Ingredients:

  • 12 whole, good-sized fresh mushrooms
  • 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 Tbsp garlic – minced
  • 1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese – softened to room temperature
  • 1/4 C grated fresh parmesan cheese (use fresh, not canned)
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • 1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper – optional
  • 1 lb bacon – sliced in half & cooked 1/2 way (see #6 below)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray
  3. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel
  4. Carefully break off stems
  5. Chop stems extremely fine – discarding tough end of stems
  6. Slice bacon in half, and cook until about half way done – set aside (you want it to be flimsy, but partially cooked, so you can easily wrap it around the mushroom without it crumbling – I do this in the microwave, just check it every 30 seconds)
  7. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat
  8. Add garlic and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet
  9. Fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic – set aside to cool
  10. When garlic and mushroom mixture is no longer hot, stir in cream cheese, parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder and if using, cayenne pepper – mixture should be very thick
  11. Using a little spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing
  12. Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared cookie sheet
  13. Wrap each mushroom with your precut, precooked bacon slice, making sure the ends of the bacon are under the mushroom cap
  14. Bake for 20 – 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under caps

Notes:

  1. If desired, add fresh cooked crab or cooked shrimp to the mixture