Paul Prudhomme is going to be the death of me. Not because of his recipes, mind you. He is without a doubt the master of finding a way to sneak additional fat into a recipe.
You can almost feel your arteries clogging just by reading the damn thing, never mind actually eating it. No, the reason he is going to be the death of me is because of his cooking techniques. He has this thing about cooking just about everything over insanely high amounts of heat. This leaves these incredible thick and gooey compounds bubbling like mad on my stove, spitting blobs searing pain through the air at me. There is no doubt a very good reason that he calls his roux "cajun napalm". I'm sure that incidents in his kitchen have been well documented.
That all being said, he does have a penchant for coming up with some amazingly tasty recipes. A while back, I made his seafood stuffed flounder from his Lousiana Kitchen cook book. Ms Cocktail has a couple of family members that are fishermen by trade and every once in a while we get some amazing delights. Well, we had been given some rockfish (otherwise known as striped bass) filets and I thought that I could substitute this fish for the flounder in Chef Paul's recipe. It did work out OK, except that I had left over stuffing I needed to figure out what to do with. As my grill is always the first place I look for inspiration, I thought about filling some portobello mushroom caps with the the left over stuffing and grilling them. Let me tell you, it was one of the better ideas I've ever had. I think that this combination is even better than Chef Paul's original and that's saying a lot.
I've adjusted some of the techniques for making the stuffing in an effort to save people from death or disfigurement in their own kitchen. There are still some risky elements in this recipe so please be careful.
Grilled Seafood Stuffed Portabello Mushrooms
Seasoning mix 1:
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried basil
Seasoning mix 2:
3/4 tsp white pepper
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3 slices of bacon, diced (Author's note: You can substitute turkey bacon and two tablespoons of vegetable oil if you have an aversion to pork.)
1 medium onion very finely chopped
2 stalks of celery very finely chopped
1 green bell pepper very finely chopped
1/4 green onions very finely chopped
9 Tbs butter divided into 3 Tbs and 6 Tbs (a total of 1 stick plus 1 Tbs)
1/2 lb peeled small shrimp
6 shucked oysters
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesean cheese
1 1/2 cups seafood stock (Author's note: If I have some shrimp shells or fish bones around, I will make my own stock. Unfortunately, that is typically the exception and not the rule. For the most part, I use bullion to make my stock from. I've found that the Knorr Shrimp Bullion is excellent for these recipes as it contains a fair amount of shrimp fat in the bullion.)
4 large portabello mushroom caps
olive oil
Combine the first seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Combine the second seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Chop the onion, celery and pepper and mix in a large bowl. Chop the green onion and place in a small bowl.
In a large skillet, fry the bacon until crisp. Reduce heat to medium and add the onion, celery, and pepper mix and saute until the vegetables start to get tender, about 5 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons of butter and seasoning mix #2. Stir until the butter is melted. Add the shrimp and seasoning mix #1. Cook about 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Yet another author's note: Chef Paul does all of this over high heat. This causes the butter to blacken and burn, giving an additional depth of flavor to the dish. I do not use non-stick pans, but I still prefer to do this at a lower temperature than he does. You won't get quite the same effect with non-stick pans so don't try.) Stir in the stock and the oysters cook for 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat. Using a slotted spoon, move the solid parts of the mixture to a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Return the mixture to the skillet, stirring to completely blend it with the liquid. Return to medium heat and cook until reduced by half, 10 to 15 minutes. (Yes the bloody author has something to say: Chef Paul has you return this mixture to high heat to burn it onto the pan again, scraping the pan well. This is where we start talking about the blobs of hot pain flying through the air. Since I prefer to not cook in a haz-mat suit, I'll go with medium heat here.) Remove from heat.
In a 1 quart sauce pan, melt the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter over high heat. Remove from heat, stir in the 1/4 cup flour, then return to the heat. Cook for about 1 minute stirring constantly. (This author never shuts up, does he?: In essence, you are making a mini golden roux here. This stuff is hot and bubbly, be careful with it. It sticks if it gets on you and burns like hell, that's why Chef Paul calls if cajun napalm.)
Return the stuffing mixture to medium heat. (Seriously, again?: Of course, Chef Paul uses high heat here and of course, that makes the stove top slightly less dangerous than a boiling pit of lava.) Add the mini roux to stuffing mixture and stir until well blended. Cook until very thick, about 2 minutes. Stir in the green onions and cook for another minute. Remove from heat and let cool.
Wash the portabello mushrooms and remove the tough woody stem. Spray or coat the smooth side of the mushroom cap with olive oil. Divide the stuffing mixture into four equal parts and fill each mushroom cap. Grill the caps over direct medium heat for 15 minutes.
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