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I made stuffed portabello mushrooms caps last night. Yummy!

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HopeHoops Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Dec-27-09 02:06 PM
Original message
I made stuffed portabello mushrooms caps last night. Yummy!
Fresh steamed spinach, feta, sauted shallots, garlic, green pepper, and mushroom innards (the fins & some flesh to make room for stuffing) - oh, and bread crumbs and egg to hold it together. Damn were they yummy. I haven't made them in a couple of months, but the kids beg for them frequently. I just finished the rest of mine from last night. They are also rather filling.

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Biker13 Donating Member (609 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Dec-27-09 02:14 PM
Response to Original message
1. Thanks!
I was going to post and ask for a recipe! I love Feta cheese, and I'm going to try this on New Year's Eve.

Biker's Old Lady
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HopeHoops Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Dec-27-09 02:38 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. Okay - a few notes then...
Preheat oven to 350. Take out a stick of butter and leave it out to soften up. Butter up a cookie sheet with edges (you'll be sorry if you use a totally flat one - the dog's might not be). Use a small sharp knife like the cheapo ones with the colored plastic handles you can buy in the grocery store to cut around the inside edge of the cap to loosen the fins. Pull out the stem and use the same knife to slice under the fins and lift them out of the cap. That gives you a great cavity for filling. Shortly before baking, coat the outsides of the caps with butter using your hands. It doesn't have to be heavy, just enough to keep them from drying out. They'll soak up moisture from the filling.

Pre-cut everything. Either use shallots or sweet onion (Vidalia, Walla-Walla Sweets, or just something similar marked "sweet onion"). Garlic is optional. I used four large cloves for five mushroom caps (4-5" diameter). Peppers are a good option. I usually use red for color, but the damn things were $4.50/lb so I went with the $.99/lb green ones this time. Celery and carrots are other options.

I got a bag of fresh spinach and filled a steamer with it. You only want to steam it until it softens and collapses. You don't need to steam it into goo. Transfer it to a metal bowl and use a sharp knife and a fork to slice it up into 1" cubes. Then fluff it with the fork. That's just to break it apart. Otherwise, you get huge clumps in the filling.

I prefer block feta because it is easier to judge how much I use, but all I could find on short notice was pre-crumbled. Either works, about 1-1.5 oz per cap of this size.

I cheat on the bread crumbs - the ones that come in the can. If they are "seasoned", don't add any spices. Otherwise, go with dried basil, oregano, parsley, and some paprika.

The egg is "as needed" depending on the quantity. It took 2 to get the consistency I wanted for this batch.

Saute the veggies in olive oil starting with the shallots/onions, peppers, then garlic and finally the mushroom parts. Use a slightly more oil than less as you'll get better results and when you transfer the veggies to the mixing bowl you can drain off the extra oil by using the spatula to pull them to the upper side and over the edge.

Let everything cool before mixing or the egg will set and that's never good unless you're making fried rice.

Put the veggies in a mixing bowl and add just enough bread crumbs to soak up the oil. Then add the spinach. Mix that and add more bread crumbs to soak up the spinach water. When you're happy with the consistency, add the feta and some more bread crumbs. Finally, add the egg(s) and if it seems too dry, add another. If it seems too wet, add more bread crumbs. Stir the crap out of it and then start stuffing the caps. If there is extra, discard it. It won't keep or be useful for anything later. I mound the caps and haven't had extra in probably 20 years.

Put the baking sheet in the oven and set a timer for 30 minutes. Use a little less time for smaller ones (2-3") and even less if you use button mushrooms (watch them, don't time them). Depending on the amount of stuffing and size of mushrooms, you may need another 5-10 minutes. It is okay if they look flat and brown, but if they catch fire then you've definitely had them in for too long.

The cooking time is a little more important if you use egg. I don't always and without the egg you can go for less time and a more "meaty" mushroom.

These things are FILLING! Don't serve them with rice, pasta, or anything other than a light bread in the way of starch.

Also, be creative. Use steamed asparagus instead of spinach. Gorgonzola is a fine replacement for feta. Then there's the "what the hell do I have in the fridge" recipe. The basics don't change. If you don't have bread crumbs, mutilate a handful of saltine crackers. If you add black olives, you're pretty much begging for capers. Stay away from squash - it releases too much water when it is cooked.

Enjoy!

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Biker13 Donating Member (609 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Dec-27-09 02:50 PM
Response to Reply #2
3. Thank You!
You are so sweet for taking the time to post this! :yourock:

I think I'll make the pup happy though!

But really, I'm going to make these on New Year's Eve, I'll let you know how they turn out.

Now I know who to call out when I have cooking questions!

Biker's Old Lady
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HopeHoops Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Dec-27-09 02:58 PM
Response to Reply #3
4. If you're making the big caps, get ones that are "deep".
By that, I mean the amount of flesh if you put your thumb on the cap and your finger on the fins. The deeper, the easier it will be to strip out the fins. Don't worry if the edges break a bit. That won't matter in the long run. Just cook them along with the rest of the cap, attached or not.

Now, since you mentioned New Year's Eve, if you're thinking button mushrooms along with other treats, that would be better. This is a "meal" food, not a munchie. This will work fine with button mushrooms but you want the large ones that have enough room for stuffing. All you have to do with those is rip out the stem - no fin work. Eliminate the egg. It won't matter. If you're making a lot of them, save time by getting frozen leaf spinach (or chopped if they don't have leaf). DO NOT USE CANNED! Just put the spinach in boiling water long enough to defrost it and bring it up to at least room temperature. It will heat in the oven. You'll also need to chop the veggies smaller and almost flash cook them - just enough to soften the shallots/onion. You can make a shitload of button mushroom caps in short order with very little work if you just stop and think, "Why would I need to do THAT?"

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mzteris Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Dec-27-09 03:39 PM
Response to Reply #2
5. Yum!
Someone should cross post this in the veggie forum!!
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Biker13 Donating Member (609 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 01:54 PM
Response to Original message
6. BIG HIT!!
Edited on Fri Jan-01-10 01:54 PM by Biker13
We have a new favorite now. Thank you so much!!

Biker's Old Lady
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