These take hardly any time to cook, less time to prepare, and even less time to eat …
While my mum was a fantastic cook (and fed us all very well), so was my dad, mum didn’t really make a lot of hors d’oeuvres or appetizers. She would really outdo herself at Christmas time with all sorts of pastries, pies, bonbons, desserts and, of course, a traditional Christmas dinner.
Imagine my surprise—and delight—once I ventured out into the big bad world and started seeing things like devilled eggs, bacon-wrapped scallops, bruschetta, charcuteries and the myriad of other delicious things that people seemed to just whip up in no time but that tasted so very good!
When I was working full-time in the kitchen, I didn’t really enjoy making many of these things. They are tedious when you are tasked with making a 100 of them and trying to get the portions exact and be sure that they all look the same. I’d much rather be running the line: mouthwatering steaks, burgers, breakfasts … in, out, gone, next! Anything but boring assembly-line manual labour that should be relegated to prep apprentices who are still paying their dues.
Now that I’m retired from the kitchen, I love making these fancy little treats for family and friends. Probably because I only have to make a few and they are so well received. You can too! They’re easy, quick, impressive, and your family and guests will love them.
There are so many variants of stuffed mushroom caps out there. But they all come down to the same basic recipe: mushrooms and a stuffing. I chose to do crab-stuffed caps because of our love of seafood and shellfish.
You can prepare them (or the stuffing) in advance and throw them in the oven right when you need to. They are very shelf stable and will last for days in the fridge before and after cooking. You can serve these hot, right out of the oven, at room temperature or chilled.
They always please. These took me about 30 minutes to make and landed on our plates for less than $1 each. I did up a simple green salad, alongside, and we made a filling meal out of it. Your ingredient amounts will vary depending on how many you are making. As always, vary them according to how many you’re making and according to taste and personal choice—not a measurement from a recipe.
Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients
- Mushrooms
- Crab meat
- Green onion
- Cream cheese
- Garlic
- Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Finely slice your green onion and set aside. Dice some garlic cloves.
- Clean the mushrooms if necessary. Don’t run them under water to do this, if you have to clean them, use your fingers to do it (dry) or, if moisture is required, use a damp napkin or paper towel.
- Remove the stems and set aside. Spoon the mushroom down until it’s roughly 1/2 inch in thickness. You can choose to dice the stems and flesh at this point to add to the stuffing mixture, or just seal and set in the fridge for tomorrow’s omelette.
- If you’re using canned crab meat (which I did for these), it’s a good idea to spread it on some wax paper to make sure that it doesn’t have any unwanted “crunchies.” Quite often, canned crab has some little pieces of shell to remove.
- Set your oven to 375°F. Muffin tins work great for cooking these. Most are non-stick, but give it a light spray anyway. Place the empty mushroom cap upside down into the muffin tin and bake for 2 minutes. This will remove excess moisture and make sure that your final product is not soggy. Set the timer for this so you don’t forget to take them out!
- Mix together the crab meat, green onion, garlic and parmesan cheese. You can add a pinch of cayenne at this point for a bit of zing. Toss this lightly with wooden spoons until it is thoroughly mixed. Start adding the cream cheese, a couple of tablespoons at a time, mixing well, until you have a nice, light, creamy texture that is not too wet.
- Place the mixture into your mushroom caps. Heap it in there and have it piled well above the top of the cap. At this point you could sprinkle some seasoning on them, if you want. Thyme, oregano, savoury and parsley are the most common.
- Put the caps back into the muffin tins (wipe out any moisture) and place in the oven for about 20 minutes. Turn the oven on to broil for the last 60 to 90 seconds, just to brown off the tops nicely.
