Cocktail Confessions

I wasn’t a big fan of mushrooms as a kid.  As a matter of fact I dreaded just about every dish my mother prepared for my father and I as I was growing up that had anything to do with mushrooms, especially cold, chopped mushrooms in salad.  I’m not exactly sure I can pinpoint why I didn’t care for them.  Perhaps it was a texture thing.  Maybe I thought they didn’t have much of a taste onm their own, or maybe because most of the time they were’nt cooked.

For years I struggled with teh various dishes presented before me by picking off mushrooms, one by one or pushing them off to the side.  Sometimes my mother would then force me to eat them anyway as she wasn’t having anyone dismiss any vegetables or food she prepared.

The really odd thing is, as much as I hated mushrooms, I did actually enjoy them in two dishes: 1) I love cream of mushroom soup, and 2) I enjoy them on pizzas.  Now I know that doesn’t make any sense, and even today I cannot venture to explain why I would accept them in those two dishes, but would rather die on all the rest.  Perhaps the cheese and sauce of the pizza, or the creamy gravey of the soup helped masked my conception of previous bland encounters.  I dunno.  But like most foods children hate in their youth, often as adults we come to appreciate and even savor them.

Mushrooms are no exception, and even though I still tap dance around them with trepadation when served in salads or plain, I have come to enjoy them in other forms.  I actually make a really good wild mushroom rissoto with shitake and button caps truth be told.  However, it was Bobby Flay of FoodTV Network that helped me change my mind.  And since I like to share BBQ recipes with you all, I’m going to rattle off a few portabella mushroom pleasers that are pretty easy to make, are relatively healthy, and in some cases can be meals in and of themselves.  Some people even describe the taste to have some ’earthy’ undertones, what ever the hell that means.

So what is a portabello mushroom?  Basically it’s a white or button mushroom grown to maturity and averages 5″ to 6″ in diameter.  It’s ‘top’ skin darkens with age, to a flecked or freckled biege color.  It’s gills are dark in color, and the flesh is known to be quite meaty and very high in vitamin D.  It can be usually found in grassy areas and if one were to think it has a season, it would be late spring through autumn.  Anyway, enough of that, lets get to the good stuff:

Basic Grilled Portabello

I think the outcome is very good and most people are impressed by the touch of pine nuts.  I often use this as a side dish, and in some cases am able to cut in half to make two servings along grilled porkchops and potatos.

Take 4-6 large portabello mushrooms and lightly clean under water.  Pat dry with towel and careful not to damage gills if possible.

Using a small pairing knife, cut down the stems so they they are flush with the remaining mushroom.

Being careful, randomly press in fresh pine nuts (arrow side down) into gills until covered all around.  This is the most time consuming part of the whole recipe, and make sure the pine nuts are fresh.  Older nuts can taste funny if the natural oils go rancid.

Brush olive oil on both sides of mushroom and bring to preheated grill.  Season with fresh black pepper and kosher or sea salts.

Using tongs, go ahead and place portabello’s gill side down on either indirect or low-to-medium heat.  Grill about 5 minutes.

Turn mushrooms over and now grill an additional 10-15 minutes to desired color or until mushroom begins to shrivel on ends.  Be careful not to burn and avoid flare-ups from oil.

Serve immediately with main dish, or cut in 1/2 to double prepared servings.

Now, you can do also ditch the pine nuts and just plain grill them and use the finished mushroom like you would a patty in a hamburger.  They are meaty and large enough to be placed on a bun with all the traditional fixings, and thus quite healthy and great if you have any stinking vegitereans at your party.  You know, they’re the ones drinking wine coolers and talking how great Obama is off in the corner.  Serve with a good beer.

Now I only included one recipe here, due to the length of my introduction, but look for part 2 in the coming days with some additional recipes and tips.  Look for part 2 in the next few days!