Stuffed Mushrooms to Love

A red bell pepper on a red stand mixer, because we ate all the mushrooms

 

The Bread Bakers Guild of America is a group you need to know about. This national organization of master bakers, bakery owners, chefs and product makers like King Arthur Flour and Lesaffre Yeast Corp. helps preserve and share the artistry of baking. France has its confrérie (brotherhood) to watch over the baguette and other pastries; the confrérie establishes standards that protect French tradition. Here, we have the BBGA, and they share methods and ideas from around the globe.

In their own words, the mission of The Guild is to "shape the knowledge and skills of the artisan baking community through education. Guild members have access to many other innovative professional formulas, both online and in the Guild’s quarterly magazine, Bread Lines. For more information about membership, please visit www.bbga.org”

If you’re a member, you can roll through back issues of Bread Lines online. While doing just that for Super Bowl ideas, I found Jeff Yankellow’s recipe for Camp Bread Mess Hall Stuffed Mushrooms and loved the ingredient list. (More about Jeff below.)

This appetizer/amuse-bouche/savory snack gives you a terrific reason to save your crusty experiments for breadcrumbs. There are a few steps, but the ending is well worth the journey.

Camp Bread Mess Hall

Stuffed Mushrooms

From Jeff Yankellow

12 stuffing mushrooms, either small portabellas or white

¼ cup diced yellow or white onion

¼ cup smoked ham diced

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine

1 cup breadcrumbs

¼ cup cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano

¼ cup diced roasted red pepper

8 large basil leaves, chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar

Olive oil as needed for cooking the mushroom caps

Salt and pepper as needed

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wash the mushrooms and remove the stems and set aside. Coat the mushroom caps with olive oil on both sides and season well with salt and pepper. Place on a baking tray and place in the oven for 12 minutes. Remove and let cool.

Roughly chop the reserved mushroom caps.

In a sauté pan over medium high heat, place the tablespoon of olive oil and the butter. Add the diced onion and sauté for 2-3 minutes until they begin to soften. Add the mushroom stems and the ham and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Add the white wine to the pan and allow the liquid to reduce until almost dry. Remove the pan from the heat and place all of the ingredients into a small mixing bowl. Collect all of the mushroom juice from the cooked caps and the baking tray and add to the bowl.

Add all of the remaining ingredients to the mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper. Stir until well blended. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking.

Arrange the mushroom caps with the bottom side up on the baking sheet. Fill each cap with an equal amount of filling until it is all used up. Return the mushrooms to the oven and bake for 15 minutes until heated through.

The mushrooms may be stuffed ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator overnight and then cooked when ready. If this is the case, it may take slightly longer for them to get hot.

Serve hot either as a canapé or plated with a salad for a simple first course.

Jeff Yankellow is the Chairman of the Board of The Bread Bakers Guild of America and was a member of the 2005 Bread Bakers Guild of America Team USA that captured first place at the Coupe de Monde de la Boulangerie in Paris. He coached the 2012 team to a second-place finish. Jeff joined the King Arthur Flour team in 2012 and manages sales to bakery and food service customers in the western United States.

- With special thanks to The Bread Bakers Guild of America for permission to republish Jeff’s recipe. To learn more about The Guild, please visit www.bbga.org