But MAN were they good mushrooms.
One of my favourite appetizers to make for dinner parties is also one of the simplest things in the world... portobello mushrooms topped with fresh dill, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and feta cheese and broiled until golden. I was inspired to make these a year or two ago after I had a similar dish at one of my favourite Melbourne Restaurants, Bedouin Kitchen. They are absolutely divine.
I didn't have any portobellos, but I did have about 4 pints (punnets) of creminis (which really are just young portobellos) and was in need of a side dish to go along with the gorgeous bison rib eye Cakes bought yesterday afternoon. The recipe I've given here is creminis, which work well as a side dish, but you can substitute portobellos if you want to serve them as appetizers.
We ended up not eating the bison as we were too full after scarfing down the mushrooms. It's official. We are pigs.
Feta and dill baked mushrooms
(serves four normal people as a side dish - or two pigs if that's all they're eating)
4 pints/punnets cremini mushrooms (about 1.5 pounds) (if you're doing portobellos, this will do for 6 to eight large ones)
3 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
3 teaspoons chopped dill
2 Tablespoons lemon juice (about one lemon)
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup good feta, crumbled
salt and fresh cracked pepper
Layer the mushrooms in a 9 x 14 glass baking dish (a cookie sheet is better if you're doing portobellos). Sprinkle over dill and garlic. Drizzle over olive oil, lemon. Top with crumbled feta and salt and pepper.
Bake in a 350F oven for 15 minutes then move to the top rack and broil until the mushrooms look cooked and the cheese has begun to get brown.
Yum.. that looks great. I love mushrooms! (as for the lack of portabellos.. I wouldn't worry, since they're just overgrown creminis anyway! ie: beware of stuff marketed as "baby portabellos")
Reminds me I need to try Alton Brown's/Good Eats mushroom stuffed mushrooms.
Posted by: Don | July 10, 2005 at 01:13 PM