Marinated Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 1 lb fresh button mushrooms
• 1 medium fresh lemon
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 5 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 dried bay leaf
• to taste salt and pepper

Directions

1. Give the mushrooms a rinse under cool water in a colander, loosening any dirt as you go. Slice them into halves or quarters so the pieces are roughly the same size, then put them aside. Peel and mince the 2 cloves of garlic, then set that aside too. Zest the lemon, squeeze out the juice, and keep both ready.
2. Warm half of the olive oil, 2 Tbsp, in a large skillet, then add the mushrooms. Cook them until they soften and give off most of their liquid, about 5 minutes. When they are ready, they will have shrunk down and turned a deep taupe shade. Leave any juices in the skillet right where they are.
3. Take the skillet off the heat and stir in the lemon juice, lemon zest, minced garlic, thyme leaves, bay leaves, 2 Tbsp olive oil, salt, and pepper. To strip the thyme, hold the tip of each sprig and pull downward toward the base so the leaves come away easily.
4. Mix everything thoroughly, then transfer it to a bowl and let it sit until it reaches room temperature. This gives the mushrooms time to marinate and the flavors time to settle in together.