Designer Mushrooms

So in some circles I am considered the “appetizer queen.” When we moved from Seattle our friends hosted a going-away gathering and presented me with a lovely, tacky tiara which I have worn on every Halloween since. Here are two of my favorite stuffed mushroom recipes:

Parmesan Mushrooms

½ lb. large (but not so big you have to cut them to eat them) white mushrooms

½ c. butter

½ c. minced onions

½ c. bread crumbs (these can be fresh or from that nice convenient can)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. fresh parsley or ½ half tsp. dried

¼ tsp. oregano

¼ c. parmesan cheese*

Clean mushrooms and removes stems. Sautee caps in a few tablespoons of butter so they are not so hard. I do this until they turn lightly brown. Drain. Melt butter in medium frying pan. Chop stems and add to butter along with all ingredients except the cheese and bread crumbs. Cook until stems are soft and garlic and onion are nicely tender. Add cheese and crumbs. Try not to eat too much of the mixture before you get it to the mushrooms. Fill drained caps solidly and put in baking pan and broil until brown and a bit bubbly (about 5 minutes in a pre-heated broiler). Of course, watch carefully as I have never had a broiler that didn’t lose control once in awhile. If you do have any stuffing left, you can use it to stuff a tomato. Enjoy!

*Becky Knows Everything: Use Kraft parmesan cheese out of the green canister - it really works best.

Bacon/Herb Mushrooms

These are very simple stuffed mushrooms but extremely delicious.

1 container of herb/garlic cheese spread (you know like Alouette or one like that)

6 slices of bacon, fried, drained and chopped into small pieces*

2 tsp. minced fresh parsley

1 lb. large white mushrooms (not too large) stems removed

Sautee mushroom caps in a few tablespoons of butter until golden and softened. Drain. Combine cheese, parsley and bacon pieces. Stuff mushrooms. Broil for about 5 minutes until bubbly and heated through. If you broiler makes you nervous, these can be baked at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, but check on them sooner. Let cool a moment before serving.

*Becky Knows Everything: If you don’t want to fry the bacon and clean that nasty pan, the bacon can be put in the microwave on a plate covered in paper towels. Ordinarily I don’t like this method since the bacon gets so hard but for this recipe, since you are chopping it up anyway, it is fine.