I had a friend in beauty school who hated cheese. I don't understand those words...

Yesterday was quite possibly the perfect day. John-Christian and I went to our friend Matt's place in Ft. Greene to have a deck/rooftop potluck in the sun. Great friends, wine, fresh air, and excellent food. Sounds perfect to me! Oh, and I got to drive a car! Yup. pretty perfect...

I've been hearing some grumblings about the need for my stuffed mushrooms, so I figured I'd whip some up and bring them to the potluck. I also figured it was time to share the recipe... Well, as close to it as I can(it often changes, depending on the type of cheese I want, or what ingredients I've got in the cabinets). You all know how I can't measure food to save my life, but I really paid attention to what I was doing yesterday, just so I could type it out today. Here goes:

2 pkg Cream Cheese
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese
1 can chopped clams + 1/2 of the juice from the clams
1 can white crab meat, drained
6 pieces of cooked bacon, chopped fine
2 green onions, chopped fine
3/4 cup brown mushroom stems, chopped super fine
1/2 cup seasoned dried breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon Cayenne pepper (I may have used a bit more than this)
1 tablespoon dried parsley
Salt and Pepper

Mix all ingredients in a mixer. If it seems a bit dry, add a little of the clam juice. If it seems a bit wet, add more breadcrumbs. Taste. add more spices if you see fit (after cooking, the flavors get more intense, so don't over do it).

Now, to stuff the mushrooms. You've probably already stemmed them, as the stems went into the mixture... If not, you forgot something, and now you should go ahead and stem them. To do that, just take the mushroom (cleaned with a dry cloth), hold it in the palm of your hand and "rock" the stem out. Be gentle, these little guys are fragile and can break. I also like to take a small spoon and scoop more of the inside of the mushroom out (this makes for more room for the stuffing).
You are now welcome to stuff your mushrooms. You want to have plenty of stuffing in the mushroom, and on top. Place on a cookie sheet as you go. After all of your mushrooms have been stuffed, sprinkle bread crumbs and shredded parmesan on each one (don't worry if it gets all over the bottom of the cookie sheet). Top that with a bit of paprika and bake at 400 until bubbly and delicious (about 15-20 min)! Now, eat.


*photo by Matthew Armendariz