The holidays are among us and tensions are running high! This is supposed to be “the most wonderful time of the year” but sometimes things don’t go as planned. Let’s just say that I’m back in Ottawa and things are definitely not all rainbows and butterflies. My entire family has so much on their plates so I decided to pitch in the best way I know how; cooking!

My initial thought was that I’d make boeuf en croute with beef tenderloin. I knew tenderloin would be expensive but at Whole Foods it was $40 a pound and I nearly had a heart attack. I grabbed a few shallot and white wine sausages instead. Total 180, I know! When you can’t afford to spend 100 bucks on tenderloin, spend $10 on fancy sausages.

I had already picked up mushrooms for my boeuf en croute and when I went to put them back I found some giiiiant mushrooms starring back at me. “Twas a few nights before Christmas and we were filled with doom, so I wanted to make a fun stuffed mushroom.” YES! (I really should have been a poet…)

Luckily my mom keeps her fridge pretty well stocked so I had a lot to work with. After a quick scan of the inventory I thought I’d try a mashed potato stuffed mushroom. I LOVE twice baked potatoes and a love mushrooms so why not combine the 2 to make a unique hybrid! Mashed potatoes and cheese are so comforting and that’s exactly what I needed to feel better.

Check out this delicious recipe I concocted:

Ingredients(serves 4):

8 large mushroom caps, washed dried and uncapped.
4 large potatoes, peeled
Fresh parsley and rosemary to taste, chopped
1 small shallot, finely diced
1 large clove garlic, pressed
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
knob of butter
splash of cream
salt and pepper
parmesan for garnish

You’re basically making funky mashed potatoes and putting blobs of it into mushroom caps and baking it. So simple. Pre heat your oven to 350. Boil your potatoes until tender. I like to cut them into large chunks so they cook evenly and quickly. Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them and mash them together with all ingredients. You can add different cheese depending on what you have and what you’re in to. Pancetta or bacon would be great in here too depending on what you are serving it with.  Once everything is mixed put generous spoonfuls into the mushroom caps. Drizzle olive oil on your pie plate/baking sheet and dust with garlic powder. Place the mushrooms on top, sprinkle with parmesan and bake for 30 minutes.

HALLELUJAH! What a beautiful, fluffy masterpiece. I served mine with sausage but you could easily do this as a side for a steak dinner or it would be amazing with roast beef. We served it with asparagus for a beautifully balanced dinner. This would be lovely to serve at a dinner party and it’s perfect incase any of your guests have a gluten sensitivity.

I hope these shroomies bring you as much joy as they brought me during these tough holiday moments. Remember, a good meal won’t fix all your problems but it’ll certainly make everything a little bit better! And if all else fails…whiskey!

Happy holidays! Thanks for eating with me:)

Julia