August 16, 2010

Mouth-Watering Stuffed Mushrooms


Raise your hand if you love mushrooms as much as I do.

Now, put your hand down.

Because NO ONE loves muchrooms as much as I do.

You may think you do...

But, you are wrong.

Sorry

Forgive Sarah, she just got a macro lens...and can not be trusted with it.
But, you must admit, the pictures are pretty amazing.
Even though she sent me 500 that look just like this one.




I made this recipe before Sarah, and tweaked it around a bit and then she made it, and tweaked it around a bit more. And now I think we have it down perfect.

Perfect I tell you!


The flavor and texture of the cream cheese with the garlic and mushroom stems work so well with the paprika and Parmesan cheese. For a bit of crunch I switched out half an onion for the onion powder in the recipe and Sarah ended up adding breadcrumbs to the top. Also, the Recipe called for cayenne pepper but we used paprika and coriander, a match made in heaven



You'll need a lot of mushrooms.
Just when you think you have washed, de-stemmed, and taken pictures of enough...make more.
and then more.
and more.
Okay, not that much,
But alot.
Precisely, about 24. Or maybe 30 if youre like me and end up eating a whole bowl of these and decide that sharing is NOT acceptable.

Chop half of the stems extremely fine...(yes, extremely or you will end up with a lumpy filling. Good in theory, but not so good in reality), discard of the rest.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn the garlic (If you do burn the garlic, feel free to comment here and tell me, it will make me feel better about burning my garlic.

Set aside to cool.

When garlic and mushroom mixture is no longer hot (or, if you are impatient like me, still pretty hot, just no longer piping hot), stir in cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, Onion, paprika, and coriander. Mixture should be very thick. Using a little spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing...by generous I mean fill till it is overflowing....


...then add even more on top of that.



Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared cookie sheet, top with breadcrumbs.
Bake for about 30 minutes at 350, or until the tops are browned.


Attempt to wait till they are no longer hot, then pop one into your mouth and enjoy...
...then spend the rest of the day with a tingly tongue, wishing you had waited till they were no longer hot to eat.
Enjoy.
Official Ingredients List and Directions

24 whole fresh mushrooms

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 onion,diced

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp coriander

breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off stems. Chop stems extremely fine, discarding tough end of stems.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic. Set aside to cool.

When garlic and mushroom mixture is no longer hot, stir in rest of ingredients. Mixture should be very thick.

Using a little spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing. Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under caps.