Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Pickled Mushrooms

I adore mushrooms, and that includes the pickled ones (or I guess you could call them marinated) that show up on olive bars in grocery stores. Every time I pass by those, I'm tempted to fill a container. Sometimes I do.

And then I'm tempted to snack on them every time I open the refrigerator.

Once in a while, I make my own. These are pretty great - not sweet, but not too hugely tart. Lemon and wine vinegar add their own personality. There's just enough red pepper to give them a little pop, but not so much that they've got bite.

Oh - and check out the cool green jar - these are the latest special edition canning jars from Ball.

Pickled Mushrooms

1 pound button mushrooms
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
Pinch of red pepper flakes
3/4 cup wine vinegar
1 1/4 cups water
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Clean the mushrooms. If they're small, leave them whole. Otherwise halve, quarter, or slice them - whatever you choose.

Peel the onion, quarter, and cut into 1/4 inch slices.

Drop the garlic into a quart canning jar, then layer the mushrooms and onions in. You might have a few mushrooms left over - it depends on how well you pack.

Combine the sugar, salt, oregano, pepper flakes, vinegar, and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring a bit to make sure the sugar and salt dissolve. Pour this over the mushrooms in the jar. Add the lemon juice.

Put the lid on the jar, and let it cool to room temperature, then refrigerate.

These are good as soon as they're cool, but they improve over the next few days.
Yum