The Opposite House

When I was in London I was privileged enough to work at Belgo, a Belgian restaurant group. This was one of my favourite dishes on their menu and also explains why I returned home a slightly larger version of myself!

Serves 4.

You will need:

85g butter

2 Onions

2 punnets of Woolworth’s mixed Wild Mushrooms (or 600g mixed wild mushrooms)

200 ml beer  (I used Mitchell’s Bosuns bitter but reckon any dark beer or ale will do)

300 ml double cream

Himalayan rock salt and rainbow pepper

a good dash of paprika

2 teaspoons brown sugar

300g puff pastry

8 slices raclette cheese or any nutty cheese that’s good for grilling (try Checkers)

16 asparagus spears or tips, or more depending on your addiction to asparagus..

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees celsius

Melt the butter in a large pan, add the onions and saute on a low to medium heat untill softened, but not browned. The onions will become translucent as it cooks. Sprinkle over the sugar and cook for a further few minutes untill all the sugar has been absorbed. Add the mushrooms and cook slowly for about 5 minutes. Add the beer and cream and leave to simmer for about 20 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and paprika.

For the rest of the recipe, please visit The Opposite House

*Bouchee [boo-SHAY]: The French word for “mouthful,” a bouchee is a Puff pastry filled shell.

Not to be confused with an Amuse Bouche (uh-MYUZ-boosh) – a small complimentary appetizer offered at some restaurants [From French, literally meaning, "mouth amuser"]