If you're coming to my house for dinner you are almost guaranteed to be served mushrooms whether they be grilled, sauteed, souped or stuffed. I like to put them in everything and what's so funny about them is that they really don't have much flavor themselves but they absorb so many other flavors so well. There's a mushroom vendor at one of the local farmer's markets and the first time I saw the stand I almost did a cartwheel---right in the middle of the farmers market! It was such a beautiful site--so many varieties, so many possibilities..... aaah.
Sometimes I have to keep myself from sharing every single recipe I use that has mushrooms because I know that some folks really just don't like them; and if you happen to be one of those people, then feel free to just stop reading now.
I first starting making stuffed mushrooms in college...although back then I used imitation crab meat and seasoned bread crumbs. Over the years, I've evolved {and have more cash in my pocket than I did back then} and so when I saw this recipe for crab stuffed mushrooms using panko bread crumbs, I had to try them. I used real fresh crab meat and the panko definitely played its part in dressing these little babies up and they were sooooo delicious. I felt like I was eating them in the dining room of an elegant restaurant. There was no egg or cheese to bind them together [which I was concerned about initially] but that allowed the crab to remain the star of the dish and it was complemented perfectly by the light, buttery crunch of the panko and the meatiness of the mushrooms. They were absolute perfection! A must for your next dinner party or night in with your special someone.
As you can see here, I planned ahead and divided up our portions before even baking, because these are the kinds of things my husband loses count of and he will eat 6 and leave me with 2. Even though I planned ahead and separated 4 into each person's dish, when I set them down before us, he immediately reached over into my pan and ate one of mine first....then proceeded to eat the rest of his. He's going to pay for that, I just haven't figured out how yet.
