This is a match made in heaven #Mushies on Sourdough toast. I’ve teamed it with Miso, Avocado and crunchy nuts to make the perfect breakfast. And I’ve also been on a tour of Artisan Bakery Brasserie Bread.

#Mushies on Sourdough Toast, Miso, Avocado the perfect breakfast!

At some stage in the next couple of weeks when you have a little time to yourself and lots of hungry people in the house you need to make this for breakfast. It couldn’t be any simpler or more healthy. Mushrooms on toast are the new avocado….well they are at my house anyway. As it turns out Miso is the perfect match for Mushrooms. Add a little crunch from hazelnuts and then a blob of creamy avocado. If you want the recipe, head straight to the bottom of the page.

This morning I got to peak behind the scenes at Sydney’s only Single origin bakery. Brasserie Bread. For the past 19 years Brasserie Bread has been providing Sydney and now Melbourne with artisan Bread . During the last couple of years Brasserie has converted it’s entire bakery operation to using a single origin flour milled especially for them in the Flinders Ranges. That is flour that is traceable to both source and farmer. Incredible stuff. You’ll notice that my pictures show a bakery that looks quite large and even includes enormous machinery that mixes and aids the making of some parts of the bread making. Is this Artisan bread making?. It sure is.

Why long fermentation. What does that mean anyway?

Fermentation or proving the dough happens with all kinds of bread, but because making real sourdough is an entirely natural process, the longer and slower the bread is “fermented” or left to prove the better. A starter made with flour, water and naturally occurring yeasts is the heart of the operation. Some starters can be 20-30-or more years old. You can make one at home with a bit of “breaducation”. A starter is a living entity that leavens bread and it’s fed daily and kept alive. Leaving the dough for long periods of fermentation not only brings out more pronounced flavour but it produces micro organisms that aid digestion, bring out vitamins and minerals in the flour grains them selves and produce a loaf that isn’t like a brick on the second day. Even though the breads are baked in a modern deck oven it has all the characteristics and qualities of a hand crafted hearth baked loaf. Yep, it’s artisan. To be honest there are still people at the heart of every single aspect of this bread production, just as there were when it all began.

** Note that those very cheap loaves of sourdough from chain stores are not fermented and are made with yeast and a bit of starter- and sometimes no starter at all, just a souring agent.

I am showing my age but I first met Michael Klausen, CEO owner of BB when he was head chef at Bayswater Brasserie in the 90’s where he started baking his own sour dough (Brasserie Bread) as a response to the crap bread available. Eventually after much trial and error and a huge serge in interest in sourdough he began to sell it. That was the start of his baking career. There were many years of trial and perfection to follow, and he is both an inspiration and a pioneer. Always has been. It should be no surprise then that he regularly teams up with other aligned producers. Pepe Sayer hand made butter, Flinders Ranges farmers and today Australian Mushrooms. As Michael likes to say bread is flour water and salt, so it makes sense to use the most amazing flour you can get your hands on. It makes all the difference.

What is better than Mushrooms on sourdough toast?. Well. not much in my books. Both have that secret umami flavour.

The intoxicating smell of baking bread greets you as you walk past a huge bay where two men operate a giant oven each. One loads bread into the multi-decked oven while the other uses a huge vacuum cleaner to suck up excess flour that could burn and spoil subsequent loaves of bread. In the next room are large trays of fermenting dough and two men rolling small buns. The sour almost alcoholic smell of fermenting bread makes it feel like there are incredible things about to happen. And they are .

Michael is such a cool character. He is friendly and down to earth despite being one of the iconic figures in the Australian food industry. He offers a big bowl of starter and some clean spoons. “Here have a taste and you will understand more about starter culture”, it’s all about “Breaducation” here at the bakery, taking us back to health and well being through the worlds staple food. Bread. The starter tastes like clean cool buttermilk and this simple bread and water activated culture will soon be delivered to more flour and water to make crusty bread. It’s hard not to dwell on the bread.

Mushrooms and sourdough . What a power couple.

So this morning we are here to team Mushrooms and sourdough thanks to #australianmushrooms. It’s all about supporting Australian mushroom growers and what better way to show their incredible flavour. We are treated to a breakfast selection of mushrooms and everything you ever thought about eating with your mushrooms for breakfast. I came home with a loaf of sour dough and made two mushroom recipes. The mushies on sourdough toast, Miso, Avocado and crunchy nuts was the one I thought you should try immediately. I think we all probably know that mushrooms are packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants yep, but the reason I eat them is because they taste so damn good. They go with so many different flavours AND you can eat them for any meal of the day. I think my favourite is breakfast, although it is extremely hard to pass up a Mushroom Risotto, Pasta or stop me now, a mushroom sauce. They are all my favourites.

The full robust flavour of sourdough is an ideal match for the unique, earthy flavour of Australian mushrooms. The way sourdough holds its structure is perfect for soaking up mushroom juices, making it a quick and delicious meal.

How do you like to eat your mushrooms?. Try a couple of these ideas ……

Sourdough, mushrooms, ricotta, spinach and pesto
Sourdough, mushrooms and Gorgonzola hollandaise
Sourdough, smoked mushrooms, chipotle, rocket and feta salad
Sourdough, mushrooms, sage, goats curd and truffle oil
Sourdough, mushrooms prosciutto & grilled haloumi
Sourdough, mushrooms parmesan cream and asparagus.
Sourdough, roasted squashed tomatoes, field mushrooms , provolone and crumbled pinenuts.

Or try this delicious recipe. Doesn’t this make you just want to race out and get some?