You know already about the photoshoot here last Monday, but what I didn't quite mention was my exuberant food propping, which meant that my kitchen has been looking like a greengrocer's all week. This is how it went: if I had an idea that some basil might look pretty in shot, I bought several plants of it. Tomatoes? Why then, I must get 2 kilos. And so on — you get the picture.
This is by way of explaining that several days after the shoot, I am still trying to use up everything I bought. Finally, I accomplished my target, and no evidence remains of my greed and extravagance. I can't remember now exactly why I bought mushrooms (especially as some of them are Japanese varieties rather than Italian) but I did. Not that I'm complaining, as they furnished my lunch fabulously — and here's how I cooked them.
![Assorted raw mushrooms](/assets/uploads/latest/public-full-size/raw-mushrooms-5620b414b8c00.jpg)
I had 750g of assorted mushrooms and I sliced the larger of them and left the rest whole. In one of my shallow cast iron casseroles, I warmed 60ml (quarter cup) of olive oil, along with a quarter cup of freshly chopped parsley, the finely grated zest of a lemon and half a teaspoon of crushed dried chilli.
![Base for mushrooms](/assets/uploads/latest/public-full-size/base-for-mushrooms-5620b47f2ee35.jpg)
I added the mushrooms along with a teaspoon of sea salt flakes, gave a gentle stir (trying not to scatter my stovetop with mushrooms) then clamped on the lid, turned the heat down to low and left everything to simmer for 10 minutes.
![Mushroom Medley](/assets/uploads/latest/public-full-size/mushroom-medley-5620b4a97617d.jpg)
Although the mushrooms look dangerously dry when you put the lid on, when you remove the lid after these 10 minutes you will see that they have given off quite a bit of liquid. To that liquid, I added the juice of the lemon I'd already zested, gave the pan a vigorous stir, then put the lid back on for another 10 minutes' simmering. It's wise to check once or twice during that time — just lift the lid and give a bit of a stir. And that's it really. All I did further to that was scatter the beautiful cooked mushrooms with a little more parsley — and eat them, of course. As I recommend you do, too!
![Mushroom manifesto](/assets/uploads/latest/public-full-size/mushroom-manifesto-5620b4cb02e91.jpg)