This tasty meal for one is ready in just 25 mins. Creamy thyme and garlic mushrooms piled on to toasted crumpets and topped with an oozy poached egg, it's great for either supper or brunch.
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Yields:
1 serving(s)
Prep Time:
15 mins
Cook Time:
10 mins
Total Time:
25 mins
Cal/Serv:
541
Ingredients
15g
butter
1
small garlic clove, crushed
1/2tsp.
dried thyme
125g
mixed exotic mushrooms, torn if large
1
medium egg
1Tbsp.
brandy, optional
2Tbsp.
crème fraîche
Large handful baby spinach
2
crumpets, toasted
Directions
Step 1Bring a small deep pan of water to the boil. Melt butter in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic and thyme to the frying pan and sizzle for 10sec, then turn up heat to high and add the mushrooms. Fry until golden and any liquid in the pan has evaporated, about 5min.
Step 2Meanwhile, poach the egg. Reduce the water pan to a simmer and swirl to create a whirlpool. Crack the egg into a ramekin or coffee cup, then neatly pour the egg into the centre of the whirlpool. Poach for 4min – or until, when lifted out with a slotted spoon, the white feels firm but the yolk remains soft. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
Step 3Add brandy, if using, to the mushrooms and bubble for 10sec. Stir in spinach, to wilt, followed by the crème fraîche. Check seasoning. Serve on top of freshly toasted crumpets, topped with the poached egg.
I'm scared of poaching eggs!
We promise the method above works every time, but if you'd like a bit of a deep-dive into the how's and why's of poaching eggs we have a guide to perfectly poaching eggs every time. Still not convinced? A fried egg would also be wonderful on top.
Can I leave out the booze?
Totally, it adds a certain warmth to the sauce and balances the richness, but it's totally optional.
Which mushrooms should I use?
We used a mixed pack of 'exotic' mushrooms from the supermarket. These are typically a mix of oyster, shiitake, chanterelle and shimeji mushrooms (not always all of these in one pack), which cook quickly and have a nice mixture of textures. You could use all one variety if you preferred, and even baby button mushrooms will be tasty in this lovely sauce, halve them before cooking.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
