Marinated Mushrooms

 I wanted to make a light appetizer to go with Italian food, so I made some marinated mushrooms.

Ingredients:

• 12-16 ounces mushrooms – cleaned & stems removed (you can also trim up the stems and leave them on)
• 4 large cloves Garlic – peeled & DIVIDED (2 cloves smashed; 2 cloves minced)
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme + 1 tsp chopped  thyme leaves - DIVIDED
• 2 bay leaves - DIVIDED
• 1/4 cup finely diced shallot
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 TBS each: apple cider vinegar and orange juice
• 3/4 tsp Italian seasoning (I used basil & oregano)
• 1/2 tsp each Kosher salt & black pepper
• ¼-½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes – adjust to taste
• 1.5 tsp finely chopped parsley leaves - plus more for garnish 
  

Instructions:

1. Poach Mushrooms: Fill a deep, medium-sized saucepan with 4-5 cups of water. Add the smashed garlic, thyme sprigs and 1 bay leaf. 
2. Bring the water to a rapid simmer. Season water with ½ teaspoon salt. 
3. Add the mushroom caps and return to a gentle simmer. Cook, reducing heat as needed to maintain a gently simmer, until the mushrooms are just tender, about 3-5 minutes. 
4. Remove pan from heat and drain mushrooms well.
5. Prepare Marinade while mushrooms are poaching: In a large, non-reactive (non-metallic) bowl, add the minced garlic, remaining bay leaf, shallot, oil, vinegar and orange juice, Italian seasoning,1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon thyme leaves, and parsley. Whisk to thoroughly combine.
6. Marinate in fridge: While the mushrooms are still warm, add them to the marinade. Gently stir to combine and coat.
7. Taste the marinade and adjust for seasoning if desired. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap.
8. Transfer to the refrigerator and allow to marinate for at least 5 minutes (or up to 10 days), stirring the mushrooms occasionally. 
9. For the most flavor. allow the mushrooms to marinate for several hours.
10. Serve: Remove mushrooms from refrigerator. Taste again and adjust for seasoning if needed.
11. Bring mushrooms to room temperature before serving. Garnish with more chopped parsley.

 

Carole's Notes:

We liked these! After trying these once, and based on some other recipes, I used orange juice instead of a second vinegar to make it less acidic.

The recipe is lightly adapted from https://www.nospoonnecessary.com/easy-marinated-mushrooms-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-26054