Asian Stuffed Baby Bellas Paired with Pinot Noir

Don't these babies look scrumptious? Oh yeah, they are! Super easy to make, too. These Asian inspired stuffed mushrooms are a super app for a holiday party...but you can eat them for dinner, too. Just use full sized portabellas and whip up a green salad on the side. Dinner - done!

Not only will these 'shrooms be hovered up by your guests this holiday season - they are a great pair for everyone's favorite red wine, Pinot Noir. Grab a couple of styles of Pinot and have an impromptu  taste test, and get guest feedback on the best pairing.

Two to try:  a Fruit-Forward-Jammy California style charmer, Votre Sante Pinot Noir by Francis Ford Coppola

or an "Old World" style Kris Pinot Noir from Italy - a drier and lighter style of Pinot

You can find both bottles at Total Wine for under $20 each. 

Asian Stuffed Baby Bellas

8 oz Pkg of Baby Bellas

1 TB Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided

Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste

3 TB Minced Cilantro

3 TB Minced Green Onions

½ Cup Minced Water Chestnuts

¼ Cup Panko

4 Oz Light Whipped Cream Cheese, soft

1/8 Tsp Cayenne

¼ Tsp Five Spice Powder

¼  Tsp EACH Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

2 Garlic Cloves, grated

2 Tsp Lemon Juice

Step One Preheat the oven to 425. Remove the stems from the mushrooms, and set the mushroom caps aside. Mince and sauté the stems in 1 Tsp Olive Oil until they release their juices, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

Step Two Combine the cilantro through the lemon juice together in a bowl, along with the sautéed chopped mushroom stems and mix well. Stuff the mushrooms with the mixture brush (or spray) the tops with the remaining olive oil. Roast for 15 minutes, or until the filling has browned.

My Cheesy Excuse: A Guest Post by Healthy Sous-Chef Partyologist, Lea Bowen

Despite all of my intentions to write a new and interesting blog each week, there are instances when my hectic schedule leaves me with little time to sit quietly at my keyboard and write.  Typically, I have a valid excuse such as, I worked three thirteen hour shifts in a row or I was carpooling the kids all evening.  Last week was not one of those times. 
Last Thursday, I had every intention of stealing off to my office and writing up a new blog and recipe that I had made earlier in the week.  But alas, I was invited over to my neighboor's house for a "glass" of wine.  This is really code for "let's chat and drink a bottle of wine".  Since Carol was kind enough to supply the bottle of wine, I could not arrive empty handed, so I pulled out a nice piece of cheese that I had been saving for a special occasion.  So pehaps, this was not the special occasion I had in mind, but wine, cheese and good neighbor's company would suffice.
I walked into Carol's house with the immediate disclaimer that the odor she may smell was not me.  Many times it is me of course, because after a day in the kitchen with onions, garlic and other offending smells, well, you get the picture.  In any case, the slightly funky smell was from my prized block of cheese, that I brought to share.  This cheese is one of my new favorites and was of course introduced to me by Chef Nancy.  It is called Morbier.

Morbier is a semi-soft cow's milk cheese from France.  It resembles a blue cheese, but the vein running down the middle is actually thin layer of tasteless ash.  The cheese was still cold out of the refrigerator when we first tasted it.  It was delicious of course, but the flavor was not yet fully developed. As we sat and talked over the next couple of hours, it was great fun to see how the taste of the cheese changed and improved as it warmed up to room temperature.  Needless to say, the time passed, the wine was gone and all that remained of the Morbier was a lifeless rind sitting on a plate. 

Yikes! I had spent the entire evening eating cheese and drinking wine.  No time for a blog this evening.  I had to walk home and make some dinner for the kids and get everyone organized for school and work the next day.  

I hated having to tell Nancy that I had no new blog for her on Friday morning, but I kept my fingers crossed that she would see the humor in the picture of my "dead soldier", shown above.  She is afterall, a Partyologist!  Luckily, she did, and I ended up getting a blog out of my evening, albeit a week late.

So, the next time, you feel the urge to procrastinate and or just spend a nice evening with a friend, take along a nice slice of Morbier to share.  I buy mine at the Buford Highway Farmer's market and have seen it at Whole Food's and occasionally Costco.  Oh, and if you need to bring the wine as well, try a nice Pinot Noir.  Enjoy!