasted  brioche all the way back from the farm.

The third component of this glorious recipe, is my latest fetish from Fairview, namely the Chèvre Roue, which is a mild, 100% goats milk cheese. Covered in ash & white bloomy dusting. Oh my word, it is the most delectable cheese in their entire range.

So, now that you know about all the ingredients, let’s make Mushrooms and Toasted Brioche. You are going to love it!

Mushrooms and Toasted Brioche

serves 2

Ingredients

2 thick slices brioche or bread – buttered on both sides, cut out with a cookie cutter if you want it all fancy

250 g sliced mushrooms – I used a variety of Darling Gourmet Mushrooms

45 ml butter

5 ml smoked paprika

fresh thyme

salt and pepper

juice and zest of half a lemon

1 Fairview Chèvre Roue

Method

Toast the buttered bread or brioche in a pan until it is golden brown and crispy. Remove the bread and keep warm. Add the 45 ml butter to the pan and add the paprika, thyme and mushrooms to the pan. Pan fry the mushrooms on high heat, they must brown and not steam. When they are brown and buttery, they are good. Add the lemon juice and more seasoning. Place the bread on a plate. Cut some of the cheese to top each slice of bread and lastly top with the warm mushrooms. Serve immediately with just a small green salad. Heaven on a plate, that is for sure!

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