Mushroom and Arugula Garlic-bread Toasts

Tonight at dinner while Karl and I were savoring these mushroom-arugula-garlic bread toasts, we started talking about our favorite ingredients. These are the things you can’t live without, or just things you never think about, but you cook with over and over again. For me, garlic, onions, and olive oil are my top contenders.  My top 5 would be:  

1. Garlic
2. Onions
3. Mushrooms
4. Bell peppers
5. Olive oil

What are yours?

I felt inspired to make these mushroom toasts after I had tried a similar style dish (Nico, I will ask you to elaborate on what it was?) in Brussels while my in-laws were visiting. It was day-old toasted bread smothered with steaming hot sauteed mushrooms, parsley, and tomatoes. It was ridiculously delicious and simple.

Serves 4
For garlic bread:
3 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, chopped or grated
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp chopped parsley
1 tsp chopped oregano (dried is fine)
8 large slices whole grain country-style bread
Preheat oven to 350 F

1 tbsp olive oil
1-2 shallots, chopped or ½ cup red onion chopped
2 cups mushrooms, quartered (cremini mushrooms, or any variety of mushroom will work)
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1-2 tbsp white wine vinegar (more or less, you decide)
4 eggs, or substitute 1 14 oz can white beans, rinsed and drained)
2-3 cups arugula, washed and set aside

Directions:
1. Put the butter, chopped garlic, chopped parsley and oregano in a small bowl. Mash everything together until you have nice garlic butter.  Season with salt and pepper and set aside.  Preheat oven.
2. Heat up 1 tbsp of olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add in shallots or onions and saute until fragrant (2 minutes). Add in mushrooms and continue to cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile butter the bread with the garlic butter and place the toasts in the oven.
3. Turn heat down to medium and continue cooking the mushrooms until reduced or the edges begin to turn golden. Season mushrooms with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the white wine vinegar on top and cook another minute. Remove the mushrooms from the pan and set them in a bowl. Add a dash of olive oil to the pan and crack the eggs one by one into the pan. Cook them sunny-side up until done. I like to flip my eggs overs and get the yolks cooked.  You could use any kind of beans instead (or add beans along with eggs, why not) just heat them up.
4. Once the eggs are cooked, add the mushrooms back to the pan and heat it all up.
5. Once the garlic bread is golden brown, pull them out and place 2 slices on a plate. Top with mushrooms, eggs, and arugula. Serve immediately.

A chilled dry white wine is delicious with this meal (I would recommend a sauvignon blanc or a palatte cleansing slightly rosier beaujolais).