Making mixed starters (or assorted horses dovers
(sic) as
they are known at ours) for a family
gathering I returned to an old favourite, champignons a la grecque, a
quickly made cooked mushroom salad. Although I think of this dish as something
for the summer, it works very well in the winter, the dressing is lightly acid
and softly spicy, and the mushrooms have a fleshy firmness, and stay
surprisingly pale. Best of all this recipe is wonderfully simple. It's taken
from Elizabeth David's French Provincial Cooking, almost verbatim. Having made
a swift stab at trying to find a similar recipe in Greek recipes (in
translation, of course), and came up with nothing. So, I'll keep looking, out
of curiosity. In the meantime it's a lovely little recipe for a tasty little
dish.
It's very nice on its own with a piece of toast, or with some
hummous, or as part of a mixed hors d'oeuvres. At this time of year it's a nice
and light little something to go with roast meat, hot or cold.
Cooking notes
Resist the temptation to add more liquid, it really isn’t
necessary, even though it looks like there isn't much there.
You can substitute two tinned tomatoes or two large spoonfuls of
chopped tomatoes for the fresh ones. It may make extra liquid, but it will reduce down.
On the same basis, it’s worth using a nice olive oil, but not necessarily the
best, as it'll lose its body once it's boiled to reduce it.
RECIPE
Large bowl of small mushrooms, around 180g (or large ones cut in quarters)
juice of half a lemon
tsp of
coriander seeds
1 tsp of
peppercorns, cracked
Large pinch of
salt
3 tbsp olive
oil
3 tbsp water
2 peeled and
chopped tomatoes
·
Shake
off/rub clean the mushrooms
·
Put the
mushrooms into a bowl and sprinkle with the lemon juice and shake gently, and
set aside
·
Put all
the other ingredients into a pan and bring to the boil, simmer for a couple of
minutes
·
Add the
mushrooms and any juice in the bottom of the bowl
·
Bring
to the boil, cover and simmer for five minutes
·
Take out
the mushrooms and set aside back in bowl
·
Boil the
liquid, uncovered until it’s reduced by
half, then pour it over the cooked mushrooms, stirring gently to mix
If you like you can sprinkle a teaspoonful of finely chopped parsley
over the mushrooms, or a mixture of parsley and fresh coriander. It adds a little something, and looks pretty.
That’s it.
My mixed starters included mushrooms a la grecque, celery remoulade,
sliced cooked beetroot and sliced cucumbers, roast veg, green salad. For meat
lovers I included some mixed salami.
