Stuffed Mushrooms!

I was at the hair salon last week, and Karen, the miracle worker who was applying her magic to my tresses, asked me what my plans were for the weekend.

I told her that the highlight of my weekend would be dinner at a friend's house on Saturday night.  I would be bringing appetizers. 

Karen, bless her coiffure-rescuing soul, follows this blog.  "What are you going to make?" she asked.

Artichoke Dip and stuffed mushrooms, I replied.  Artichoke dip, because Mr. Terrific likes it so much.  And stuffed mushrooms, because I love mushrooms.  

And then the questions started.  How do you cook them? What do you stuff them with?  I couldn't give her the exact measurements, because when I make stuffed mushrooms it's one of those recipes where I just throw everything together until it feels right and looks right and smells right.

I promised Karen I would measure the ingredients when I made the mushrooms, and then I would blog about it.  So Karen, here is the recipe I promised you!

Today's Playlist

• "Brain Stew"......Green Day
• "Steady, As She Goes".......The Raconteurs
• "No One Knows"........Queens Of The Stone Age
• "I Wanna Be Sedated".........Ramones
• "If Ever I Stray"........Frank Turner
• "Last Night".....The Strokes
• "Everybody Talks".......Neon Trees
• "Ball And Chain"......Social Distortion
• "Come Out And Play"......The Offspring

Stuffed Mushrooms
printable recipe

• 24 oz. whole mushrooms
• 1 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
• 1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese

olive oil, for greasing the pan

Gather your ingredients.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

(I must say, this recipe is very forgiving as far as cooking temperature goes.  I cooked them at 375 degrees this time because I also had the Artichoke Dip in the oven, and 375 degrees is the temp that       I needed to cook the dip.  I know that there have been other occasions when I've had the oven set at 350 or 400 degrees for other recipes and have thrown the mushrooms into the oven alongside and they've come out fine.  All you have to do is adjust your cooking time accordingly.  And now, back to our recipe.)

Do your prep work.

Chop up your bacon, and fry it in a pan over medium heat until it's crispy.  Remember to stir it occasionally.

I never remember to cook my bacon in advance, and today is no different.  I like to cook the bacon in advance because it's hard to crumble when it's too hot to handle.  So, to solve this problem, I don't worry about cooking it in advance.  I just chop it up and cook it while I'm prepping the rest of the ingredients.

Wash your mushrooms and pull the stems out.  You can save the stems for another use if you like (add to soups, stews or other stuffings).

You can use whatever type and size of mushrooms that you like.  Today, I just used white stuffing mushrooms.

Melt the butter in a medium-sized bowl (large enough to easily hold and stir all of the ingredients in).  

I know, I know, this is not totally melted.  I zapped it in the microwave for 45 seconds, it's mostly melted and what's not melted is really, really soft and that's all that matters.    You just need to be able to easily stir the butter into the rest of the ingredients.

Add the bread crumbs into the bowl with the (sort of) melted butter.

This time, I am using unseasoned panko bread crumbs.  Sometimes I use seasoned bread crumbs (in which case I would omit the garlic powder).  I don't use fresh bread crumbs, because the moisture content is too high and the stuffing gets too mushy.

Add the sour cream.

Add the garlic powder.

You may have noticed that in the picture of ingredients, I had fresh garlic.  When the time came to add garlic into the bowl, I decided to use garlic powder instead.  I don't know why.  It just seemed the right thing to do.

Add the cheese.  I'm using Monterey jack, but you can use whatever type of cheese you like.

By now your bacon should be done.

 Remove the bacon from the pan and place it onto a paper towel to drain.

Mix up the stuffing ingredients.

Stir the bacon into the stuffing.

Brush some olive oil onto a baking sheet, so the mushrooms don't stick while they cook.

Stuff your mushrooms.  Grab a tablespoon of the stuffing, form it into a ball and stuff it into the mushroom.  It will flatten a bit when it cooks.

Stuff 'em all.

Bake them in your preheated 375-degree oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the mushrooms have softened and the stuffing is starting to brown and crisp on the top.

Enjoy!