I have a love / hate relationship with what I will call the appetizer zone — that time after the guests arrive but before dinner is served. While the most masterful chefs time everything perfectly, I am usually running around tidying and stirring while simultaneously greeting guests. Inevitably, while chatting with folks or having a glass of wine, I forget to add an ingredient to a dish and/or need to read the recipe multiple times which can be disorienting and slow down the whole process. Appetizers, however, always save the day! As the cook they provide me with a burst of energy but more importantly they calm my fears that folks will order a pizza because they are too hungry waiting for dinner to begin. So as a way of taking care of my future self, I’ve learned to prepare snacks ahead of time and have them ready before anyone arrives.
These yummy stuffed mushroom bites had an equal mushroom and crab flavor. This might have been because we doubled the panko from the original recipe so that there were crumbs inside and on top of each cap. We also forgot the old bay, which I left in the recipe below as it is an essential bit of flavor. I can’t take credit for these, as the hubs made them for our Thanksgiving feast following this recipe. Amazingly these are the first stuffed mushroom bites I’ve posted on the blog. Variations welcome for future experimentation!
Ingredients:
- 25 medium portobello mushrooms
- 1/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper
- 1/4 cup celery – finely diced
- 1/4 cup onion – finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic – minced
- 1/2 Tablespoon of butter
- 1/2 Teaspoon of Old Bay
- 1/4 Teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 4 oz crab meat
- 1/2 cup of gouda
- 1/2 cup panko
Steps and Notes:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Remove the mushroom stems and set them aside
- Saute the onions, celery, and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes
- Note: With other recipes I often add the finely diced mushroom stems to this mixture as well
- Season with the spices (salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, old bay) and remove from the heat.
- In a bowl combine the sauteed vegetables, crab and cheese. Mix well.
- Add half of the panko and gently mix.
- Place the mushroom caps on a baking sheet with tin foil that has been lightly sprayed with olive oil spray
- Fill each mushroom with a dollop of the mixture and sprinkle some paprika
- Melt some butter in a saucepan and combine the remaining panko. Add this to the top of each cap.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes. Serve warm!
Thoughts for Next Time:
- Sprinkle with diced chives
- Stuff the mushrooms with sausage
- Try these three cheese stuffed mushrooms
- Spinach and Bacon – YES PLEASE!
Love this combination. Very creative!
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Love the combination of flavors. Perfect appetizer. 🙂
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Yes, please! 🌿
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Oh wow, I would love to have one or 5 or 10 of these. Oh just give me the whole plate! 😀
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I had to walk away from the plate so I didn’t do the exact same thing! Yum! I also just discovered that Old Bay makes a ‘spicy’ variety. Trying that next time!
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Ooh Old Bay would be perfect!
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[…] to do with leftover crab… experiment with crab cakes, of course! With no deeply held personal opinions about crab […]
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Two of my favourite foods combined: crab and mushrooms! Looks delicious!
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[…] mushrooms I was surprised to see that the only stuffed mushroom recipe I have posted has been these crab stuffed mushrooms. So I decided it was time for me to experiment with, and post, a simple stuffed mushroom recipe. […]
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