Real Talk Time: mushrooms are weird.
Whichever one of our ancestors looked at these weird white things growing on a rotten tree and decided to not only touch them, but eat them, must have been verrrry hungry. Not to mention they probably died because they ate the poisonous ones.
Thank you for your sacrifice, Oog-Oog, because thanks to you, we know that mushrooms are DELICIOUS.
Sliced thinly over a salad… chopped and cooked in butter and tossed over some steak… mixed with mushrooms and garlic… mmmmmmmmushroommmmmmms.
I’ve been longingly staring at some ‘stuffed’ recipes for a while, trying to think of what I could stuff and bake besides an eggplant, pepper or a tomato. I feel a little dumb for not thinking of stuffing mushrooms until I was standing in the grocery store looking at a box of mushrooms that were labeled ‘Stuffing Mushrooms’. DUH. Clearly I wouldn’t have survived much longer than Oog-Oog, my critical thinking skills were a little slow that day.
These mushrooms are a perfect holiday party appetizer or hot snack. They’re pretty easy to throw together, and quite versatile!
The first thing we want to do is pull out the stems of all our mushrooms. Just dig your (clean) fingers in there, and twist and pull. If it’s not perfect, that’s okay, no one will see it anyway!
Chop up all the stems as finely as you can. A quick turn in the food processor if you have one should do it, or just chop ‘em with a knife.
In a pan, we’re going to sauté the chopped mushroom stems, onions and garlic. And your kitchen is going to smell heavenlyyyyy. I know that Cajuns have the ‘Holy Trinity’ of spices: peppers, onions and celery, well this is my Holy Trinity! Onions, garlic and mushrooms!
Cook them until they’re soft and golden brown.
Toss everything in a bowl with some feta cheese and some crispy bacon, and mix everything together!
Then, just spoon the mixture into the mushrooms. If they’re a little over-flowing that is perfect!
It is so hard to resist eating them right now…
Okay, okay, fine, you got me, there were a couple that weren’t quite as photogenic as the others, and I found it necessary to cull the herd a bit. I regret nothing.
Now a little olive oil drizzled over the top for propriety.
Toss those babies in the oven on a baking sheet. And wait….. and wait… and wait… until they emerge, like a beautiful golden-brown butterfly.
They are so crispy and juicy….
Mouth-wateringly delicious…
How hard will you judge me if I say I might have eaten all of these for lunch on photoshoot day?
Juice dripping down my chin…
As I said before: I regret NOTHING. Thanks, Oog-Oog, you were the best.
- 8 'Stuffing Mushrooms' (large button mushrooms), cleaned with a damp paper towel
- 2 strips of bacon , cooked until crispy
- 2 square inches feta cheese
- 1/4 onion (I used a red onion for colour, but you can use yellow or sweet)
- 2 cloves of garlic , minced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
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Preheat oven to 350°
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Cook the bacon until crispy, and then set aside to drain.
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Twist and pull the stems out of the mushrooms, and chop until fine (you can also use a food processor for just a quick turn or two).
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Chop your onion, and sauté with mushroom stems and minced garlic in a pan until golden brown.
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In a bowl, crumble and mix bacon with feta cheese and the sautéed onion, mushroom, and garlic.
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Spoon the mixture into the hollowed out mushrooms, drizzle with olive oil, and set on a baking sheet.
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Place the stuffed mushrooms in the oven, and bake for 20 minutes.
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Remove and let cool for at least 5 minutes. Enjoy!
