My Contribution For Thanksgiving....Stuffed Mushrooms

So, I was watching Food TV's Barefoot Contessa, and Ina Garten has this really great recipe for Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms. I had to tweak the recipe a bit (okay a lot) because the stores in my area do not have some of the things she puts in the stuffing, but they still came out tasting really (and by really I mean REALLY) good.

I'm a novice when cooking with wine. I can marinate with it like a pro when I grill, but with regular foods (unless it's like a marinara sauce) I'm kind of clueless.

The recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of Marsala Wine. I didn't know Marsala Wine comes in sweet and dry, so I kind of felt silly debating in the liquor store for 30 minutes about it. I decided on Dry since mushrooms are earthy. I couldn't see a sweet wine with them

Clean them off with a damp towel (don't wash them under water, it will cause them to get too mushy as you cook them. Remove the stems, but don't throw them out. You will use them later.

Put the mushrooms in a container or bag. Take 3 tablespoons of Marsala wine and 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil. (Okay, I have to confess, I thought I had olive oil in my pantry and didn't, so I used Vegetable Oil. Bad Misty). Pour the oil and wine in with the mushrooms and get them all coated. Then let them sit while you do the other stuff.

The original recipe calls for green onions, but since I didn't feel like going to the store I just chopped up a white onion into really small pieces. I then took the mushroom stems and chopped them up really fine too.

Next you start browning up Sage Sausage. You can use something more spicy, but not everyone likes spice, and Sage Sausage just speaks the holidays to me. As it browns, make sure you don't leave any really big chunks of sausage, because that makes it hard to stuff into the mushrooms.

Pour the onions and the mushroom stems in with the sausage and combine. Add salt, pepper and garlic. Then add about a cup of Panko Bread Crumbs (you will find them in the Oriental Foods Section of your grocery store). If you feel like you need to add more bread crumbs, go ahead.

Finally add a package of cream cheese to the mixture till it all combines. Ina's recipe actually calls for Mascarpone Cheese, but I live in the boondocks of Oklahoma. There is no Marscapone Cheese at the Superwalmart or any of the other little markets. (I would kill for a Trader Joes in Lawton. Seriously, who do I have to bribe to get one?)

Now it's time to stuff your Shrooms! Once they are stuffed, you can take grated Parmesan cheese and sprinkle it over the tops with a little more salt and pepper. I actually even put some of the Parm in the sausage mixture before I started stuffing the mushrooms.

Once you've done all that, you put them in the oven for about 50 minutes at 350. I know if I actually got my hands on all the "right" ingredients it would have tasted even better, but honestly I don't think anyone really cared. We wolfed em' down in an hour.

The picture above is what they look like about 15 minutes before they are done. By the time they were ready to be taken out, all the juice in the bottom of the pan gets sucked up into the mushroom or evaporates in the oven.

If you make this recipe, make a lot. It goes fast.