Are mushrooms elegant? Can they stand on their thick little stems? I'm not sure whether these would be taken seriously more than twice in a 21 st century cook's entertaining life, but they are conceptually adorable and actually taste very filling. They have no garlic-infused olive oil like Nigella Lawson loves – they're very bread-and-butter as appetizers go but they're also, you'll likely find, sort of addictive. See if you can eat just one….
Meat-filled Mushroom Caps (about 2 dozen)
One dozen large mushrooms
½ cup soy sauce
¼ cup minced green pepper
2 tbsp bread crumbs
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp minced onion
½ clove garlic
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
Remove stems from a dozen large mushrooms.
Marinate caps for one hour in 1/2 cup soy sauce.
Finely chop stems and mix with 1/2 lb. ground beef.
Drain caps. Stuff with meat mixture mounded high. Brush tops with soy sauce. Broil 8-10 minutes. Refrigerate and warm for 5-8 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Or, if you must, (I hate defrosted appetizers unless they come out of a box) freeze. When ready to serve, defrost and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
