It’s time for graduation parties, bridal showers, cook-outs and more summer events.
What should you bring to eat? Something simple, yet appetizing. Something like this week’s recipe contest winner, seafood stuffed mushrooms.
This week’s winning entry came from Michele Bender of Johnstown. Her seafood stuffed mushrooms came from a friend’s suggestion and having fun in the kitchen.
“I’ve been stuffing mushrooms with different stuff for years,” Bender said. “A friend of mine said to grind up the centers that you pull out and mix them with bread crumbs and cheese and all that stuff, and it was horrible. I’ve been monkeying with it for years.”
Although Bender’s first attempt at her neighbor’s suggestions did not work out well, she found success after a good discovery at the grocery store.
“I found these big, white mushrooms one day and I had to get them. When I got home, I didn’t know what to put in them. I opened the cupboard and found tuna,” Bender said.
Bender’s experiment with tuna worked. She enjoyed it and when she lived at her previous address in old Westmont, it was a hit at the numerous house parties.
“My old house was on a party street. Since my cooking record isn’t the best, when I make something good, everybody goes nuts over it,” Bender said.
Bender’s recipe only uses eight ingredients and can be modified to fit a low-carbohydrate diet. Bender explained she strictly follows the Atkins diet.
The recipe calls for one tablespoon of bread crumbs, but Bender said those can be replaced with French’s french fried onions. Replacing the bread crumbs with french fried onions makes the appetizer virtually carbohydrate free.
Seafood Stuffed Mushrooms
By Michele Bender
Ingredients
2 cans tuna (or cheap canned crab), well-drained
1 T. mayonnaise
1 tsp. (about one squirt) spicy brown mustard
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
1 tsp. onion powder
1 egg
1 Tbsp. bread crumbs
2 8 oz. or 1 12 oz. whole, white, large mushrooms
Directions
Clean mushrooms gently with wet paper towel and remove and discard stems.
Drain the canned tuna or crab, and add mayonnaise, mustard, cheddar, onion powder, bread crumbs and egg.
Mix well.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Stuff mushroom with approximately one tablespoon of mixture each.
Overstuff to use all mixture.
Spray baking sheet(s) with Pam and quickly give the mushrooms a squirt of Pam also.
Bake on bottom rack at 375 degrees for 18 minutes.
