Mushrooms that'll make you cream your jeans

...So use a plate, sillies.


Take about ten medium-sized cremini mushrooms and pop out the caps.  Scrape out the gills with a teaspoon.  Clean the stems well and chop finely.

In a bowl, take a few ounces of plain goat cheese, the chopped mushroom stems, some chopped walnuts, cracked black pepper, a sprinkle of ground white pepper, sea salt, grated asiago cheese and chiffonade a few fresh sage leaves and mix it all together.

Add the filling to the caps.  Take a few slices of bacon, cut into 2-3 inch pieces and layer a few of each over top of each stuffed cap.

Preheat the oven to 350ish and bake 'em until the bacon is crispy to your liking.

Eat, but carefully.  You will drip creamy stuff everywhere if you don't use caution.

Stuffed mushrooms are really a one-bite deal, though.



Other thoughts for the day: I've written a lot, so here's a taste.

I recently had an interesting sensory experience with music, where I sat and gave a full album my undivided attention and actually listened for what felt like the first time in a long time.  I felt that it had a lot of similarity to the occasions where people have had eye-opening experiences of flavours in food or wine, when I show them how to "properly" taste something.

I don't mean this in a condescending way; people often eat and drink too fast to really pay attention and savour what's there.  When they do slow it down, and recognize flavours, they show a mix of pride and awe.  Discoveries are totally wicked.

See, as children we seem to have acute senses, but as adults they deaden, in a way.  Really tasting is lost to simply eating, just as really listening to music is lost to simply hearing it.

I was all, "Shit, after all my ranting about people not paying attention to what they're putting in their mouths, I've been ignoring what I've been putting in my ears.  Oh my effin' gee, you can really do this with all the senses!"  What a revelation that was.

Once these things are recognized, it's hard to approach simple tasting or listening pleasure (used here as examples) any other way: we crave quality, not quantity, and rightly so.

That's all for now.  I'll continue to expand on this thought in posts to come.


 
I feel should mention that the squash and pepper soup that I mentioned in post #2 didn't even make it to freezing, all was eaten.  It's okay.  I'll make another: Lakeland Meats is selling butternut squash and pumpkins for super cheap right now.



Happy tasting,

Melissa