Some Magic Herbs from the Special Mushroom Lady

I'm lucky enough to have a farmer's market where I live.  This falls on the last Sunday of each month  and is always a mad scramble to get as much as possible to freeze for the next month, plus a hot, dripping buffalo burger to combat the inevitable hangover (it is Sunday morning after all).  Anyone who is in any way interested in food or cooking can't help but be inspired as you walk past a tantalising array of ingredients, from the more exotic such as ostrich or buffalo, to the seasonal such as wonderful game and vegetables, and the ready made such as amazing pies, chutneys, honey, sauces, bread and cakes.  Over the past couple of years Otley farmers market has gone from strength to strength, and as I'd missed it for the previous couple of months I was keen to catch up with the new arrivals.

One of those new arrivals was a couple selling mushrooms, a dizzying variety of mushrooms!  I am a mushroom fanatic so I didn't need much encouragement when the offered me a free sample, fresh, organic mushrooms cooked there in the open air in nothing more than olive oil and their own amazing dried mixed herbs.  I'm not normally a fan of mixed herbs as I like to know exactly what I'm using but this was one little green bag of aromatic leaves that I couldn't resist.  Needless to say: the mushrooms were amazing.  This really emphasised the basis of good cooking: the best ingredients, treated simply and with respect.  In fact they were so good that I bought a big bag of mushrooms and cooked them that very night, and here's what I did....

First of all: the herbs.  Obviously you're not going to be able to get this exact mix however I fully intend to make them once the weather picks up enough for my herb garden to come back to life.  It's simple a mixture of basil, thyme, rosemary and sage, ground into a very fine powder.  You could use this mix of fresh herbs if you like, just be sure to add them at the end of cooking as fresh herbs can lose their flavour very quickly if overcooked.

The mushrooms I bought were Blue Oyster mushrooms, which should be of much amusement to anyone who has seen a Police Academy film.  They're much like normal oyster mushrooms in flavour but have a very meaty texture.  I cut them into faily thick strips, about 5mm then fried them in good olive oil over a medium heat until they just started to release their liquid.  Then a sprinkled in a teaspoon full of the magic herbs and a knob of butter and served over a toasted sourdough bread.

It doesn't get much more simple than that!