I’m honestly a little shocked to find myself here writing about stuffed mushrooms. I’ve never really been a mushroom person. I always found the texture a little bothersome. But somehow, in the last two years or so, a whole new world has opened up for me. I have fallen for mushrooms and fallen hard. There just isn’t much better than a bunch of mushrooms sauteed up in butter, herbs, and wine.

So recently an occasion came up where I had people coming over, and in traditional family fashion, I was worried there wouldn’t be enough food and started searching my fridge for things that I could serve. Of course, it was entirely unnecessary, but if I wasn’t so paranoid about not having enough snacks, I never would have made this delicious treat. So there. My paranoia and over worrying is a good thing. Says me.

I looked in my fridge and found a box of mushrooms that I hadn’t gotten around to cooking. I saw some leftover chicken breasts. And voila! I should make stuffed mushrooms! I scanned around the internet a bit, searching for tips and inspiration and then went for it. Most of the time, I don’t use recipes when I cook. I like to look around at other people’s recipes, get general ideas, oven temps and cooking times, and then just wing it. For the most part, this haphazard system works. It certainly did this time. It was incredibly hard not to eat all of these before the guests arrived. I joked with my friends who were setting up the party with me that we could just eat them all before the rest of the people showed up and they would never need to know.

We still had some left when the main party arrived. But I will admit that we may have had to move the mushrooms to a smaller plate (because we snuck so many of them that the original plate was looking pretty empty). I’m sure you could customize this to your own tastes. For instance, if I hadn’t been hanging out with two people who are lactose intolerant, I’m sure I would have added some kind of cheese component to this dish. But, the Dijon gave the filling plenty of moisture and the egg added not only stability, but some creaminess. These took me very, very little time to put together and they were very good. I look forward to experimenting with more stuffed mushroom recipes. There is a whole new world of appetizers out there for me to explore! If you have any great recipes, send them my way.

 Dijon Chicken Stuffed Mushrooms

• 1 large chicken breast, cooked and chopped finely
• 2 TB dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 egg
• 1 pound mushroom caps, stems removed
• panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine chicken, Dijon, thyme, and oregano. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix in one egg, thoroughly. Place parchment paper on cookie sheet and arrange mushrooms on the sheet. Fill each mushroom with the chicken filling, allowing for a small mound of filling on top. Top each mushroom with panko bread crumbs.

Bake mushrooms at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until breadcrumbs are toasted on top. Remove and rest.

Photographs by Jessica Yager