Today, a brief and culinary pause in the Erica/Dave wedding story–but be back tomorrow for all the pictures of the bride getting dressed. All very decent, I assure you.
I recently experienced a cooking failure making stuffed portobellos. I oversalted them, and there was wa-ay too much garlic–can you believe it? I never thought I’d use the phrase “too much garlic”, but considering I woke myself up at 2am due to my own overpowering garlic breath, it seems appropriate. These are the culprits:
They look so innocent . . . even delicious. But you’ll have to take my word for it: they were not.
“If you don’t succeed, try, try again” I whispered to myself as I walked to the El to catch the train to work. “If you don’t succeed, try, try again,” I murmured as I transferred to the Belmont bus. “If you don’t succeed . . .”–but you get the idea.
After all this self-motivation business, I dug in and determined to give it another try. I sat before my computer screen and fantasized about taking a bite of the fabulous, meaty mushroom that we’ve all come to love: what flavors did I want in my mouth? Garlic, definitely . . . a little wine . . . some mozzarella . . . something meaty, something red . . . and thus this recipe was born. I typed it up and tested it on my parents when they popped down to Chicago for a visit. I bring you the results. You will love them.
Ingredients
(Serves 4)
5 Portobello mushrooms, wiped clean
1 TBS olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 pre-cooked bratwursts, chopped
3-4 slices fresh mozzarella, torn
1 roasted red pepper, torn
5 TBS white wine
10 tsp heavy cream
5 dashes salt
5 dashes black pepper
First I should explain–I used 5 mushrooms, but put “serves 4” because there’s always someone who wants a little more. Technically though, you could do 1 mushroom per person. That is, if you’re a mushroom miser.
Let’s begin: heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Remove the stems from the Portobellos, chop the stems, and set them aside. Chop your brats as well. I found these brats next to the hot dogs–they’re precooked, which saves some time. And they’re reeeaal good.
Lay the Portobello caps on a baking sheet, rounded side down. Mix the olive oil and minced garlic, spread it over the portobellos with a pastry brush, and sprinkle them with a little salt and pepper.
Pour 1 TBS wine and 2 tsp cream in each mushroom cap.
Heat a pan over medium-high and add the chopped bratwursts and chopped mushroom stems. Cook 7-8 minutes or until browned. They will start out looking pale and sickly:
. . . but with my dad’s tender care . . .
. . . they browned quite nicely. Good job, Dad.
Now let’s grab the fun stuff:
Tear the mozzarella slices and roasted red pepper, and lay the pieces in each mushroom.
Top with the bratwurst/mushroom stem mixture.
Put the whole shebang in your 400 degree oven for 12 minutes, then serve ’em up. Mmmm . . .
Serve with Tangy Lemon Spinach (recipe coming soon) and white rice.
Lessons learned from initial failure and subsequent success:
- Do not oversalt. Do not oversalt. You can always add salt, but once it’s in there it’s too late. Record yourself saying this on a looped track and play it as you sleep for maximum absorption.
- Experimentation will not always result in astounding success.
- Experimentation will inevitably result in astounding success when white wine and cream are involved.
Click here for printer-friendly version: Garlicky Stuffed Portobellos
If you taste it at this point, it will seem a little overseasoned, but once the spinach goes in everything will make sense. Turn the heat down a little further and add the spinach. It will look like way too much, but don’t worry–it cooks down fast.
