Perfect fried mushrooms

Fried black field mushrooms make a fine meal at any time of day, from breakfast to supper

asrYDkphM9b3VNKBH5UJxK.jpg

If you get a chance to buy the huge black version of the field mushroom, do. Sliced and fried in butter for a few minutes, it makes the perfect all-purpose meal. For breakfast, have it with crisp, smoked streaky bacon and scrambled egg with toast or fried bread (a secret love of mine). For lunch or supper, add garlic to the butter and cream or white wine to the juices and eat on toast made from pain de campagne or sourdough with a sprinkling of parsley.

Fried black mushrooms are a great accompaniment to a pork chop (add grainy mustard and cream to the juices) or slices of rare roast beef (a touch of horseradish or mustard mixed into the juices is good). Or just heap them on buttered toast.

Country Life

Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.