Champinones al Ajillo, or Spanish Garlic mushrooms for those who lack a Spanish speaking tongue, are a tasty recipe that can be made up quickly in just under twenty minutes. They are an excellent snack food which are served in bars all over Spain with the dozens of equally delicious tapas, or appetizers. Tapas are known for being exceptionally flavorful and are served with alcoholic beverages. Usually the tapa served has flavors which compliment the drink purchased. These garlic mushrooms would be served with a dark beer or a red wine.

It’s good to pick the biggest mushrooms you can find and quarter them into semi uniform pieces. The closer all the pieces are in size, the more evenly they will cook. If you let mushrooms cook too long they will get rubbery, so keep an eye on them. The saffron we used in this recipe is optional, but if you do choose to use it we suggest adding it to the pan while the mushrooms are still in the pan but after it has been removed from the heat, which is exactly what Jeff did. Another optional ingredient is the chile flakes, but these are probably the best part of the whole thing. We used Morita Chile Flakes and the spiciness lingered for just a few moments, but it didn’t overpower the flavors. Instead, the heat from the chile flakes complimented the garlic quite nicely.

These mushrooms can be served alone as a tapas dish, but a good bread alongside them would do just fine. There is a lot of leftover juices after the mushrooms have been cooked and the bread is excellent for sopping it up and enjoying that extra flavor for just a little while longer.

Makes 4 servings.