Lately I've been reading the Julie/Julia project, which I love, and preparing for a trip to france. This is turning me into a mini-francophile: listening to french language tapes while doing Yoga, seeing "Le Divorce" (which is, btw, so-so to completely sucky-- Paris doesn't even look particularly appealing, more like my gray vaguely gothic fears about what it would be like to live there), collecting guidebooks and, of course, opening up Julia Child's classic, Mastering the Art of French Cooking which I've now completely bookmarked to death with things I want to try to cook in the upcoming days.

This one is a gorgeous simple and tasty appetizer that I tried to make into an aspect of a proper meal, as if it were a side dish. That didn't really work-- they are terribly self contained and don't seem to go with anything except their happy selves. But they are so delicious I'll do it again anyhow. This is definitely a candidate for the Christmas table as well.

Preheat Oven to 375

For the CAPS
12 fresh mushroom caps 2-3 inched in diameter, stems removed and saved
2-3 Tb melted butter
A shallow lightly buttered roasting pan
salt and pepper

Brush mushrooms with butter. Place them hollow side up, in roasting pan (or on cookie sheet, as I did. I also skipped buttering the pan, and laid down parchment paper) Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. (Here I made a mistake and put the caps in the oven, and ended up with them there for about five-ten minutes before I realized Julia hadn't mentioned doing that. I think it turned out to be a good thing, as they were beautiful tender in the end.)

STUFFING
3 TB finely minced onions
2 TB butter
1 TB minced shallots or green onions
Stems from mushrooms, finely minced and squeezed in a town to extract their juice
(I though some of my stems with yucky looking, and tossed several, replacing with a couple minced up entire mushrooms)
optional: 1/4 cup Madeira (which I replaced with sherry to very good effect)

3 TB fine white dry breadcrumbs (you can used store bough, I put stale bread in a food processor pretty successfully, but it was very dry. If it were soft, a light toasting would work.)
1/2 cup swiss cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan
4TB minced parsley
2-3 TB whipping cream

Sauté onions in butter until clear, without browning. Then adding shallots/green onions and mushroom stems. Sauté over a moderately high heat, stirring frequently 6-8 minutes until mushrooms brown slightly.

Off the heat mix in the bread crumbs, cheeses, parsley, tarragon and seasonings. A spoonful at a time, blend in just enough cream to moisten the mixture but keep it stiff enough to keep its shape in a spoon. Taste & correct seasonings.

ASSEMBLY

1 TB grated swiss cheese
1 TB melted butter

Fill the mushroom caps with stuffing. Top each with a pinch of cheese and drops of melted butter (Honestly, I skipped this with no harm).

Bake in upper third of over for 15-20 minutes, or until caps are tender and stuffing is lightly browned on top.

This recipe is a killer! Somewhat similar to an Australian stuffed bush mushroom recipe and always a great crowd pleaser! Perfect for entertaining. The prep time can be taxing though so give yourself a nice window for this one...

THANKS! Ahhh, finally I found the recipe for my fav stuffed mushrooms! This is hands down the best SM's you will ever make! Perfect with any dish and absolutely amazing with the Steak Au Poivre (sp?) in the same Julia Child book. Wish I hadn't lost it...