Poached eggs with porcini and wild mushrooms

• By Mark Camilleri

Bernard Muscat's wine recommendation: eggs are risky to match with any wine, but try a Beaujolais Village (2006) by Bouchard Pere et Fils, from Paolo Bonnici.

For 6 people, you will need:

Six eggs, 80g of dried porcini mushrooms, 60g of oyster mushrooms (these are the very large mushrooms sold in clumps – roughly chopped), 40g of Portobello mushrooms (roughly chopped), 40g of button mushrooms (roughly chopped), four tablespoonfuls of olive oil, a clove of garlic (chopped), salt and pepper, six thick slices of Maltese bread, white vinegar, porcini oil.

Soak the dried porcini in hot water for 15 to 20 minutes, remove them with a slotted spoon, and keep the water. Heat the olive oil in a pan, add the garlic and mushrooms, salt and pepper and fry them. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4/180C. Place the slices of Maltese bread on a baking-tray, sprinkle them with salt and pepper and drizzle them with olive oil and porcini oil. Bake them for five minutes on each side, until they are golden-brown and firm to the touch. To poach the eggs, fill a pot with water, and add a dash of white vinegar and salt. The water must be hot, but not boiling. Stir the water, and then quickly and carefully break the eggs into it. They will curl up into balls. To serve, place a slice of toasted bread on each plate, with porcini mushrooms and a poached egg on top of it. Grind on some black pepper and drizzle with porcini oil.