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New to the menu at Rosy’s Diner are Patricia Post’s Parmesan spinach portobello mushrooms.
Patricia Post
It’s official. Rosy, of Rosy’s Diner, the creation of News Sentinel editorial cartoonist Charlie Daniel, has added a new item to her menu and, gasp, it’s a vegetarian dish.
“You want me to serve a fungus?,” Rosy bemoaned to the judges when presented the winning recipe for Parmesan spinach portobellos.
“So much for my meat and three specials,” she added, displaying a bit of irritation over the non-diner-like recipe.
More than 65 recipes were entered in the Rosy’s Diner Recipe Contest, including a plethora of gelatin salads and hearty soups.
Following a week of intense decision-making by News Sentinel judges, features editor Susan Alexander, page designer Karen Dunlap and food writer Mary Constantine, Patricia Post’s stuffed portobella mushroom recipe was selected as the winner.
Post said developing recipes and entering contests is something she has been doing for years.
While a resident of Michigan, Post was a frequent competitor in the local Kalamazoo fair contests and was one of three winners in the News Sentinel’s 2010 Women Today Easter Table contest for her deviled egg recipe.
She said this dish has been part of her repertoire for a long time.
“I first tasted it years ago at a party and really liked it, so I asked for the recipe. Every time I make them people just swoon about them,” she said.
She tweaks the recipe just about every time she makes it, depending on what ingredients she has on hand.
“Sometimes I’ll use regular milk or 2 percent milk instead of skim milk, or if I don’t have fresh Parmesan cheese on hand I’ll use the kind sold in a can,” she said.
The mushrooms may be cut into bite-sized pieces to serve as an appetizer, or the stuffing could be used in button mushrooms.
Post takes home a $50 Food City gift card and an original Charlie Daniel car-toon for her winning dish, featured below.
Parmesan spinach portobello
4 medium-sized portobello mushrooms
1 small red bell pepper
1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup diced onion
4 ounces light cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoons skim milk
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1/4 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/3 cup dried Italian bread crumbs, divided
1 (10-ounce) box frozen spinach, thawed and well drained
Fresh parsley, garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash mushrooms well. Remove stems and dice.
Place mushroom caps on a greased cookie sheet and brush with olive oil.
Dice 1/4 cup of red pepper and slice the rest into thin strips.
In large mixing bowl combine diced pepper, diced onion, cream cheese, milk, mushroom stems, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, paprika, salt, basil, garlic, black pepper, lemon pepper and 1 tablespoon of bread crumbs. Blend well. Stir in spinach and stir until creamy. Spoon filling into center of cap, spreading evenly to the outside. Top with remaining bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 20 minutes. Garnish with strips of red bell pepper and garnish with parsley. Yield: 4 servings.
Mary Constantine may be reached at 865-342-6428. Follow her on twitter @skilletsister.
Article source: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/may/19/rosy-adds-spinach-and-mushrooms-to-menu/
