I've been on a mushroom kick lately, reliving all the tasty goodness of our fungal friends from the forest. I think my Dad's death has made me think more about his background and, therefore, my background, all of this thinking resulting in eating more Polish food. Mushrooms are big in Polish food. I'd never made stuffed mushrooms before, though I do love them, so I thought that would be a good thing to make. I experimented with a couple of recipes from a fundraiser cookbook put together by the Laydeez Guild of Holy Wisdom Byzantine Catholic Church in Flanders, NJ.
I love the metaphorical homemade flavor of these cookbooks, e.g., one of the stuffed mushroom recipes lists an ingredient, yet never tells you what to do with it. Heh. I'll probably do that here. The recipe that follows is a mishmash of the three stuffed mushroom recipes in the book, plus a little je ne sais quoi of my own.
Ingredients (rough amounts):
- 1-1/2 lb. large fresh mushrooms (about 18 mushrooms)
- 2 c. bread crumbs, separated
- olive oil for sauteeing
- 1/2 c. finely chopped veggies for crunch, e.g., celery, onion
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped; more if you like your garlic
- 1/2 c. chopped tomato
- 2 T. parsley
- 2 T. oregano
- kosher salt
- cracked black pepper
- 2 T. fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 c. shredded cheese (Cheddar, Jack, Colby, American, Swiss...can use Italian bread crumbs and Italian seasonings [instead of just parsley and oregano] and use Provolone for an Italiany flavor)
- 4 T. butter, melted
What to do with the ingredients:
- Rinse & pat dry mushrooms.
- Remove stems from mushrooms and chop finely.
- Set aside mushroom caps.
- Heat a little oil in a skillet.
- Add in the finely chopped stuff, adding in the crunchier stuff first: garlic, onion, celery, mushroom stem bits, tomato.
- Add in herbs, pinch of kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste.
- Saute until the crunchy bits are slightly browned & softened.
- Put skillet mixture in a bowl.
- Add lemon juice, cheese and 1 c. bread crumbs to skillet mixture.
- Fill mushroom caps with skillet mixture.
- Combine 1 c. bread crumbs & melted butter.
- Spread bread crumb/butter mixture over tops of stuffed mushrooms.
- Spread some olive oil in the bottom of a baking pan.
- Place stuffed mushrooms in pan.
- Bake in a 350 oven for 20 minutes or until heated through. Watch that they don't burn.
- Optional: After baking, can broil for a few minutes until tops are browned. If you do this, you may want to brush a little extra butter on top of the stuffed mushrooms.
- After the mushrooms are done, don't forget the juicy goodness that accumulated in the bottom of the pan during cooking! Spoon it over the mushrooms!
Note: I haven't really got the mishmash recipe down...I kind of just do what I feel like doing that day from each of the three recipes; also, it depends on what I have on hand that's fresh or not so fresh and I want to use up. So feel free to mix it up as you like.
Before going into the oven:
Close up:
The finished shroom:
The shrooms in these pictures were a little less moist than I would have liked, so I altered the ingredients to include more moisture. The above ingredient list reflects those changes, but I think I may add just a little more moisture next time.
Looking at those delicious mushrooms with an empty stomach is a really bad idea. It made me hungrier. Leaving that aside, thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe. I'll try making this next weekend.
Posted by: Mack Shepperson | Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at 05:59 PM