Garlic Mushrooms
Around the Madrid region garlic mushrooms (Champiñones al ajillo) is one of
the ever present dishes in the tapas bars. They are cooked in a ceramic dish which is placed directly onto the heat
source.
It is very simple to make and
takes just a few minutes. The same instructions can be used to make garlic
prawns (gambas al ajillo). If you like some added spice with your food
just add some fresh chillis or dried cayenne peppers according to taste.
Ingredients
- Mushrooms - cleaned and sliced (for these
three dishes I used 400g).
- Garlic - I used half a head of garlic on
this occasion.
- Olive oil sufficient to sauté the
mushrooms.
- Salt according to taste.
- A splash of alcohol - sherry would be most
common but as we didn't have any I threw in a drop of brandy.
- A gin and tonic to help you concentrate!
Instructions
Add olive oil and garlic to
the earthenware dish then place it directly onto a medium gas flame. Once
the oil is sizzling start to add the sliced mushrooms. Stir occasionally
and sprinkle some salt into the mushrooms. After a few minutes the
mushrooms will look a darker colour, turn off the heat and add a splash of
sherry to the oil. Serve in the dish with a crusty loaf.
Enjoy!
A word of warning. Try
to use a medium sized earthenware dish with the oil lying quite low in it when
it sizzles. With small dishes the oil tends to spill over the edge which
can be dangerous as it comes into contact with the gas flame. |
