The intense smell of chocolate cake just before the timer goes off. The sweet yet slight tang of cream cheese frosting in your mouth. The feel of sticky cakepop mix coating your palms as you roll. The sight of dozens of fresh baked cookies cooling on a wire rack.
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| Working overtime! |
These are the senses that have filled my kitchen lately as I've baked like a mad woman for the past month. No, I still do not own my own business but I gladly bake cakes, cookies, cakepops, and whatever wonderful sweets my friends and family ask me to bake. Apparently I have my breaking point though because last week, as I was rolling several dozen cakepops, I suddenly could not stand the smell of strawberry cake and frosting. The feel of the mix made me feel queasy and I couldn't wash my hands enough times. So what does this all mean? I'm obviously not giving up baking sweets for everyone but I know I want to try my hand at baking a few savory items for awhile. I actually tried the recipe below, took pictures, and was ready to share with everyone but somehow it got pushed to the side and sat on my laptop files for 10 months.
Call me a weird but I loved stuffed mushrooms as a child. My mom would always order it as an appetizer when we would go out to eat. The memory of bubbly cheese on top of crab, onion, and bread crumbs still makes my mouth water even as I type it. I always knew I wanted to make stuffed mushrooms for the blog but as much as I love the traditional flavors, I wanted to make a different version.
Stuffed Mushrooms with Feta, Spinach, & Bacon
heavily adapted from Bon Appetit
Approximately 4-5 slices of turkey bacon
1 small onion, chopped
1 10-ounce package of chopped frozen spinach, thawed and drained
4 oz crumbled feta cheese
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Mushrooms of your choice (Recipe calls for large button mushrooms but portobellos would work great), cleaned and stemmed
Olive oil
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| Sueshine note: Turkey bacon does not product much grease. If for some reason it does or if you use regular bacon for this recipe, discard any excess and leave enough to lightly coat the bottom of your pan. |
In the same pan over medium head, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and cook down the chopped onion until soft. Transfer to a bowl and once cooled, mix in spinach, bacon, feta, cream cheese, and crush red pepper. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
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| Sueshine note: Although the original recipe called for salt, I chose not to add salt to any part of this recipe because the bacon and cheeses added enough. |
On a foil lined baking sheet, drizzle olive oil over the mushrooms. Bake with the round sides down for 25 minutes or until the center is filled with liquid. Turn the mushrooms and cook for another 20 minutes.
Generously add filling to the mushroom caps. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm.
I didn't make too many of these when I made the recipe because Scott probably would have looked at me funny if I even attempted to have him taste it. I didn't have a party or family gathering to attend so I had a ton of filling. If you are not a fan of mushrooms like the hubby, another great use for the filling was for a baked potato. I refrigerated the extra filling in a tightly sealed container and the next morning before work, I stopped by the grocery store and grabbed one of those ready to microwave potatoes available in the produce section of some stores. I microwaved my potato for about 7 minutes and dropped a good helping of the filling into it. My co-workers were ooo-ing and ahh-ing when they saw it and was asking me what I had made. Whichever you use the filling for, its delicious! Now this version of stuffed mushrooms is making my mouth water. I might have to make a batch (10 months later) just to satisfy my savory taste buds.
Sueshine note: Stay tuned as I learn to make a few more savory baked items. This should be...interesting *wink*
