Wild Mushroom Bruschetta

Have I ever told you that my favorite ingredient is mushroom?

Seriously. 

I'm mildly obsessed. And by mildly, I mean absolutely. I'll literally put mushrooms on anything. Roast chicken? Mushrooms thrown in during the last 15 minutes. Pot roast? In there too. Pasta from the lunch place down the street? I kid you not, I get my penne a la vodka tossed with mushrooms, broccoli and shrimp. 

The beautiful thing about mushrooms is they basically take on the flavor of the other ingredients in the dish. Well, most, unless you get into the aggressive ones like porcini mushrooms or truffles. But the regular ones, in your grocery store? that's a veritable goldmine. 

For a very long time my mother swore that mushrooms had no nutritional value. Kind of like how she swore that I was severely allergic to cats until she finally admitted, when I wanted to work at the Nashville Human Association but was positive I couldn't because I could not be around cats for any length of time, that she just used my FAKE allergies as an excuse because she just really dislikes cats.

I won't like, I've kept that charade up. Guess I shouldn't have put that online...

Well, in fact, mushrooms are chock full of good stuff. Mushrooms have vitamin C, B6 and B12. Individual mushrooms also have lovely benefits. And by lovely I mean...look it up online, cause this blog ain't going to tell you them. This blog will, however, tell you a delicious appetizer recipe for your next dinner party. Hence...wild mushroom bruschetta, a lovely change from the classic tomato one.

Wild Mushroom Bruschetta

Ingredients

Bag full of mushrooms--I use crimini and shiitake. Please oh PLEASE don't use those awful white button mushrooms I'm begggging you
4 cloves of garlic, mince
Fresh parsley
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
French baguette

Directions

1. Wash your mushrooms THOROUGHLY. In case you forgot, these are often grown on the ground...in dung. Kinda gross. Wash wash wash, then remove the stems and chop into small pieces.

2. In a skillet over medium heat, saute your garlic until golden brown. Add the mushrooms and chopped parsley and continue to saute until the mushrooms begin to get translucent (kind of like how onions do) 

3. In the meantime, slice your baguette into thing pieces. Brush olive oil on the top and place under your ovens broiler until crispy.

4. Remove your mushrooms from the stove top. Pile onto your toasted baguette and enjoy!

This is a great recipe to serve with the olive and eggplant tapenade from yesterday. When I make this, I literally do everything (including sauteing the garlic and mushrooms) and then putting on simmer. Mushrooms are pretty darn hard to overcook, so I'd recommend doing this recipe in the 20 minutes before your guests are scheduled to arrive and leave on the stove. Then when they show up, pop your baguette in the oven for about 1 minute, pile with mushrooms and enjoy the impressed looks on your guests faces. Hosting Superstar!