Stuffed Mushrooms

One of my favorite appetizers is stuffed mushrooms.  I am including two different recipes - one for sausage stuffed mushrooms, and one for crab stuffed mushrooms.  Here are the ingredients for the sausage stuffed mushrooms:

1 pound sausage
1 cup shredded or roped Provel/Provolone cheese
2 tablespoons minced onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 package of large button mushrooms, washed and stems removed
Drizzle of olive oil

Mix all ingredients together and roll a small amount into a ball.  Place each ball inside a mushroom cap.  Drizzle olive oil over the top.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until sausage is thoroughly cooked.

Here are the ingredients for crab stuffed mushrooms:

2 cans of crab meat, drained
1 cups of breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons minced onion
1/2 stick of melted butter
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 large package of mushrooms, washed and stems removed
Drizzle of olive oil

Mix all ingredients together and place a small ball of the mixture in each mushroom cap.  Drizzle with olive oil and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until mushrooms cooked through.

Enjoy!

Julia Child's Chicken With A Mushroom Cream Sauce

I love Pinterest!  Yes, I admit to a Pinterest addiction.  I have another confession:  I pin a lot but don't do much with it!  My niece Julia pinned this great recipe and I just had to try it.  It is a Julia Child's recipe so you know it has to be good! 

Wait - good doesn't even begin to describe this chicken.  It was FABULOUS!  This is a recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  When I think about French cooking I think - complicated - but this was easy to make.  This recipe is a keeper!

Supremes de Volaille aux Champignons 

(Chicken Breasts with Mushroom and Cream)

Source: Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck (Knopf, 1961)

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper (each)

5 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon minced shallot

1/4 pound diced or sliced fresh mushrooms

1/8 teaspoon salt

For the sauce:

1/4 cup white or brown stock or canned beef bouillon

1/4 cup port, Madeira or dry white vermouth

1 cup whipping cream

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons freshly minced parsley

Directions:Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Rub the chicken breasts with drops of lemon juice and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Heat the butter in a heavy, oven-proof casserole, about 10 inches in diameter until it is foaming. Stir in the minced shallots or green onion and saute a moment without browning. Then stir in the mushrooms and saute lightly for a minute or two without browning. Sprinkle with salt.

Quickly roll the chicken in the butter mixture and lay a piece of buttered wax paper over them, cover casserole and place in hot oven. After 20-30 minutes, insert a meat thermometer to ensure the proper temperature of the chicken.  

Remove the chicken to a warm platter (leave mushrooms in the pot) and cover while making the sauce (2 to 3 minutes).

To make sauce, pour the stock and wine in the casserole with the cooking butter and mushrooms. Boil down quickly over high heat until liquid is syrupy.

Stir in the cream and boil down again over high heat until cream has thickened slightly. Off heat, taste for seasoning, and add drops of lemon juice to taste. Pour the sauce over the chicken, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.

Mangia!

Chicken Modiga

One of my favorite Italian dishes is chicken modiga.  It is chicken smothered in a white, cheesy sauce with peas and mushrooms.  It is decadent and anyone can make it!

Here are the ingredients:

Chicken breast - pounded thin
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper
Panko bread crumbs
Garlic clove, minced
Butter
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 cup frozen peas
Dried mushrooms OR chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup Marsala wine
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup shredded provel cheese
Parsley - 2 tablespoons, minced

To begin, add dried porchini mushrooms in 2 cups water.  Boil for 30 minutes.  This reconstitutes the mushrooms and makes a fabulous mushroom broth.  If you do not want to make a mushroom broth, you can substitute chicken broth.

Take 1/2 cup olive oil and add the minced garlic.  When you need to add olive oil to the saute pan, take from this dish.  The garlic will infuse in the olive oil but will not be overbearing in the dish.

Pound your chicken breast to 1/2 inch thickness.  Place chicken breast in Ziploc bag.  Add 3 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper.  Dredge in bread crumbs.

Heat a saute pan - add 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 teaspoon butter.  Add the chicken and brown on both sides.  Remove from pan and keep warm in oven.

Clean out your sauce pan so that you remove the leftover bread crumbs.  Return the pan to the stove top.  Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon butter.  Saute the mushrooms until brown.  Throw the peas in there to heat them up.  Remove the mushrooms and peas - set aside.

Add 1/2 cup of the mushroom broth/chicken broth to the saute pan.  Add the flour - whisk until the lumps are gone.  This will make a roux - a thickener for the sauce.

Slowly add more broth, stirring constantly.  Slowly, add the Marsala wine and cream.  Add the sauteed mushrooms and peas.  If you used dried mushrooms, dice those up and add them too.  Add the provel cheese.

Top the chicken with the cheese sauce.  Serve with a side of buttered pasta.  The cheese sauce slathers into the pasta - YUMMY!

Mangia!

This recipe is featured on What's Cooking Wednesday!

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Mushrooms, mushrooms, mushrooms!

I love mushrooms!  For me, there isn't anything better.  Tonight I felt like some creamy soup so I whipped this up!

Ingredients:

1 cup dried mushrooms
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 pounds sliced mushrooms
3 tablespoons flour
1 pint heavy cream
2 teaspoons butter
Olive oil
Salt Pepper

Place the dried mushrooms in 1 1/2 cups water.  Boil for 30 minutes.  Do not discard the broth that the mushrooms are in.  You will use that in the soup.

Heat up your sauce pan.  My favorite pan to use for soups is my dutch oven.  Add a little butter and oil to your heated pan.  Saute the onions and garlic until translucent - about 5 minutes on medium low heat.  Add the bay leaf, rosemary and thyme.  Do not let the onions/garlic brown.  The garlic will turn bitter.

Add the sliced mushrooms. 

When the mushrooms are brown, add salt and pepper.  Stir and then add the flour.  Stir the flour into the mushrooms.  The flour will make the mushrooms very thick.  Slowly add the mushroom broth, stirring constantly.  Add the reconstituted mushrooms.

Let that simmer and thicken - about 15 minutes.  Add cream.  Stir and let simmer for 15 minutes. 

The soup is easy and very flavorful.  Enjoy!  This recipe is listed on Simple Living and Eating!