Marinade:
8 large portabella mushrooms, gills removed
½ cup melted butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup white wine (pinot grigio or chardonnay)
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon sea salt
Dash of pepper
Stuffing:
1 pound package bulk spicy Italian sausage
8 oz. cream cheese
½ cup Italian bread crumbs (reserve ¼ cup)
1 Tablespoon minced parsley
Garnish: top with reserved bread crumbs, additional minced parsley and freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Directions:
Remove gills and stems from mushroom caps. Hint: a grapefruit spoon works best for this task.
Preheat a grill to 350 degrees.
Place melted butter, garlic, thyme, wine, salt and pepper in a 9x13 baking pan. Place cleaned mushrooms in butter marinade and spoon over tops of mushrooms until completely coated. Turn mushroom caps over in marinade and spoon into cavity where gills have been removed. Allow mushrooms to sit in the marinade for about 5 minutes.
Mushrooms can be grilled at this point if stuffed mushrooms are not the goal. Just add salt and pepper when placing mushroom cap on hot grill. Allow to cook 3 minutes until sear marks appear. Turn mushroom cap ¼ turn to make cross-hatch marks. After 3 minutes, flip and then turn ¼ turn in another 3 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.
To prepare stuffed mushrooms: Do not cook the marinated quite mushrooms yet.
Brown and drain sausage. Add cream cheese while sausage pan is still warm. Stir until smooth. Add ¼ cup of Italian bread crumbs and parsley and stir.
Spoon the sausage and cream cheese stuffing into marinated mushroom caps where the gills were removed. Top filled caps with reserved bread crumbs, minced parsley and grated parmesan cheese.
Place stuffed portabellas on a hot grill. Allow to cook 4 minutes until sear marks appear. Turn mushroom cap ¼ turn to make cross-hatch marks. Allow to cook another 4 minutes. Serve immediately.
Char Morse
http://www.examiner.com/cooking-in-grand-rapids/char-morse