Creamed Spinach Stuffed Portobello Mushroom with Poached Egg

What have I been up to? The question is more like, what haven’t I been up too?

I was packing away internship hours like a crazy lady.

I graduated from culinary school. (Graduate gowns are not flattering.)

We had a possible move back to the east coast.

We decided to stay put.

We had another possible move back to the east coast.

We decided finally to stay put here in Tulsa.

We decided to move to a bigger house, i.e., a bigger kitchen.

A bigger house that has big projects, more about that to come.

It’s been a busy two months.

Although, the new house has swallowed my furniture whole it is slowly coming together. There will be coming posts of tours and DIY home projects.

Now that, I am finished with school I can do more recreational cooking. It was hard keeping up the desire to cook and post while in school. It’s like having required reading, so when you finish with school the last thing you want to do is pick up another book.

While cruising around on the internet I found this gem from Closet Cooking, and it inspired me to make my own version. When I saw the poached egg I was sold. I love me a warm poached egg.

I got my hands on two firm, large portobello mushrooms and removed the stems. Don’t toss the stems, you will be using them later.

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees and put a pot of water with 2 tablespoons of vinegar over medium high heat. Do not bring the water to a boil, just slowly heat it until bubbles start to for up the sides.

Take a small spoon and gently clean out the gills of the mushroom cap.

Set the cleaned mushroom caps aside for now.

Take the stems from the portobello and dice it up super fine, like itty-bitty. Like the yellow polka-dot bikini, you wish you could wear. You will also need to mince up half an onion and a clove of garlic.

Put a skillet on medium-high heat. While the skillet gets hot dice 4 slices of bacon.

Add the bacon to the hot skillet and cook until crispy and the fat has rendered. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels.

In the same skillet add onion, garlic and mushrooms. Saute in bacon fat until tender. The minced mushroom with soak up a lot of the bacon fat so you may want to add some more fat. You can use vegetable oil, olive oil or butter, which ever fat you have on hand.

Add 2 tablespoons of flour to the skillet.

Stir together until the flour combines with the fat and makes a roux.

Slowly add cold milk into the skillet, you don’t want to dump it in, do a little pour, stir and bring up to a bubble

Continue to do this until you reach a creamy gravy consistency. Season the gravy with a generous pinch of salt.

Add two cups of baby spinach leaves directly into the skillet.

Gently stir until the spinach has wilted, add the crispy bacon from earlier reserving some for garnish.

Finally, stir in half a cup of shredded cheese until smooth and creamy. Whichever cheese you want is fine.

Remember the meaty mushroom caps you cleaned out earlier, brush them inside and out with olive oil and sprinkle with a touch of salt. Fill the caps with the creamed spinach mixture. Spray a sheet pan with non-stick spray and place the mushroom caps on the sheet pan. Set them aside until its time to put them into the oven.

You can also prepare these caps a day ahead and refrigerate until ready to use.

Put the mushroom caps in the oven for 10 minutes.

While the caps are in the oven, you can poach the eggs. Crack your egg into a small bowl. By now your pot of water should be hot but not boiling. Take a spoon and give the water a rapid stir creating a vortex.

Gently drop the egg right in the center of the whirlpool. The egg should spin a little and kind of curl up neat and compact. Adding the vinegar it necessary to keep the egg white from spreading.

I like a runny yolk so I leave the egg to sit in the water for 2-3 minutes, if you want a firm yolk let it sit for 4-5. Using a slotted spoon gently remove the egg from the water and place on a paper towel to drain. Repeat process for second egg.

You can poach more than one egg at a time, but if you do, skip the whirlpool. Using a custard cup or spoon gently place in the water. If you want you can put the poached eggs in a bowl of cold water and refrigerate for up to 8 hours, then reheat in hot water.

Now time for the hollandaise. I don’t know if I have ever mentioned this, but I love, LOVE hollandaise sauce. However, I do not love making hollandaise sauce. Usually I make a quick fix blender version that works just as well as traditional double boiler version. However in the process of the move the base to my blender cracked, and I cannot find the motor part to my immersion blender. So, needless to say, I had to revert to the first days of culinary school and make hollandaise the old fashion way, using a double boiler and some serious whisking skills.

Trust me go with the blender version, your wrist will thank you in the end.

By now your mushroom caps should be done and have just a touch of bubbly brown on the top.

I served my portobello mushroom caps on a bed of red quinoa, topped with the poached egg, drizzled with hollandaise sauce and sprinkled with crispy bits of bacon.

My favorite part of a dish like this is breaking the egg yolk and seeing it slowly dripping down the side, that’s hot.

Another great thing about a dish like this is how easy it is to make it your own. If you want to make it vegetarian cut the bacon, want to make it lighter just saute the spinach or better yet some kale and skip the creaming part. The possibilities are endless. Want to make it Italian stuff it with a sausage filling, top with egg, a spicy romesco sauce and serve over cheesy polenta. I could keep going.

Print Recipe

Creamed Spinach Stuffed Portobello Mushroom with Poached Egg  (Serves 2)

• 2 portobello mushrooms
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 4 bacon strips, diced
• 2 tbs flour
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups of milk
• 2 cups of baby spinach
• 1/2 cup of shredded cheese
• 2 eggs
• favorite hollandaise sauce
• 1/2 cup of red quinoa

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees and put a pot of water with 2 tablespoons of vinegar over medium high heat. Do not bring the water to a boil, just slowly heat it until bubbles start to for up the sides.

Prepare 1/2 a cup of quinoa according to package instructions.

Take a small spoon and gently clean out the gills of the mushroom cap. Set the cleaned mushroom caps aside. Mince the stems of the mushrooms.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, once the skillet is hot add the diced bacon, cook until the bacon is crispy, and the fat has rendered. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels.

In the same skillet add onion, garlic and mushrooms. Saute in bacon fat until tender. The minced mushroom with soak up a lot of the bacon fat so you may need to add some more fat. You can use vegetable oil, olive oil or butter, which ever fat you have on hand.

Add 2 tablespoons of flour to the skillet. Stir together until the flour combines with the fat and makes a roux.

Slowly add cold milk into the skillet. You don’t want to dump it in, do a little pour, stir and bring up to a bubble. Continue to do this until you get a desired of a creamy gravy consistency. Season the gravy, with a generous pinch of salt.

Add two cups of baby spinach leaves directly into the skillet. Gently stir the spinach until wilted, add the crispy bacon, reserving some for garnish. Finally, stir in half a cup of shredded cheese until smooth and creamy. Whichever cheese you like is fine.

Brush the mushroom caps inside and out with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Fill the caps with the creamed spinach mixture. Spray a sheet pan with non-stick spray and place the mushroom caps on the sheet pan. Put the mushroom caps in the oven for 10 minutes or until lightly brown and bubbly. You can also prepare these caps a day ahead and refrigerate until ready to use.

While the caps are in the oven, you can poach the eggs. Crack your egg into a small bowl. The pot of water should be hot but not boiling. Take a spoon and give the water a fast stir creating a whirlpool. Gently drop the egg right in the center of the whirlpool. The egg should spin a little and kind of curl up nice and tight. Adding the vinegar is important to keep the egg white from spreading.

For a runny yolk leave the egg the water for 2-3 minutes, if you want a firm yolk let it sit for 4-5. Using a slotted spoon gently remove the egg from the water and place on a paper towel to drain. Repeat process for second egg.

You can poach more than one egg at a time, but if you do, skip the whirlpool and using a custard cup or spoon gently place in the water. If you like you can put the poached eggs in a bowl of cold water and refrigerate for up to 8 hours, then reheat in hot water.

Make a quick fix blender version hollandaise.

Served mushroom caps on a bed of red quinoa, topped with the poached egg, drizzled with hollandaise sauce and sprinkled with crispy bits of bacon.