Recipe: Mushrooms à la Grecque

1 Peel and quickly rinse your mushrooms, then cut them into quarters, then place them on a plate in the fridge.

2 Prepare your bouquet garni by wrapping 1 bay leaf and a sprig of thyme in parsley stems, then tie with a small piece of string to make a neat bundle.

3 In a sauté pan, heat your oil, then add the onions (whole or chopped) and sweat them without any colour for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring with a wooden spatula.

4 Then add your mushrooms, the juice of 2 lemons, the white wine, the coriander and pepper seeds, the spoonful of tomato, the bouquet garni and finally season to taste.

5 Cook over high heat for 8 minutes (10 minutes in the original recipe), stirring from time to time with your wooden spatula.

6 Don't forget to remove your bouquet garni, and transfer to a nice serving bowl. Once the mushrooms are completely cold, put everything in the fridge and let sit overnight.

So here's the classic recipe « in its own juice ». Though personally, I like these mushrooms à la grecque with a spoonful of tomato paste or some purée of preserved red peppers and a bit of Espelette pepper added, and if I have some diced lobster tail, langoustine or prawns to throw in, well... but shh, that's just between you and me, a little trick to keep under my hat, so as not to betray Escoffier and all the others.

And I also love making this recipe with small ceps, chanterelles or even lactarius mushrooms.

Note carefully how to make a bouquet garni, as it's often mentioned in cooking recipes.