Friday 4 December 2009

Friday Fungus: garlic mushrooms (if you really insist)


You’ve all encountered the mushroom dish from hell: grey-brown lumps that might be button mushroom surrounded by a similarly coloured soup. “Garlic mushrooms” cried the menu – or maybe “garlic mushrooms in a cream sauce”. Whatever, it is an evil concoction, a relic of the days when restaurants believed that all posh food had to have cream sauces. And it is disgusting, an insult to mushrooms.

I’ve written before about the best way to cook really fresh mushrooms and nothing has changed. But is you insist on garlic mushrooms (personally I find garlic an overpowering flavour that reduces the pleasure from the mushrooms themselves – fresh thyme, cumin or even mint are a better option I think) here’s what you do.

½ lb fresh mushrooms (roughly chopped)
One small clove of garlic (finely chopped)
Oil or butter (I use olive oil) – not very much enough to line the frying pan
Salt & pepper

Get the pan very hot, add the oil or butter and make sure the whole pan is covered, whiz round the garlic for a few seconds then add all the mushrooms and the seasoning. Cook for a couple of minutes (until the mushrooms start to soften) then cover the pan tightly, turn the heat down as low as you can and leave for about 5 minutes or so. At the end you should have well-cooked mushrooms in garlic flavoured mushroom juices.

Eat on toast – my wife scrapes some parmesan on the top. You can do this if you insist.

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