posted by ann

Welcome to the next installment of Kids in the Kitchen.  This post will feature ‘Chef Blaine’ making stuffed mushrooms.

Blaine loves to read, loves action-packed stories and he also loves to eat, so when he discovered a series of books that combined

those things he was hooked!  He would come to me and read aloud all the food the characters would eat at their “feasts.”  Then

he would sigh and say, “Mom, doesn’t that sound wonderful?  Doesn’t that make you wish you could be there eating all that good

food?”

Well, there must have been lots of people with the same sentiments because there is now a cookbook featuring many of

the dishes featured on the pages of the books…….and boy, was Blaine happy about that!

Needless to say, we, that is Blaine, is now the grateful owner of a copy of the aforementioned cookbook.

I will be featuring “Stuffed Springtide Mushrooms,”  the favorite dish of Father Abbot of Redwall.

Together with his able assistant, Chef Blaine, prepared the mushrooms…

After preparing the mushrooms, the chef cooked them in butter, added a few essential ingredients and spooned the
filling into the waiting mushrooms.

Just before placing them in the oven, I snapped a picture of the beauties!

And when they appeared a few minutes later, they looked delicious.  According to those in our family who
actually like mushrooms, they tasted good, too.

Stuffed Springtide Mushrooms

• 8 portobello mushrooms, wiped clean (Blaine used mini-portobellos)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 8 tsp. sesame seeds
• Pinch each dried parsley and dried thyme
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 cup grated cheese, use your favorite

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease a rimmed baking sheet.

Pull the stems from the mushroom caps and put the caps to one side.

Trim away the bottoms of the stems, then chop the stems finely.

Melt butter in skillet and cook chopped mushroom stems over medium heat.  Cook, stirring, until soft, 4 – 5 minutes.

Take the pan off the heat.  Stir in bread crumbs, sesame seeds and herbs into the pan and season with salt and pepper.

Place the mushroom caps in the baking dish (stem side up) and spoon the filling into them.  Sprinkle each mushroom with grated cheese.

Bake until the stuffing is golden brown and the cap is tender, 15 – 20 minutes.  Enjoy!