Grill Season Kick-Off, Day 3: Grilled Portobellos with Garlic, Pine Nuts, Basil, and Goat Cheese
It’s easy to expand your barbecue menu with these mouth-watering mushrooms from the BBQ Queens (the recipe's from their book The Big Book of Barbecue, which is available from Harvard Common in both paperback and hardback, depending on how you like your books served). The hard part is deciding which cooking method to use, as the Queens disagree in this instance--barbecue style can be a bit divisive even within the tightest cooking teams. You can check out Judith’s way and Karen’s way in the directions below, and then choose your mushrooming option.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 large Portobello mushrooms
1/4-cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces goat cheese, crumbled or cubed (can also substitute feta cheese, Boursin, Gorgonzola, or Brie)
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
8-10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
Kosher or sea salt for seasoning
Directions:
1. Remove the stems from the Portobello mushrooms, then brush both sides of each mushroom with extra virgin olive oil.
2. In a small bowl, combine the minced garlic cloves; the goat cheese (or feta cheese, Boursin, Gorgonzola, or Brie); the toasted pine nuts; and the chopped fresh basil leaves.
3.:
Karen’s version: Place one-fourth of the mixture inside each mushroom cap. Season with kosher or sea salt to taste. Place the mushroom caps directly over the hot fire and grill with the lid down until the mushrooms are soft, 8 to 10 minutes.
Judith’s version: Grill the mushrooms gill side down for about 4 minutes with the grill lid open. Turn the mushrooms, fill them with the goodies, and season with salt. Close the lid and grill for another 4 minutes. Serve hot.
--A.J. Rathbun
James on May 30, 2008 at 06:34 PM
It sounds great, but I don't think it's barbecue.
Matt on May 30, 2008 at 07:47 PM
James is right. Remember: barbecue is slow cooking using smoke. Grilling is fast cooking using flame. Both are (or, at least, can be) wonderful. But they're not the same.
tertium quid on May 30, 2008 at 09:21 PM
Grilling out is one thing. It is fun and pretty fast.
Barbecue is another. Don't use gas. Use charcoal or wood. Throw the meat on. Much theological debate revolves around crucial issues such as pork v. beef, dry rub v. wet sauce during cookin, marinade v. nothing. Don't use too much heat. Lots of smoke. Drink lots of fluid. Go to bed. When you wake up, put more fuel on the fire, but not too much. Grill your vegetables. Serve.
Talnik on May 31, 2008 at 08:11 AM
Yep. Agree with all. Barbeque is not grilling and grilling sure ain't barbeque. I can grill up something in several minutes to an hour but it takes four to eighteen hours to barbeque. Where the heck are their editors?
Tbird on May 31, 2008 at 05:24 PM
On more than one occasion I've spent 12-14 hours firing a pit under a whole hog and the mushrooms spend 8 minutes on the grill and they call it barbecue. That ain't right.
submandave on June 02, 2008 at 06:55 AM
"Much theological debate revolves around crucial issues such as pork v. beef"
Anyone from any respectible BBQ locale knows that the phrase "pork barbeque" is simply redundant. I believe it was Baxter Black who once commented that the Texans invented something they call "beef barbeque" simply because it is physically impossible to steal a pig while on horseback.