When I went to Auckland a month or two ago I had the most amazing breakfast at Dear Jervois (click her to see the deliciousness). The balsamic mushrooms were so freaking good that I had to try find a way to recreate this dish at home ASAP.

Hannah and I invited some friends over for brunch to celebrate the long weekend – I know Labour weekend was a while ago, but hey I have been busy 😉 . I decided this would be a great time to crank out the shrooms.  The recipe is below.

CREAMY BALSAMIC MUSHROOMS

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 24 button mushrooms, sliced
• 5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 50 to 100 ml cream, depending on how indulgent you’re feeling
• salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

• Add the oil, garlic and mushrooms to a frying pan at medium heat and saute for a few minutes.
• Add half the balsamic vinegar to the pan and turn up the heat so it bubbles and reduces. When it’s reduced quite a bit, add the rest of the vinegar. Keep it bubbling but don’t let it reduce to nothing.
• Take it off the heat and add the cream, salt and pepper.
• Reduce the heat and place the pan back on the element. Cook until the cream is hot or until it has reduced to the consistency that you like.
• You can make the mushrooms in advance but make sure that you undercook the mushrooms in the first step, so that when you go to re-heat in the pan or the oven you don’t overcook them.
• Pour over crunchy ciabatta bread or serve as a side dish.
• If you are wanting to make this dish for a crowd, simply multiply the recipe by however many people you have coming for breakfast.