Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms

Garlic. Butter. Roasted Mushrooms.

Deb from Smitten Kitchen really knows how to lure a girl in. When I saw this recipe posted on her blog back in December, I knew I'd need to make these myself. I love mushrooms and if we're going to add some butter and garlic to these puppies then let's throw down here and now.

Reading through the recipe, I realized that this was going to be a quick and easy dish to make. Bonus points! These mushrooms were quickly bumped up to the top of my "Food To Make" list, which is really just a semi-organized jumble of bookmarks on my computer. They will clean themselves up if I leave them alone long enough. I swear.

Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms
slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen's recipe

• 2 10-oz containers of baby portabella mushrooms, halved lengthwise if large
• 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• black pepper
  
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

1) Preheat oven to 450°F.

2) Brush the tops of the mushrooms to remove any excess dirt or debris.

3) Add the mushrooms, capers, garlic, oils, salt and pepper in a large bowl and toss to combine.

4) Spread the mushroom mixture in a 1/2- to 2-qt shallow baking dish. Top with butter and roast, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender and a sauce has formed in the baking dish. This should take about 20 minutes.

5) Remove baking dish from the oven and stir in the lemon juice and chopped parsley.

Think savory mushrooms, aromatic garlic, creamy butter, tangy capers and lemon juice, all rolled up into each bite. That is what you get when you eat this. I had trouble stopping at only a few mushrooms. Both Smitten Kitchen and Gourmet, which is where this recipe originally comes from, recommend using crusty pieces of bread to soak up the "mushroom butter juices". I tried this when the mushrooms first came out of the oven and let me tell you that they are sooooo right. It's pretty excellent.

Surprisingly, I didn't really change anything from the Smitten Kitchen recipe. The biggest change I made was using 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil instead of using 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. This happened because, as per usual, I wasn't reading the directions very well. I don't know what my issue is with reading. I was really good at it in elementary school and even today (shocking!). I just can't seem to follow the exact directions for a recipe. I'll blame it on my creative chef side trying to express itself.

When I make this recipe again, I will make some changes though. Every year or so, I try to eat parsley again and make myself like it. So far, no luck. So when this dish makes it's next appearance, I think I'll have to have the parsley sit on the sidelines. Honestly, I'm also not sure that I even needed the lemon juice. The mushrooms were excellent as-is, straight out of the oven. And if you happen to eat the entire pan in one sitting, they're so easy you can just whip up another batch!