Portobella Mushroom Caps with Warm Bean Filling Recipe

Gentle Readers, there is nothing like a dinner guest, particularly a cranky one, to inspire the home cook to new heights. A trip through the grocery store is also most useful. The combination led to rediscovering a recipe I worked with long long ago.

Portobella Caps with Warm Bean Filling

One cool project from my publishing past: I proofread The Mushroom Lover’s Mushroom Cookbook. When you spend that much time with a book, you retain large sections of it, and this recipe is an adaptation from the book. Great niche cookbook–I recommend it if you’re a fungus fan.

Portobella Mushroom Caps with Warm Bean Filling Recipe

4 large portabella mushroom caps, gills scraped and tossed (they make food black!)
olive oil
salt and pepper

The Filling:

6-8 cremini or button mushrooms, diced small
1 can white beans (your choice), rinsed and drained
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1/2 cup mushroom stock or water
Balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cover a baking sheet with foil, place the portobella caps face down on the baking sheet. Drizzle with oil (on both sides), sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 minutes, then turn over and repeat.

Meanwhile, saute the diced creminis in a bit of olive oil over medium-high heat in a medium skillet. When almost all of the water is gone, add the white beans, garlic, and rosemary, lowering the heat to medium. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes to let flavors meld. Add stock or water as needed to prevent drying out.

To assemble, take one roasted mushroom cap, fill with 1/4 of the bean filling, and drizzle balsamic vinegar over the top. Eat warm!

Platter of stuffed mushrooms: filling and healthy!

Are you a mushroom fan? Post your comments below!

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On Friday, Spa Time for the C0ok.

Tortellini in Mushroom Broth with Spinach Recipe

Gentle Readers, sometimes inspiration strikes in the form of a recalled memory. Years ago, one of my favorite vegetarian cooks (looking at you Veggie at Sea) introduced me to the idea of Tortellini soup, where one pours the broth last. This same notion is in full effect at ONE Restaurant in Chapel Hill (pouring liquid at the table). Worlds collide, idea is born.

Tortellini in Mushroom Broth with Spinach

Nothing is more inspiring to me than a good challenge. The Eldest Practical Cook Junior is now a vegetarian, and I have to up my game. This soup was for her. It’s earthy, satisfying, and has more than a little bit of curbside appeal. Bonus, it’s incredibly simple. Even making the mushroom stock.

Tortellini in Mushroom Broth with Spinach Recipe

1 package of tortellini of your choice, cooked (we used cheese, mushroom would be nice, obviously)
1/3 of a bag of prewashed spinach, cut into ribbons (this is important, don’t skip it)
a few cups of mushroom stock, brought to a boil and then brought to the table

Optional Add-Ins:
chopped scallions
Parmesan cheese
Sriracha

How to assemble. Put the spinach in the bottom of a small to medium sized bowl.

Put spinach (and we added parsley) into a cute small bowl.

Place the tortellini on top.

Layer the tortellini on top of the spinach!

Pour the hot stock over the tortellini. Stir and customize with add-ins to taste.

Tortellini in Mushroom Broth with Spinach

I had everyone’s attention when I was making this table-side. It is incredibly satisfying, and cool at the same time. Are you a fan of pasta soups? Table-side presentation? Don’t be shy, the comments section below awaits you.

Send your great ideas, kitchen confessions, and general mayhem to practical cook at gmail dot com. Connect on Facebook: The Practical Cook Blog. (Thanks in advance for spreading The Practical Cook Blog word. Press “like” on Facebook today!)

Coming up Sunday: Weekly Menus Yet Again!

Punting! with Salmon Cakes

If yesterday’s butter churning wasn’t proof positive that the Practical Cook is secretly a Depression-Era cook trapped in an interweb-loving body, let me confirm that today. The pantry confessional is wide open—I love salmon cakes. I love using canned salmon to make them. I love stretching the recipe with a variety of items. If you think you’re a hater, read on. This recipe is for you.

The salmon cake recipe is ever evolving, because I don’t know what I’ll have on hand. But I’ve found some tricks to make it crispy and more palatable for fish-haters, which include the Senior Practical Cook Junior. (She can wield chopsticks like a pro, will eat pickled jalepeños on a spinach quesadilla, but hates salmon. Go figure.) She eats these.

Punting! with Salmon Cakes Recipe

I give real measurements here, with lots of alternatives. The point is to stretch your can of salmon, make it flavorful, and make it crunchy. What happens between the start and the finish is up to you.

1 can (14 3/4 oz, the big one) canned salmon, bones and skin removed, and flaked
1/4 cup mayo
1 generous teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs, or 1/4 – 1/3 cup mashed potatoes, or 1/4 block extra-firm tofu, crumbled, or 1/4 cup rolled oats (something starchy and stretchy)
1/4 cup chopped green onions, or 1 bulb chopped green garlic, or 1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon seasoned salt (I’ve used Lawry’s, Old Bay, Tony Chechere, and Mrs. Dash, go crazy)
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs or Panko (for rolling the finished cakes in for frying)
1 Tablespoon fat for frying (bacon grease, olive oil, butter, combo, suit yourself)

1. In a medium bowl, combine everything up to and including the seasoned salt. Mix completely with a spoon, but leave some texture. Don’t pulverize.

Tofu-Salmon Cakes--Why Not?

2. Put the remaining 1/4 cup crumbs on a piece of waxed paper or a plate. Form the salmon mixture into patties (you can decide how many, how thick, etc., depending on your preferred ratio of moist:crisp). Press the patties into the crumbs on both sides, and let them sit while you heat the pan.

Salmon Cakes, Patty Formed, Bread Crumbs Applied

3. Heat fat in a skillet over a strong medium heat. When it’s hot, cook the patties for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or to your level of crisp.

Crispy Salmon Cakes

Serve with cocktail sauce, sour cream and diced tomatoes, or ketchup. You’ve now made the modern equivalent of salmon loaf. Welcome to my world. These are really good, and the ones shown were made with tofu leftover from the Summer Rolls. Seriously, I wanted to tell the world about how tasty the tofu was in there.

Salmon Cakes, Pea Pods, Couscous, and Beets

Is fish a friend or foe to you? Post a comment, or chime in on Twitter.

Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend!

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Tune in tomorrow for Weekly Menus! Wow, where did that week go?