Egg in a mushroom basket, how Easter is that?

Living in London is a challenge. There's no way to go around that fact; the rush, the weather, the transport, the prices... Everything seems to look hostile and not for weaks, and believe me, it is being hard, in a day to day basis. I'm loving it to bits!

I know it doesn't sound like it, but it is the truth. Every difficult moment that gets overcome brings a sense of pride, joy and selfconfidence that has no price, at least not for me. And things are getting brighter by the day. Now I live in a lovely house, that's been nicknamed by us as "Chez Darlings", with my lovely friends, wich is amazing.

So here I am, siting in my room, enjoying a mug of lovely Fireside (rooibos yummie blend from La Petite Planethé, in Valencia), while outside the weather is downright miserable, and writing about what's going to be our dinner tonight.

One of the things you have to learn about living in London is that everything is expensive. Very expensive. But if you buy sensibly, you can have quite good ingredients on your hands for less than 10 pounds. There's just needed a bit of imagination of what to do with them.

I always go to the "Reduce to Clear" sections in the supermarkets, where they have the products that are almost out of shelf life, but still in good condition to eat, so they lower the prices, a lot. The trick is cooking or freezing stuff inmediatly, so you can enjoy meet, fish or vegetables for a lot less than usually.

So, I found myself with some jumbo mushrooms and some beef sausages, and decided to go the fancy way, because sometimes, and just sometimes, I let the epicurean in me resurface and get to do some gourmet stuff.

Monday night is always for me an egg night. Don't ask me why, but in the Fos-Hernandiz household, we have omelette for dinner. So I keep on with the tradition, but in a different form. Since I re-read Rachel Khoo's Croque Madame muffins, I'm looking for the chance to make them at home, but buttered bread and bechamel for dinner is a step too far into the carb side for me, so, when my eyes landed on the big mushrooms, I just had it clear on my mind.

Once again, let's get our hands dirty!

EGGS IN A PORTOBELLO BASKET

INGREDIENTS:

2 medium sized free range eggs (they do make a difference, so I'd spend the extra pennies in that)

2 portobello mushrooms

2 sausages (I used beef, but really, whatever is handy, or a sad and lonely burger, or a handful of minced meat)

Half onion

2 tablespoons of all purpose flour

Half a mug of milk (I use skimmed, because is what I have at home, but whole makes it richer and tastier. For lactose intolerants, you can use broth)

Salt, pepper, nutmeg (if you have) and thyme (one again, if you have at hand)

PROCEDURE:

- Turn on your oven at 200ºC

- Over a hot pan, empty the sausages and let the meat brown.

- While the meat cooks, chop finely the onion, keeping an eye all the time in the pan, or you'll burn the meat.

- Take out the meat from the pan, trying to drain it from the fat it exuded and juices as much as you can. Turn down the fire.

- Add the onions to the pan, stir well, to get them covered in the fat (if you think you might need more, add some olive oil) and let them sweat gently until they are translucent.

- While the onion is on the stove, empty carefully with a spoon the insides of the mushrooms, leaving about half a centimetre at least of flesh.

- Chop finely the stems and the flesh removed from the mushrooms and add to the pan.

- Let cook until it's been reduced to a third of its size.

- Add the flour and remove well, to combine it with the mix of onions and mushrooms. Cook the flour a bit, to make it lose that raw flavour.

- Off the fire, add the milk or the broth bit by bit, mix well in between to avoid the appearence of lumps. Season it to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

- Once all added, put back on a medium-low fire, removing constantly, scraping the bottom of the pan to avoid the sauce to stick to it, until it thickens.

- Remove from the fire, and you're ready to ensemble your baskets.

- Place the mushrooms in an oven tray, and bake for about 12 minutes, or a bit longer if you prefer your eggs  more cooked. Ours were with the white just set and the yolk runny.

- Serve in a plate and tuck in!

Hope you like them!