My favorite episode of original Iron Chef was the maitake mushroom battle. OH MAN. So of course, now that I've acquired some maitake, I will definitely use it in pasta from scratch to best showcase the pure, uninterrupted flavor.

HA HA HA HA! Oh! Ok. Actually we made very quick and very good mushrooms on toast at about one in the morning.

Maitake on toast

maitake mushrooms/other good mushrooms
a shallot
salt and pepper
some butter or olive oil
some good bread

Peel your shallot and chop it finely, then sauté slowly over low heat. I used butter for this, but olive oil would clearly be fine too. My immediate instinct would be to use garlic instead of shallot with olive oil, but I think that would be too strong and overwhelm the mushroom. I guess it depends on which ingredient you want dominant.

While the shallot is softening, chop your mushroom into appropriate pieces. Add it to the pan and continue cooking for maybe another five minutes, or until the mushrooms are fully cooked.

Salt and pepper, then serve on toast.

Try not to do what I did and immediately tip a bunch of the mushroom shallot butter onto the front of one of your very few shirts not currently in the moving van somewhere in Nebraska. I have now ruined two out of about six shirts that I brought in the suitcase, one via butter and one via wearing through the elbow. Awesome.