Chestnut-Stuffed Mushrooms
8 Large Open mushrooms
Olive oil; for frying
========= FOR THE STUFFING ===========
1 Ounce Butter or margarine
1 Large Onion; finely chopped
12 Ounce Whole cooked chestnuts
Fresh lemon juice
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Grated nutmeg
========== FOR THE CROUTONS ===========
8 Slice Whole meal bread
2 Ounce Soft butter
If you're making the coots, it's a good idea to get them done in
advance
and out of the way. You can fry them, but I think they're much
nicer baked
to a crisp golden crunchiness in a slow oven. Set the oven to
150 C (300 F,
Gas Mark 2). Stamp circles in the bread with a large pastry
cutter; spread
on both sides with butter and put them on a baking sheet. Bake
for 1 hour,
or until completely crisp and golden. Cool. These will keep in a
tin for a
few days.
To prepare the mushrooms, cut off any stalks so that the surface
is level,
then wash the mushrooms and pat them dry on kitchen paper. Fry
them on both
sides with olive oil and drain well. Season them with salt and
pepper, then
leave on one side while you make the stuffing.
Melt the butter in a medium-large saucepan. Add the onion and
fry for about
7 minutes, until soft.
Chop up any pieces of mushroom stalk, add these and cook for a
minute or two
longer. Remove from the heat and add the cooked chestnuts,
breaking them up
a bit as you do so to make a mixture which holds together but
has some
chunky bits in it. Add a dash of fresh lemon juice, and salt,
pepper and
grated nutmeg to taste.
To serve the dish, preset the oven to 200 C (400 F, Gas Mark 6),
or preheat
the grill to high. Put the routes on a baking sheet or in a
shallow
casserole, then place a mushroom on each one, black side up.
Spoon the
stuffing mixture on top. Bake or grill until heated through --
about 10
minutes under the grill, 15-20 minutes in the oven.
[Note from Karen: There's a gorgeous photo of this dish in the
book. The
stuffed mushrooms are each garnished with three or four
extremely thin
slivers of lemon peel. Looks absolutely beautiful.]
Source: Rose Elliot's Vegetarian Christmas Typed for you by
Karen Mintzias
Home Cookin 4.8 Chapter: Vegetables
Servings: 4
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