Fungi for lunch

Mushrooms...they give me the creeps sometimes, especially the big ones.

Up until I was 7 years old I couldn't even stomach anything other than canned mushrooms. Sick...I know. I'm not quite sure how the transition happened but I'm glad that I learned to embrace fresh fungi (which doesn't even taste remotely close to what's in the cans!)

The first time I tried a portobello burger was about 2 years ago when I went vegetarian for a week, just to see if I could. It actually blew my mind that a mushroom could be so flavourful and sustaining. But I still enjoyed my meat so the portobello burger remained an isolated event.

Until now.

I found a recipe for portobello burgers a couple weeks ago on HowSweetItIs and knew it would be a winner. It gave me a perfect excuse to go to the Farmer's Market too ;).

The mushroom marinates for about 2 hours (although I've done it up to 6 before too), stem side up, in a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, white wine (or cooking sherry), and slivered garlic.

1 tbsp wine for the marinade, 1 glass of wine for meeee (I kid...I kid!!!)

All set for the mushroom!

Then about an hour before eating, I drizzled 1 tsp olive oil over some garlic cloves, wrapped the whole thing in aluminum foil and baked at 375F for 45 minutes.

After sauteing a small onion in olive oil and butter (not pictured), I cooked the mushroom over medium heat for 5 minutes/side, starting with the stem side up. Speaking of stems, I chopped it off and cooked it on the side at the same time. 

After cooking both sides I flipped the burger again with the stem side up, turned off the heat, and put 2 slices of jalapeno gouda cheese on top of the mushroom to melt. Cheese makes everything better!

I also added a slice of avocado to the frying pan because...well, if you really want to know it's because the avocado was rock hard!!! I heated it with the hopes that it would soften up some...and it worked!

Then came the fun part: assembling the burger! I took the roasted garlic and spread it over a toasted English muffin then laid the portobello mushroom/jalapeno gouda cheese on a bed of spinach, sliced tomatoes, and avocado and then I topped it with the sauteed onions.

It was D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S.

Are you hungry yet?

Portobello Burger with Gouda and Roasted Garlic (adapted from HowSweetItIs)

• 1 portobello mushroom cap
• 5-6 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp butter
• 2 thin slices of gouda cheese
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 1 tomato, sliced
• 1 avocado, sliced
• a few leaves of spinach
• marinade
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp white wine (or cooking sherry)
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 clove of garlic, minced

Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl 2 hours before serving and add mushroom, stem side up. Spoon some of the marinade over the mushroom and let it sit in the fridge for 2 hours.

About 1 hour before serving, preheat oven to 375F. Drizzle some olive oil (approx 1 tsp) over garlic cloves, wrap in foil, and roast for 45 minutes. Let it cool.

Sautee the onion in 1 tsp each of olive oil and butter (note: the olive oil prevents the butter from burning!) over medium heat. Let onions carmelize for 10ish minutes. Set aside on a plate and add the mushroom to the frying pan. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side (I started with the stem side up but it doesn't really matter). Finally, turn off the heat and add 2 slices of gouda cheese with the stem side up.

Toast the English muffins. Take the roasted garlic and squeeze it out of the head into a bowl. Mash it with a spoon and spread to the inside of the English muffin.

Now it's time to assemble your burger! Add spinach, tomato, avocado, mushroom, and onions to the English muffin. Take a photo (or two) and enjoy ;).