- You know, some days, I kid around and say, "I think I live off of toast," and it is true.

I love toast, especially when I put delicious things on toast and that's where I'm starting with this great mushroom and Gruyere toast recipe.

[cheerful music continues] So, I'm just brushing this delicious crusty bread with a little bit of a high smoke point oil, 'cause I'm telling you this pan is screaming hot and I'm going to let this bread sit until I get gorgeous grill marks.

[playful music] I bet I have beautiful grill marks by now.

Let me take a look.

Oh, yes.

A little bit of char around the edge.

Beautiful toasty grill marks.

This is exactly what I'm looking for.

Couple more minutes to get the other side toasty, and then onto the next step.

So, here is my plate and I'm just gonna transfer these pieces up to my serving plate, and then the first thing I do with good toast when it's for a savory thing like this is I put a little salt and pepper on there, just to give it a little bit of seasoning and while my toast is still nice and warm, this is freshly shredded Gruyere cheese.

Now, I chose Gruyere for all sorts of reasons.

One is it's fabulous with mushrooms.

It's a classic pairing with mushrooms.

I also chose it, because it's a great melter.

It has a beautiful, nutty flavor that brings something to the game, but will not overwhelm my mushrooms.

So, I often say, "When you don't know which cheese to pick out for a recipe, pick Gruyere.

It's probably the perfect choice."

Now, I'm going to saute some mushrooms.

We use the term saute a lot with mushrooms, but there's actually a way to do it and it works so well and once you know that technique, you'll have it in your back pocket to use here on out.

I'm gonna let this melt and get beautifully sizzly and I want you to notice how wide this pan is.

When you're sauteing mushrooms, you want width, because we are going to put these in here in as close to a single layer as we can get them.

Mushrooms need space.

When we have put mushrooms in the pan and that brownish gray liquid starts coming out, once that starts, it's hard to stop.

So, just don't let it start and I'm gonna give these a couple of minutes to start turning tender and for the edges to begin browning.

Same thing, stir, stir, stir, wide pan, high heat.

We are on our way and I'm gonna add more flavor to this pan, making myself a little real estate right there and I'm going to drop in this last bit of butter and let it melt, and then I'm going to add some very finely diced shallots.

You want them really small, so that they'll get done in the time it takes to finish the recipe, and now that my mushrooms have started getting tender, that's when I'm gonna add the salt.

I wish you could smell this, that shallot, that butter, the earthiness of the mushrooms.

So, now that my shallots are tender, I am going to deglaze this pan, and to do that, I'm using sherry vinegar, which is probably my personal favorite red wine vinegar.

So, it's both releasing flavor and adding flavor.

My next thing is creme fresh.

It is a sauce in a bowl.

It's magic.

No matter how hot you get it, it will not separate.

I love how this works.

Makes a little bit of creamy sauce.

Then we're going to add some parsley, some cracked pepper, [grinder crunching] and so this is ready to go on my toast.

I have some wonderful chives and I'm gonna use some tarragon.

Take a great piece of toast.

I'm going to take a great big scoop.

Oh, doesn't that look good?

It smells so good.

Can you believe that toast can be this fancy?

It is so easy.

Good bread.

Get it toasted well.

Cook these mushrooms the way I showed you.

Put a little creme fresh, a smattering of fresh herbs.

This is delicious.

This is toast worthy of dinner and that's what mine's gonna be.

[classical music] [upbeat music]