MMMMMMmushrooms!

I don't know where I ran across this recipe...my apologies if I swiped it from another blogger.

We looooove mushrooms. We do mushrooms like Bubba does shrimp. Boiled, fried, baked, sauteed...you get the idea. We especially like stuffed mushrooms. We're gonna grill a couple of nice strip steaks this evening, so while I was at the store, I snagged the fixin's for our favorite stuffed mushrooms.

There are about as many recipes for stuffed mushrooms out there as there are...well...ways to fix shrimp. This is just one. But it's a good'n.

2 pounds (or two packages) of the big "stuffing mushrooms"
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 C. minced onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic (I use the 'crushed' garlic in a jar)
6 slices pre-cooked bacon, chopped finely (I'm lazy..I use the "bacon in a box")
2 tablespoons olive oil
pinch of salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Soften cream cheese. Brush mushrooms off with a DRY paper towel (don't run them under water...EVER) and pop out stems, leaving a small cavity. Finely chop a few of the stems to add to the stuffin'.

In a small skillet, heat the olive oil and sautee the onion. Add the garlic if you're using fresh...otherwise, you can add the garlic when the onion's done. Add the bacon and the chopped up mushroom stems. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

In a small bowl, add the onions, garlic, bacon, mushroom stems, salt and pepper to the softened cream cheese. Use a spoon and "stuff" each mushroom with the mixture, place on a cookie sheet and bake 8-10 minutes, or until the mushrooms are slightly soft.

These are awesome served warm, but they're almost as good cold, so they'd be great for a potluck or party. In fact, I plan on taking them to a Halloween party that we've been invited to. Except I'm adding a green olive to the center of each one...so they look like monster EYEBALLS! Ewwwwwww!

They're so good they'll make ya wanna slap yo' mamma. But don't. It's not nice.