Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

First day of official vacation. I spent it all day on my computer playing with freeware photo editing software.  I used Photoshop and Illustrator when I was a grad student, but I refuse to pay for those now. So, I've been testing out anything and everything I could use for free. Definitely harder than I anticipated. I've been using GIMP today, but if anyone has any other suggestions please let me know. This is as far as I got:

Lots to still figure out. I'll get there I suppose. 

Anyway, before my eyes start going crazy I thought I'd get in this blog post. And make it short and sweet. 

My dad's birthday was not that long ago and for his special birthday dinner I made sausage stuffed mushrooms. They were pretty fantastic and make a great appetizer. So, if you're having a small get together sometime soon, I suggest you make them. They are somewhat time consuming, but totally worth the effort. I'm pretty sure everyone agreed.

I saw this recipe on Pioneer Woman on the foodnetwork and jotted it down. It is the first of her recipes that I have tried, but I was very pleased with how they turned out. 

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

2 small containers of fresh White Button Mushrooms

1/3 pound Hot Pork Sausage

1/2 whole medium onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup red or white wine

8 ounces cream cheese

1  egg yolk

3/4 cups parmesan cheese, grated

salt And pepper, to taste

You want to start by browning the sausage in a skillet on medium to high heat. When it is brown remove sausage and set aside to cool.

While the sausage is browning you can prepare the mushrooms. Wipe the mushrooms with a wet paper towel or dish towel. Do not rinse them with water under the faucet. They will just soak up all the water and become water logged. Pull the stems out of the mushrooms (they should pop right out), chop (the stems) and save them for the filling. With a small spoon scrape out the inside of the mushroom, making a nice little bowl for the filling. Place them on a foil covered baking sheet to be filled. 

Saute the onions and garlic in the same skillet you used to brown the sausage. Once tender or translucent in color, deglaze the pan with a wine of your choice. I used a slightly sweet red wine. One that I drink frequently. You should always choose a wine that you'd actually drink to cook with. When you cook with wine, the flavor of the wine is intensified. So, if the wine does not taste good to begin with your dish wont either. After most of the wine has evaporated add the chopped mushroom stems and cook a little longer. Add salt and pepper to taste. I did not need to add any salt at this point. I thought the sausage I was going to be adding was salty enough on it's own. 

In a large bowl, add the cream cheese, parmesan cheese and egg yolk. Mix together. Add the cooled sausage and the onion, garlic and mushroom stem mixture to the bowl. Mix everything together. Refrain from eating by the spoonful.

If needed, refrigerate mixture to allow to set for easier filling. However, I am impatient. I filled the mushrooms to the brim right away. About a tablespoon for each mushroom, unless the mushroom was small.

Bake the mushrooms for roughly 25 mins at 350F or until golden and crispy on top. Allow to cool. If you can. Once again, I couldn't, so I dug right in. However, they do taste better once they've cooled a little while. Hence, why they make great little hand held appetizers. 

I had filling leftover from this recipe, so stay tuned for a second recipe using it. I promise it wont disappoint either. 

Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower

Alright, I've decided to take a break from writing a lecture on the reproductive system. Basically because I can already hear the giggles coming from the corner of the room when I start describing the anatomy of a vagina. And these are college students. Plus, I can't decide if want to include actual pictures of genital herpes and gummas from syphilis or not. I would hope the effect and response would be:  Boom. Practice safe sex folks. And then they do. But I have a feeling it's more like: Ew. Egh. I think I just threw up a little in my mouth. Then proceed to go out and do everything I suggest they don't do, like bang everything that walks. Did I just date myself with the use of the word "bang?"

Anyway, now that you're all thinking about herpes and syphilis, lets talk food. Particularly cauliflower. It really is the worst thing I could put in this post now, I know. I'm sorry. I'm going to do it anyway. Why? Because cauliflower is awesome. And this cauliflower is ammmazing. Really it is. My brother who only eats cauliflower smothered in cheese, ate this cauliflower.

I pinned this recipe awhile ago on Pinterest. It comes from an original post on Clean Green Simple but the recipe I used was from a blog called Bullfrogs and Bulldogs. The recipe looked simple, quick, tasty and reasonably healthy. So, why not give it a try. I used what I had on hand in this recipe, as usual.

Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower

Batter:

  1 c. almond flour

  3/4 c. water

  1 tblsp. franks redhot (I used the thick version)

  1 tsp. salt

Buffalo Sauce:

  1/4 c. franks redhot

  1/4 c. olive oil

Cut the cauliflower into bite size pieces. Mix batter ingredients in a large bowl with a lid. Once the batter is mixed mixed well I just tossed all of the cauliflower into the bowl, put the lid on and shook it all around until all the cauliflower was covered completely and evenly. Spread in a single layer on a pan covered in foil or  parchment paper that is also greased and bake at 450F for 20 mins. You want them to bake until the batter is hard. Pull the pan out to then brush the cauliflower with the buffalo sauce. I really loaded the buffalo sauce on. Bake for another 10 mins. I let mine go a little longer because I like the taste of roasted cauliflower so I wanted them on the crispy side. And Enjoy!