I realize Mother’s Day was three weeks ago, but I’ve got a bit of a blogging backlog going on right now, due to some technical difficulties that left me internet-less at home for the last few weeks. Quick shout-out to my brother for fixing things up; he was thanked with the rest of the Cowboy Cookies!

So, we’ve got a lot to get through my friends, and there are a lot of exciting things coming up! Carassauga is this weekend, in which I fully intend to eat my way around the world, the Square One Farmer’s Market opens on Friday, my co-worker picked up an ice cream maker for me at a garage sale for $2, my nephew has asked for Marvel cookies for his birthday at the end of the month, and most important of all, STRAWBERRY season is almost here!

First of all, let’s talk Moms. For the past couple years, we’ve kept it pretty simple with dinner, dessert, and then leaving my Dad with the dishes while we dash off to the movies. I went for the hard-sell on barbecuing, but Mom just wanted a quiche, maybe a little salad, and something with rhubarb for dessert.

Quiche is one of my favourite things to make. It lets me practice my pastry skills (still developing), and it’s the kind of thing you can keep in the fridge for a week, eating for snacks, packing up for lunch, and is delicious hot or cold. I rattled off a bunch of filling possibilities, and Mom chose roasted peppers, caramelized onions and goat cheese. We had the standard salad I always make which is red leaf lettuce, pecans (not candied or spiced this time), apples and croutons, with a balsamic vinaigrette. As a surprise, I made these stuffed mushrooms that I’m obsessed with.

I went through a stuffed mushroom phase in the Fall of 2009 (yes, I remember these things), where I made both varieties from Smitten Kitchen. I decided they were a lot of work, annoying because they shrunk so much, didn’t taste that great and moved on with my life. Then a few months ago, I went to my friend Jennifer’s baby shower, where her sister had made a huge spread of delicious food, including the most amazing stuffed mushrooms I’ve ever had. I tried to keep my cool, casually asking where she got the recipe, but after I was unable to find it online from the source she mentioned, I stalked her via email and secured the recipe. She might think I’m nuts, and I probably am, but these were incredible!

Stuffed Mushrooms

Source: Jenn’s sister Tracy

Ingredients

12-15 large, fresh mushrooms (buy the ones called stuffing mushrooms at the store – they look huge, but they’ll shrink a bit as they bake)

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup minced onion

1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 cup plain breadcrumbs (I used panko)

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup cooked, crumbled bacon

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Directions

1. Rinse mushrooms or wipe with a damp paper towel to remove dirt. Gently remove stems and finely chop. Set caps aside.
2. In a skillet, melt butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook 2-3 minutes until onion is softened. Add mushroom stems and cook 3 minutes or until mushroom liquid is evaporated.  Add parsley and breadcrumbs and cook 1 minute to combine. Stir in parmesan and bacon, and season with salt and pepper.
3. Stuff mushrooms, mounding mixture high in caps. Place in a buttered baking dish (or spray with non-stick spray) and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until filling is brown and mushroom caps are tender but still hold their shape. (I baked mine on Saturday and put them in the fridge, then just reheated on Sunday – they were fine).