Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms

Date: Fri, 13 May 94 03:09:59 PDT
From: Michelle Dick <artemis>

Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms (warning: strongly spiced and flavored)

24 large (but not huge) white mushrooms (there's too much
seasoning in this recipe to use a good mushroom --
go for the cheap bland ones).
1/4 cup chopped shallots or onion
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 T balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 t chicken style seasoning (recipe follows)
1 pack frozen chopped spinach (about 10 oz?) - thawed and drained

Wash mushrooms and carefully remove stems. Lay out caps on nonstick
jelly-roll pan and pop in oven for 5-10 minutes to dry out and cook
slightly. Set caps aside. Chop the mushroom stems finely.

Saute shallots, garlic, and balsamic vinegar in small saucepan. When
onions start to turn translucent add mushroom stems, water, and
seasoning. Cook a few minutes. Add spinach and cook till water is
almost all absorbed/evaporated.

Mound the spinach mixture onto the the mushroom caps, pressing it into
the caps. Lower oven heat to 300-350 and bake for 10-15 minutes until
hot and mushroom caps are cooked.

If you leave them slightly undercooked, you can do these ahead and
then heat them up in the microwave when needed.

The chicken style seasoning is one of my favorites. I use it anywhere
I would have used chicken broth to give a richer, more complex flavor
(and anywhere I know need spices, but not sure which ones). I keep a
jar of this on hand:

Date: Tue, 08 Feb 94 02:06:40 PST
From: Michelle Dick <artemis>
Subject: Chicken Style Seasoning -- the good one


From _Country Kitchen Collection_

CHICKEN STYLE SEASONING

1 1/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes
3 T onion powder
2 1/2 t garlic powder
1 T salt
1 tsp celery seed
2 1/2 T Italian seasoning
2 T parsley, dried

Blend smooth all ingredients except parsley. Stir in parsley. Store
in airtight container.

Notes:

Use this seasoning to make a quick chicken-like stock out of water
when you have no veggie stock on hand. Excellent for flavoring rice
and as a soup base.

Make a very simple, easy, and good-tasting gravy by mixing water,
seasoning, and miso (I like the dark brown rice miso). Typical
proportions: 1.5 cups water, 1 T seasoning, 2 t miso.
Increase/decrease seasonings according your your taste. Right before
serving gravy, mix some starch (I frequently use potato starch) in a
bit of water till well-blended and add to gravy to thicken (do this
over medium heat). Add starch until you reach desired thickness.
Quick, easy, and surprisingly tastey.