Recipe: Mushrooms and Balsamic Onions on Toast

This is a brunch take on the classic French mushrooms on toast. Braise the onions in balsamic and add them to the sautéed mushrooms so that it creates an unctuous sauce. You can use any kind of mushroom, but during the fall and early winter wild mushrooms are plentiful in the markets, so try to snag some for have a more complex flavour.

For the onions, you can use small pearl onions, cippolini onions or the large white bulbs from spring onions, depending on what you can find.

Mushrooms and Balsamic Onions on Toast

For the mushrooms

1 lb small onions, peeled, larger bulbs cut in half lengthwise

5 tbsp olive oil, divided

1 tsp fine sea salt

½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper

½ cup dry white wine, divided

1½ cups vegetable stock

…“ cup balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp honey

1 lb mushrooms, sliced

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

5 stalks fresh thyme

¼ to ½ cup crème fraîche, to taste

For finishing

4 thick slices of brioche

4 large eggs

¼ cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

In a medium saucepan, sauté onions in 2 tbsp olive oil, with the salt and pepper, on medium-high heat until caramelized. Deglaze pan with ¼ cup of wine, making sure to dissolve any of the little brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Add stock, vinegar and honey, bring to a boil and simmer slowly until liquid has reduced to about half. Set aside. Can be made up to 1 day ahead.

For the mushrooms, heat 3 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet and sauté mushrooms with garlic and thyme until well cooked and browned on the edges. Add prepared onions to mixture and cook until re-heated. Off the heat, stir in the crème fraîche and taste to adjust for seasoning. You can use just a little crème fraîche if you like the sauce to be on the tart side, or more if you like a sauce that is richer.

To finish, make soft-boiled eggs by bringing water to a boil in a small saucepan and gently dropping in the 4 eggs. Boil for 6 minutes and run under cool water immediately to stop the cooking. Peel eggs carefully and set aside.

Toast the brioche slices, and place one on each plate. Top with generous spoonfuls of the mushroom and onion sauce. Place the soft-boiled egg on top, cut in half and sprinkle the dish with parsley. Serves 4.