Whew, what a holiday! Thanksgiving is such a glorious holiday for food, and we have a big tradition for leftovers in my family. Personally, I love opening a fridge full of Thanksgiving leftovers, but by Saturday I can’t stand the sight of another turkey sandwich and I’m fishing around for creative ways to eat and preserve the abundance of leftovers. This weekend I was inspired to create Portobello Mushrooms Stuffed with Leftover Thanksgiving Stuffing. Absolutely delicious and they couldn’t have been easier to prepare.
First, I washed, de-stemmed, and slathered two portobello mushrooms with olive oil. Why two? That was all I had.
Then I heaped piles of my mother’s famous stuffing (an heirloom recipe passed down from my late grandmother: corn flakes, slices of bread, onions, and celery) and sprinkled the top with shredded mozzarella. I covered the whole thing with a tin foil tent. Then I placed the dish in 350 F oven until the mushroom was soft (about 10 minutes); removed the foil and continued to bake until the top was bubbly with melted cheese.
Of course, you can make this recipe with whatever leftover stuffing you may have from your festive table! My variations included spelt bread in the stuffing, mushrooms instead of celery, and goat milk mozzarella cheese.
Next time, I’ll be sure to have more mushrooms around because this was a huge hit with the family.
On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, I stuck the turkey carcass – with any remnants still hanging on it – into a large stock pot, covered it with water, and let it simmer for hours before straining out the meat and returning the broth and the cleaned meat to the pot.
