Stuffed Mushrooms

DEAR SOS: My dad was raving about the seafood-stuffed mushrooms he’d had as hors d’oeuvres at Ports o’ Call Restaurant in San Pedro. I’d like to surprise him one day by making them for him.

--ANITA

DEAR ANITA: What a good daughter you are. Here’s the recipe from Ports o’ Call executive chef Peter Dennison. It needs lots of ingredients, time and determination, but be our guest. We enjoyed it too.

PORTS O’ CALL RESTAURANT STUFFED MUSHROOMS

6 large mushrooms

1/4 cup diced onion

2 tablespoons diced green pepper

Butter

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon Sherry

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon minced parsley

Dash hot pepper sauce

1 tablespoon flour

6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

1 cube chicken bouillon

1 teaspoon crushed dried thyme

1 egg yolk

1/2 pound snow crab meat

1/4 cup mayonnaise

6 teaspoons canned or homemade Hollandaise sauce

Remove stems from mushrooms. Mince stems to get 1 tablespoon. Set caps and minced stems aside.

Saute onion and green pepper in skillet with 1 1/2 teaspoons butter. Add mushroom stems and cook 2 minutes longer. Add lemon juice, Sherry, mustard, Worcestershire, parsley and hot pepper sauce. Bring to simmer and remove from heat. Set aside.

In separate skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter and stir in flour. Gradually add whipping cream, bouillon and thyme. Cook and stir until liquid begins to bubble. Add mushroom mixture with pan liquid to cream mixture. Bring again to simmer. Remove from heat and carefully stir in egg yolk. Cool slightly and add crab meat. Blend in mayonnaise.

Blanch mushroom caps in small amount of simmering water in skillet about 3 minutes, or saute mushrooms in 1 tablespoon butter until cooked but still firm. Fill cavities with mushroom mixture. Top each with 1 teaspoon Hollandaise sauce.

*

Makes 6 stuffed mushrooms.

Each stuffed mushroom contains about:

207 calories; 875 mg sodium; 97 mg cholesterol; 16 grams fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams protein; 0.24 gram fiber.

Handpainted Bocciolo dinnerware in photo from Deruta, Italy, courtesy of Room with a View, Santa Monica.