At the grocery the other day, a package of two good-sized portobellos were calling out to me. Usually I would buy them and saute' them up with a bit of red wine, but these were calling for the stuffing treatment. Stuffing things is a very Creole concept. The stuffing stretches your food investment, because you can use a small amount of meat or shellfish for a large number of diners.
Let's go to the kitchen!
The ingredients. The 'shrooms, bread crumbs, the "Holy Trinity" of onion, green bell pepper, and celery, an egg, garlic, parmesan cheese, and white wine (not in photo). I decided to do the two mushrooms differently--one with shrimp, the other with tasso.
chop up the "trinity" and saute' in a bit of olive oil, until the onion is translucent. Press the garlic into the pan. Add a bit of Creole Seasoning as it all cooks up. Remove from stove and put aside.
Mix 2 cups of bread crumbs together with the "trinity" and garlic, along with a cup of white wine. At this point, someone looking to stay meatless/dairy-less could stop and stuff the mushrooms now.
I added an egg (beaten) to the stuffing to make it hold together.
Tasso. Cajun-style smoked pork. This is serious stuff! I used only the piece on the right. It's spicy, fatty, and tasty. A little goes a long way with meat this notched-up, which makes it perfect for stuffing.
Saute' the tasso for a couple of minutes and add to the stuffing.
I split the stuffing into two bowls so I could make the second mushroom with shrimp. In addition to the tasso/shrimp, I added about half a cup of Parmesan cheese to each bowl.
Voila! Here's the tasso-stuffed 'shroom. Fill the mushroom with the stuffing and place on a baking sheet. I also sprinkled some more Parmesan on top, for good measure. Toyed with the idea of covering each with a slice of Provolone as well. Think I'll do that next time.
This would also make for an interesting hors d'ouevere as well. Use small-sized mushroom caps instead of the big portobellos. For that dish, I'd probably chop the veggies and tasso a bit finer. They would make a good party tray, or perhaps put 3-6 of them in a small dish with some melted butter for a dinner starter.
I originally intended this to be an appetizer, on an evening where I did teriyaki chicken, but the volume of mushroom and stuffing made it all too much food. I served some of the stuffing on the side and ate the mushroom as a lunch. Enjoy!