Nickshrooms

Got an extreme urge to make stuffed mushrooms yesterday. I used to eat them at a sports bar after some heavy-duty games of racquetball with a nice glass of wine, and they were heavenly. Except those were only breaded and deep-fried; mine are stuffed.

Mind that you can pretty much stuff them with anything that you wish -- they're kind of like spring rolls or pizza. So just use this recipe as a guideline. I can imagine these stuffed with crab, shrimp, sausage, foie gras (well, maybe not foie gras -- yecch) but something that would need to stay the same in all is the chopped mushroom innards, some kind of cheese and preferably, lots of garlic.

So here we go:

Ingredients
There are no set proportions here. Just use as much of each as you like, or leave it out altogether.
Medium-sized cremini mushrooms (I use them for a break on white mushrooms. Plus they have more shroominess).
Finely diced shallots
Finely diced garlic
Finely diced ham
Finely diced parsley
Finely diced basil
Finely diced jalapeños
Herbed cream cheese (I use Boursin)
Grated other hard or semi-hard cheese of your choice
Salt, pepper, and any other spice you like
Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
Flour or tempura flour
Buttermilk or half-and-half

Method
With a sharp paring knife, cut off the hard end of the mushroom stems, then cut around the rims of the mushrooms. Twist the stems out and with a small spoon, try to get as much material as possible out of the cap. Chop the stems and mushroom insides finely.

In a small skillet, sauté the shallots, garlic, ham and jalapeños in a little olive or truffle oil until no longer raw; about five minutes. Let this mixture cool to room temperature. Mix in the cheeses, parsley and basil until thoroughly combined.

With a spoon, fill the mushroom caps generously with the mixture, making sure that they're thoroughly packed. You might have some mixture left over; eat it.

Pour the buttermilk or liquid of your choice into a shallow bowl. Pour some tempura flour onto a flat plate and repeat with another plate and the panko.

With your fingers, dip a filled mushroom cap first into the liquid, then cover with flour. Redip into the liquid, then cover with panko. Try to make sure each mushroom is evenly covered.

On a tray covered with aluminum foil, place your filled mushroom caps and put in the freezer for three hours.

Heat enough vegetable oil in a pan to cover the mushroom caps on medium until a drop of water sputters in the oil. Carefully lower the mushrooms into the oil. Do not go away. When the mushrooms have turned a rich blonde/brown, remove with a spider to a plate covered in paper towels. Let rest for five minutes. 

Serve with a Ranch-style dip and garnish with chopped parsley.

Ingredients

Stuffed caps

Caps after freezing

Nickshrooms