I developed this recipe for one of my dearest friends … she was new to cooking, things with bones freak her out, it had to be quick and she loves seafood and mushrooms. She wanted something fancy to make for a fella; I told her to go to the local market buy a couple of crab cakes and then stuff them into some portobello mushrooms.
About the mushrooms … a portobello, also known as portabella, is a large 4- to 5-inch in diameter crimini mushroom. Criminis are also called Italian brown mushrooms and are the smaller version … then to get MORE confusing there are mushrooms called baby bellas which are 2- to 3-inch in diameter crimini mushrooms. Basically portobello, portabella, baby bella, Italian brown and criminis all start off as the same mushroom.
For this recipe you will need the Portobello mushrooms, and since it is the larger of the criminis you will have to gill them. This isn’t something you need to be crazy talented to do. Have you ever used a teaspoon to scoop something? That’s all the talent you need to have! The reason why you gill the mushrooms is the gills have loads of spores in them which will turn your food black.
Why corn is optional … canned crab isn’t as sweet as fresh crabmeat, and the corn adds a bit of sweetness. I usually get one ear and slice off the raw kernels; you can use frozen kernels. My grandmother used to harvest corn and freeze the kernels in empty cardboard milk cartons. To use the frozen corn, she would bang the carton on the kitchen countertop to loosen the kernels and pour them into her cooking. Today … I use sandwich-size Ziploc bags for storing my harvested corn; less noisy that way.
Crab stuffed porties
Ingredients
- 16 oz. crabmeat
- 1 cup of shredded parmesan cheese
- 2 teaspoons of Old Bay seasoning
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper – finely diced
- ¼ tablespoon shallots – finely chopped
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup raw white corn kernels (optional)
- 2 tablespoons Italian parsley – finely chopped
- 4 4-inch Portobello mushrooms – stemmed and grilled
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat stove to 350 degrees.
- Step 2 To gill mushrooms, take a teaspoon and scrape all the gills out of the cap. Discard gills and stem … yep, that easy!
- Step 3 In a large bowl, mix together crab, cheese, Old Bay seasoning, bell pepper, shallots, egg, mayonnaise, corn, and parsley.
- Step 4 Evenly divide crab mix into all of the mushrooms … it is okay if the crab mix is mounded a bit on top of the mushrooms.
- Step 5 Place mushrooms — crab side up, on a lightly greased sheet pan, cook on center rack for about 20 – 30 minutes or until crab mix appears golden.
