Funghi to be around (+recipes)

Dressed rounds of sliced mushroom with vinaigrette for a carpaccio.

This time of the year, fresh vegetables and fruit tend to get a little thin on the ground. But the upside of rainy, misty days is that it is the perfect climate for an abundance of mushrooms.

These fleshy funghi are fascinating and can provide wonderful aroma and flavour to so many dishes.

For example, a chef I worked with many years ago used to buy second-grade, slightly sticky mushrooms for adding to a venison consomme, clarified by egg whites folded into the venison mince.

Once the consomme had simmered very lightly for an hour or so, the chef would strain it through a pipe - much like siphoning petrol from a car - into a saucepan. He'd then bring it back to the boil with some of the mushrooms which he had hot smoked to give the whole dish a lovely, earthy aroma.

For me, most types of mushroom seem to have a natural affinity with pasta but if you're wanting an easy, tasty alternative way of serving the button variety try peeling and trimming the underside of the cap to expose the fine filigree then place on a tray lined with non-stick paper.

Melt 100g butter in a saucepan and whisk in half a tablespoon of cinnamon and the zest of half a lemon.

Spoon the mixture over the mushrooms and bake in a pre-heated 175C oven for 7 minutes and serve standing up.

Portobello or field mushrooms are a larger mature variety bursting with flavour and beautiful when baked with sliced garlic, sea salt flakes, rosemary and olive oil.

Another way way of serving them, is to slice across them into thin rounds, then layer the slices over a plate dressed with vinaigrette for your own mushroom carpaccio.

There many more intriguing mushroom varieties to experiment with, such as the cone-shaped morel mushroom with tiny dimples that beautifully complement chicken, or the trompette de la mort (trumpet of death), which is ruffled and dark black. Then there's the Asian mushroom collection - shiitake, enokitake, oyster (also known as abalone) or shimeji, the fastest saute mushroom around. But for me, the most fascinating mushroom is the cep - or porcini.

When dehydrated the smell is just like opening a Vegemite jar.

Mushroom Carpaccio
Makes four

1 fennel bulb, cleaned and thinly sliced
4 stems of broccolini, blanched
1 carrot, peeled and julienned
1 grapefruit, segmented
1 handful baby rocket
1/2 cup seeded mustrad vinaigrette
8 portobello mushrooms, roasted with rosemary
sea salt flakes to season

8 portobello mushrooms, roasted with rosemarySea salt flakes to season In a mixing bowl, mix together the fennel, broccolini, carrot, grapefruit and rocket. Fold through the vinaigrette and add a little sea salt. Slice the mushrooms very thinly and lay the slices overlapping each other in the centre of a round plate. Dress with a little vinaigrette and spoon the salad in the centre.

Saute mushrooms on toasted brioche
Serves four

450g plain flour
35g sugar
11/4 tsp salt
40ml milk, warmed to body temperature !
35ml water, warmed to body temperature
10g instant dried yeast
4 eggs
115g soft butter
500g mixture of button, cremini and portobello mushrooms
A handful of mixed flat-leaf parsley and thyme, chopped!
1 lemon, juiced
1 cup sour cream, whipped
3 tbsp olive oil For the brioche: Line a loaf tin with butter and flour.

Whisk the yeast into the milk and water to dissolve. Sieve the flour, sugar and salt into an electric mixing bowl. With the motor running, add one egg at a time, then the yeast mixture. Mix for three minutes until the dough is smooth. Lob in small amounts of butter and mix a further three minutes. Cover the bowl with cling-wrap, and prove until doubled _ about an hour. Preheat the oven to 200C. Knock back the dough, shape to fit inside the loaf tin and leave again to prove until double (about 45 mins) then bake for 30 min in the preheated oven.
For the mushrooms: In a saute pan, heat the olive oil, add the mushrooms and saute until they start to shrink. Add the herbs and season with sea salt and milled pepper. Fold the lemon juice and sour cream through while the mixture is hot. Toast or grill slices of the brioche and top with mushrooms and a little of the sauce.