Mushroom Confit with Fresh Herbs

My daughter Allison has acquired her Father's attraction to savory little tidbits that wake up the palate and quench one's need for a snack while, at the same time, requiring minimal effort to prepare and consume. 

These mushrooms, simmered in a liberal amount of good olive oil are subtly flavored with fresh garlic, herbs and sherry but also pack a bit of piquancy from the red pepper flakes and cracked black pepper.  Not only are these a great noshing item but they can be used in a "tapas" situation with a nice dry port / sherry, a welcome addition to a salad course or antipasto or a flavor element on top of a pasta course.  The residual olive oil base from this preparation matches well as the oil component in a vinaigrette or in the preparation of garlic bread.

To prepare, you'll need the following ingredients:

• 1 lb quartered button and/or baby bella mushrooms
• 8-10 cloves of fresh garlic, coursely chopped
• 1 tsp course or kosher salt or, to taste
• 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper or, to taste
• 1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes or, to taste
• 1/4 c good sherry or dry port wine
• generous pinch of fresh thyme
• generous pinch of fresh tarragon
• generous pinch of fresh rosemary
• generous / liberal amount of high quality olive oil

Heat a 3 qt sauce pan over high heat until very hot.  Add 1-2 tbsp of olive oil followed immediately by the quartered mushrooms.  Resist the urge to stir here as the mushrooms will lose their moisture and begin to stew in their own liquid instead of browning.  Toss the mushrooms briefly after approximately 1 minute allowing additional browning / caramelization to occur.  After a 2nd minute of browning, reduce heat to medium and add garlic, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and stir frequently for an additional minute to prevent the garlic from burning.  Temporarily remove from heat to add sherry / dry port wine and return to heat stirring occasionally to largely reduce liquid -- approximately 1 minute.  Finally, add fresh herbs and cover generously with a good quality olive oil.  Reduce heat to simmer and lightly simmer for 30 minutes until mushrooms are well cooked and garlic is softened.

Enjoy at room temperature.  These should be consumed within 48 hrs of preparation.