mushroom toast with shrimp and peas

these mushroom toasts are one of my favourite snacks. they're quickly made, but have a bit of fancy feel to them. this time i paired them with shrimp, but usually an egg, sunny side up or poached, takes first place. i made this for lunch today, deadly tired of pasta or rice or soup, which in zhara's book seem to be the only acceptable choices. she likes mushrooms, but for this meal she had soppy toast. that's right, i drew my line in the sand, and refused to negotiate with the little terrorist. [can you tell i'm hooked on 24?] no mushroom toast, no food at all. i made pasta for dinner. again.

1 french demi-baguette

6 oz mixed wild mushrooms, (shiitake, oyster, crimini)

4 slices gypsy bacon

2 tb butter

2 tb cream

12 shrimps

handful of peas

fresh parsley

gypsy bacon is a roulade. it's just bacon rolled up with herbes and red pepper flakes. you can substitute pancetta, and add some heat to it. start with an empty cold skillet -the widest one you have. line up the bacon, then place on medium heat. the bacon will curl less this way, you'll be left with crisp, beautiful slices. turn once, and when it's evenly browned remove to paper towel to blot excess fat and tent with foil to keep warm.

add 2 tb butter to same pan - you'll have almost no fat if using gypsy bacon; if using pancetta discard all but 1 tb. when the foaming subsides add the mushrooms, roughly sliced. give the pan a shake and cook undisturbed for 5 minutes. you want a wide pan so that the mushrooms are well spaced out, so they can sear. shake the pan to turn them and cook 2 minutes more. add the cream, the parsley, and season with salt and pepper. within a minute the mushrooms will be moist, but no liquid is visible in the pan. remove to hot plate and tent to keep warm. in the same pan, add the shrimp in a single layer. these go very fast, 3-4 minutes on each side should do it. sprinkle the peas around them and cook over medium high heat. while the shrimp cook, split and halve the baguette to obtain four equal pieces. toast them in the toaster oven or under the broiler. put one slice bacon on each, then divide the mushrooms. place 3 shrimps on each toast, and sprinkle with peas. in our house my husband gets most of them, he's the only fan. i always want to cheat and give him less mushrooms, since he gets more peas, but i restrain myself. i'm a martyr, i know.