Portobello mushrooms stuffed with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes

I've been gone so long, it's doubtful I have any followers left at all, but just in case......   I've come to share the promised recipe for stuffed mushrooms.  But before I share the recipe, I must make my excuses!  Firstly, I just returned a few days ago from a trip to Haiti, where I went for days and days without an Internet connection making it impossible for me to blog!  You can read about my visit to a Haitian kitchen by clicking this link.  Secondly, shortly before leaving on my trip, I began writing articles for an online magazine called Examiner.com.  My articles are food focused (surprise! surprise!) with a local connection.  If you are interested, you can read my articles by clicking this link.

Now, back to the mushrooms.  I found this recipe in a book called Crescent City Collection.   It's a fabulous cookbook that I purchased in New Orleans when Eddy and I where there celebrating our 20th anniversary.  If you can get your hands on this cookbook, I recommend you purchase it!  So far, everything I have tried from its pages has turned out delicious!  These mushrooms are very easy to make and always bring me compliments when I serve them to guests.

Here is my edited version of the recipe for spinach-stuffed mushrooms:

Ingredients:

1 recipe Red Wine Vinaigrette (see below)

6 large portobello mushroom caps

Olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 large clove garlic, minced

a squeeze of lemon juice

3 tightly packed cups of spinach,

8 sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil, drained and and chopped

hot sauce to taste (I prefer a habanero sauce over Tabasco)

salt & pepper to taste

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Method:

1.  Marinate the mushroom caps in the vinaigrette for several hours

2.  Heat a swirl of olive oil in large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic and saute until tender.

3.  Add the lemon juice, spinach, and tomatoes and continue to saute until the spinach wilts.  Season with s&p and hot sauce.

4.  Remove the mushrooms from the marinade and broil (or grill) for about 6 minutes per side.  Let cool.

5.  Place the mushroom caps on a baking sheet and sprinkle half the Parmesan over the insides.  Mound the spinach mixture equally into each cap.  Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan.  (the recipe can be made ahead to this point.)

6.  Just before serving, broil the stuffed mushrooms until cheese is golden (about 5 minutes).

For the Red Wine Vinaigrette

Combine and whisk until well mixed:

2 T red wine vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

3 t Dijon mustard

1/2 t sugar

1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

1 t chopped chives

Portobello Mushroom Burgers

My sister likes to make fun of me for planning meals days in advance.  But sometimes that's what you've got to do if the ingredients are not already sitting in your cupboard.  I have this wonderful cookbook given to me by a dear friend titled The Whole Foods Market Cookbook.  Amost eveything I have tried making from it has been a delicious success.  This book is filled with mouth-watering recipes and has a section on burgers, patties, and griddlecakes that makes me giddy with anticipation when I think about trying them.  The burgers and patties are made with such wonderful things as quinoa, barley, dried beans, couscous, and spicy smashed potatoes.  Tonight I tried out the portobello mushroom burgers with caramelized onions and goat cheese, and they turned out fantastic!

The burgers were quite fragile so I was glad the recipe called for baking them in the oven as opposed to pan frying them or (the horror) grilling them.  But with a little careful attention, they were easily removed from the baking pan and placed on the bun.  The burgers had a great big taste with a deliciously chewy texture and bits of crunch.  The meltingly sweet caramelized onions were perfectly off-set by the tangy goat cheese.

The reason I had to plan a day in advance is because the grocery list required a quick trip to our food co-op as some of the ingredients are not available in my regular grocery store, ie white miso and raw cashews.

If you'd like to try these burgers yourself, here is my modified version of the recipe:

2 large portobello mushroom caps

2 cups button mushrooms

1 T olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 small carrot, grated

2 cloves garlic, mashed

1 c. raw cashews

1/3 c. sunflower seeds (I used roasted, salted)

2 T white miso

2 t lemon juice

1 T sherry

1/2 t freshly ground pepper

1 c cooked brown rice (I used a brown/wild rice mix)

1 c dried bread crumbs

Finely chop the mushrooms (this can be done in a food processor).  Heat the olive oil and saute the mushrooms, onion, carrot and garlic until wilted (2 to 3 minutes). 

Process the cashews, sunflower seeds, miso, lemon juice, sherry and ground pepper in the food processor until a light paste is formed. 

Blend all the ingredients together.

(At this point, you can bake the burgers, but it is best if you can let them sit for at least 6 hours in the fridge.)

Lightly oil a baking sheet and place mounds of the mixture on the pan, pressing into the size and shape of a regular burger.  Bake at 375 for 25 to 30 minutes.

Serve on a bun with caramelized onions and goat cheese.  YUM!