Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms for a Meatless Monday Dinner

Recently I had a delicious stuffed portabella mushroom at 

at a UClub lunch. 

And although that portabella mushroom was much too large

for me to finish, I wanted to recreate that recipe.

I was on a mission.

 I even paired the portabella mushroom with a wild rice pilaf.

Can't you just feel the healthy?

And by the way, 

I read a piece today on the Huff Post that suggested 

that it isn't eating homemade foods that will lead to longer lives

(as much as ten years),

but cooking those homemade foods that will.

So, if you want to live longer, healthier lives,

get in the kitchen and cook!

 The ingredients for three stuffed portabella mushrooms :

2 tablespoons minced red bell pepper

the stems of the portabella mushrooms

2 tablespoons minced red onion

1 rib celery, minced

1/4 summer squash, minced

1/4 carrot, minced (not shown)

1 large clove garlic, grated

1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs

3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 cup Parmiginao Reggiano

1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

 While I sauteed the veggies for the stuffing,

I drizzled some olive oil on the gills of the portabella mushrooms

and placed them in a 450 degree toaster oven for about 10 minutes.

 I added the Panko bread crumbs to the mix.

These sauteed for about ten minutes.

Then we tossed them with the cheeses and decided that 

we had a winner.

 The melted cheeses helped the toppings to stick together.

These went back into the toaster oven for about 15 minutes.

 The decision?

This is a keeper!

Even the uber-picky Mr. Foodie liked this dish.

 Oh, and we had entertainment while dining.

Cats and their catPads.

Stuffed Mushrooms

I had some Crimini mushrooms left over from when
I had made Beef Stroganoff a week or so ago.

I decided to make some Stuffed Mushrooms for
Sunday lunch.

As usual, I couldn't decide on one recipe,
so I once again mashed recipes.

Oh, don't be surprised.
You should be used to that by now.

I started with this recipe from Epicurious
and changed it to this:

1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon pepper
10 large Crimini mushrooms
1 breakfast sausage patty
2 tablespoons minced onion
2 ribs celery, minced
2 garlic cloves, grated
1 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped
1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated
1/4 cup Queso Fresco, crumbled
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Cook the sausage patty and crumble it as it cooks.
As it cooks, Add the onion, celery and the garlic.

Add the Panko bread crumbs, the oregano, the cheeses,
1/4 teaspoon of the salt, the pepper, parsley and the oil in a
mixing bowl.

Once the sausage mixture has cooked and cooled,
add it to the Panko bread crumb mixture and stir
to combine.

Meanwhile, pull the stems from the caps and save the stems
for another recipe (they can be used in stocks or soups).
Place the caps, stemmed side down on a baking sheet
and bake in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes until
the mushrooms exude liquid.

Remove from the oven and turn over so they can be stuffed.

I need to work on my stuffing skills.

These go back in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes.

I had some stuffing left over for another dish.
I put that in a container and popped that in the freezer.

This was a nice, unexpected departure from the usual
lunch.

Friday Night Dinner

Friday nights in the fall usually mean that it is just my husband and myself for dinner.

Tonight was no exception and our dinner plans all started with a perusal of the refrigerator.

I found a few large Crimini mushrooms that needed to be used soon.

I think I feel a plan coming on.

And this is the result.

Am I good or what?

I found a recipe for stuffed mushrooms, but as I didn't have lobster, crab, Hungarian pepper, green bell pepper or Monterey Jack cheese, this would obviously take quite a bit of reworking.

Here I have:

3 large Crimini mushrooms

1 green onion, diced

fresh thyme

1 garlic clove, grated

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Ritz (c) crackers

Provolone cheese

Mozzarella cheese, grated

olive oil

salt

black pepper

paprika

I pulled the stems out of the mushrooms and chopped the stems up finely.

The garlic and onion were sauteed over medium-high heat in a bit of olive oil for a couple of minutes.

Then the mushrooms were added in.

In the meantime, the crackers were crushed and the salt, pepper, paprika and thyme were added and mixed in.

The cooked, minced shrimp were added in before the pan was taken off the heat.

The cracker crumb mixture is stirred in.

The stuffing is packed into the mushrooms.

Thin strips of Provolone cheese go on top while melted butter is drizzled over the tops of the mushrooms.

These go into a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 20 minutes.

And on to the next course.

When choosing scallops, make sure to read the package label.

Scallops should have no water added and no chemical enhancement.

After thawing the shrimp in cold water in the refrigerator, I carefully cut into the backs, butterflying them.

These are are medium shrimp, or 31-40 shrimp per pound.

I had left-over stuffing for the mushrooms, so what better way to use the rest up than by stuffing the shrimp?

The shrimp took just a few minutes to bake in the oven.



This is looking good.

The salad is a nice touch.

The stuffed shrimp were delicious and different.

The stuffed mushrooms were wonderful, despite the numerous substitutions.

I will have to make these again.

And what can I say?

I just love bacon-wrapped scallops.

Cooked bacon is wrapped around the scallops and paprika is sprinkled on top before the scallops are seared in oil over high heat.

Don't overcook these as they will become tough and rubbery.

The husband's response to dinner?

"Not bad."

Hmph.