This recipe is so filled with garlic it will make a grown man wince. Just the way we like it. Text And Photo By Brittany Thomas
In my twenty five years on this planet, I have eaten a lot of mushrooms. I’ve eaten countless slices of pizza with paper thin wafers of mushroom dotted across the bubbly cheese; I’ve swapped out a hamburger for a Frisbee-sized portabella cap; they’ve been my staple side dish at nearly every steakhouse meal, swimming in butter yet lacking in real flavor; and I’ve cursed under my breath as the raw mushrooms split and cracked during my best attempt at skewering them for a kabob barbecue. Mushrooms and I? We go back a long way.
When I was in high school, we took a class cruise to the Bahamas. Now, for anyone who has ever been aboard a cruise ship, you are already aware of the sinful gluttony that takes place every time a meal is served. It’s course after course, plate after plate, each one with a heavy cream sauce pooled underneath some expensive cut of meat we’d otherwise never buy at home. And that’s the sort of indulgence you expect, I suppose. After all, my last cruise experience was for my parent’s wedding anniversary and thanks to the late night room service option, my father walked off a seven day cruise twelve pounds heavier than when he first boarded. That’s a true story.
It was on that high school cruise that I first had escargot. No one at the table wanted to order it, yet we all dared each other to, and nobody wanted to look like a pansy. So my roommate and I ordered it and waited anxiously for it to arrive. When the server set the dinged up silver tray with its tiny potholes filled with strange caramel-colored knobs of meat in front of me, I didn’t see what all the fuss was about. It looks sort of boring, actually. Now, my mother explained to me once how to enjoy escargot: you don’t chew; you just sort of suck all the garlic and butter off of each one and swallow it right down. Easy. So I scooped up one of the little creepy-crawlies and down the hatch it went. It was hot, swimming in melted butter, with the scent of garlic so strong it made your eyes water just a bit. It was fantastic. As lovely of an experience as it was, I didn’t make it through the entire plate. Somewhere along the line, I spotted two of the tiny antennae poking up through the butter like a sad little flag of surrender and I couldn’t carry on.
When I came across this recipe for garlic and butter roasted mushrooms in Gourmet, it was delightfully disguised as a substitute for the escargot experience. I don’t like to think of it that way – this dish is a surrogate for nothing. You roast a few handfuls of meaty mushrooms with sweet butter, tangy capers, and enough fresh garlic to make a grown man wince. After they’ve submitted to the heat of the oven, you squeeze over a bit of tart lemon juice to liven things up a bit and a bit of minced parsley, lemony and green and wonderful. With a few wedges of crusty bread to sop up the juices in all their glory, you’ll never miss the escargot.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Clean the mushroom with a wet paper towel and put them into a baking dish, halving them if they are a bit large. Sprinkle over the capers, garlic cloves, salt & pepper, & vegetable oil and toss it all together. Dot the butter over the top.
Roast for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Immediately after removing from the oven, squeeze over the lemon juice and parsley. Serve hot.
Prep Time:10 mins
Cook Time:20 mins
Brittany Thomas
Brittany Thomas is a freelance food writer and the author, photographer, & publisher of the award-winning blog "If You Give A Girl A Cookie." Her writing has been featured in The Urbanite, Hagerstown Magazine, The Baltimore Sun, & The Frederick News Post. She likes chocolate cake, asparagus, blood oranges, and lemon desserts. She lives in small-town Pennsylvania with her new husband and mischievous puppy, Kona.
First, make sure the mushrooms are completely dry, then cook them in a hot skillet with some oil or butter as you normally would. Wait until you take them off the heat to shower them with a sprinkle of salt. This seems like a really small thing, but it actually makes a big difference.
Sear mushrooms for a more intense roasted, charred and smoky flavor and overall aroma. Roast mushrooms to get more sweet, salty and umami tastes with caramelized, nutty and buttery flavors. When cooked properly, mushrooms can take on the texture and consistency of meat.
The secret to roasted mushrooms that aren't soggy and squishy is high heat. Cranking up the oven to a fiery 450°F ensures the mushrooms truly roast rather than steam, which helps them become golden-brown and caramelized on the outside and perfectly tender on the inside.
Sautéed mushrooms with butter have their benefits, but so do sautéed mushrooms with olive oil. I use both oil and butter for a dynamic duo that pairs searing (oil) with rich, satisfying flavor (butter). (I also use both in my Sauteed Spinach.)
You should mix two tablespoons of baking soda per liter of water and stir until completely dissolved. Sprinkle the mixture over the mushrooms and surrounding soil. Over time, this will slow growth and even kill fungi. Alternatively, you can also sprinkle baking soda directly on the mushrooms and soil and water them.
"As you know now, mushrooms have a ton of water in them. When you cook them in a pan, the water will seep out. If you keep the heat low, the mushrooms will just simmer in their liquid. Medium high or high heat will get rid of all that liquid, and will give the mushrooms a nice brown color.
"Medium-high heat is the way to go with mushrooms. You want their liquids to slowly evaporate while they caramelize," says Norton. High heat can burn mushrooms, while low heat will make them cook in their own liquid, she says. You also want to be mindful of the pan.
When the oil or melted butter is hot, add the mushrooms. You should hear a sizzle. (If the fat isn't hot enough, the mushrooms will start to water out and steam instead of sautéing.) Cook the mushrooms 4 to 5 minutes or until they're tender and lightly browned.
Susan recommends waiting until they're almost done to add in a sprinkle — or even after you take them off the heat. The reason? It turns out salting the mushrooms too early not only makes more sneaky liquid to eke out, but it takes longer for them to cook and therefore produces a rubbery texture.
Roasting in a moderate, 375°F (190°C) oven gives the mushrooms plenty of time to concentrate in flavor. Draining off the mushrooms' exuded liquid partway through the roast assists in browning and speeds up cooking time.
Most foods don't take well to overcooking. Overcooked pasta turns out soft and mushy; steak that sits on the grill too long turns out tough and chewy; and if you forget anything in the oven, you can best believe it'll char and turn black. Mushrooms, however, happen to be the exception to this.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook mushrooms, cap sides down, without stirring, until caps are caramelized, 4 to 5 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium. Toss mushrooms, and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook until mushrooms are well browned, about 5 minutes more.
Yes, folks, you can indeed wash your mushrooms. The critical step is to wait to wash them until right before you cook with them so they don't get bogged down with water. After giving the mushrooms a rinse, dry them off, and you're ready to cook.
Some call for pouring hot water over the mushrooms, but that hurried soak results in weirdly chewy-hard mushrooms that look ok but are difficult to eat. For deep flavor, the most aroma, and super luxurious texture, rehydrate dried shiitakes in water for at least 6 hours (I've let them soak for up to 24 hours).
Moderate the heat so that the mushrooms are hot enough to release moisture, but not so hot as to get too browned or dry up. When the mushrooms have given up most of their moisture, remove from heat (about 5 to 10 minutes).
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