The perfect stuffed mushrooms do exist!
As a kid of the 80s, I grew up in a house that had a constant rotation of shake-n-bake chicken and pork chop dinners. To go along with that, we usually had either a baked potato or mashed potatoes out of a box and/or frozen veggies steamed in the microwave.
Kudos to my mom for trying, though. She had three young kids, two of which were pretty picky eaters (yes, I was one of those two). She also never really developed a love for cooking. Deep down I don't think she minds cooking, but she lacks that adventurous spirit that allows a lot of us to have the freedom to "just see" what happens when you mix things together.
Shake-n-bake dishes aside, my mom did have a few show stoppers that we constantly craved ... even when we grew up and left the house. On that list is a raspberry parfait pie (which I'll make for all of you), chicken croquettes, and stuffed mushrooms. THESE stuffed mushrooms.
The original recipe is from an old (old, old, old) James Beard Cookbook. Although the recipe wasn't overly complicated, my mom still managed to simplify a simple recipe. And because we grew up eating them this way, this is the way I will always eat them.
And I highly recommend trying them this way the first time and then branching out with experiments. I often say adding ground sausage or ground turkey would be amazing. The original recipe also calls for a little tabasco and parmesan cheese ... so throw that in, too! Goat cheese could also be a great addition since you don't have to bake these for too long. My point is, sky's the limit! Go nuts! Create your own perfect stuffed mushroom recipe.
James Beard Stuffed Mushrooms
Equipment
- Oven safe baking pan
- Skillet/sauté pan
- Bowl
Ingredients
- 16 Mushrooms cremini or button, similar in size
- ½ cup dry breadcrumbs seasoned
- 3 tbsp onion chopped, finely
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 4 tbsp butter (for stuffing)
- ¼ - ½ cup butter melted, for basting mushrooms
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Remove the stems of each mushroom. Peel and chop the stems very finely. Set aside. Wipe the caps with a damp cloth or paper towel, making sure to remove any dirt.
- In a large skillet, add the chopped stems, onions, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and 4 tbsp of butter. Stir mixture until the butter has completely melted and the stuffing is well combined -- about 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool, ~5 minutes.
- Melt ¼ cup of butter in a small bowl (I melt ¼ at a time, just to make sure I don't have a lot of wasted butter). Dip each mushroom cap into the butter, ensuring that it's been well coated. In a single layer, place each cap into the oven safe baking dish.
- Once stuffing mixture has cooled, stir in beaten eggs until well combined. Begin filling each mushroom cap with the stuffing.*I like to do one round where I make sure each mushroom gets filled. I go back a second round and fill with remaining stuffing, trying to make sure each mushroom is equally filled.
- After each mushroom is filled, place into preheated oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Start checking the mushrooms at about the 10-12 minute mark. You want the stuffing to be a golden brown and the mushrooms to be slightly darkened (if using cremini).
- Remove and serve immediately. *The James Beard recipe suggests adding parmesan cheese and tabasco sauce to the filling mixture. You can also add ground sausage or ground turkey/chicken. With the increase in stuffing ingredients, increase the other ingredients appropriately so there is the proper stuffing/mushroom ratio.
Once you've had a chance to make this perfect stuffed mushroom recipe, be sure to check out my recipe for Truffled Mushrooms with Baked Eggs.