Was Stuffed Mushrooms Oreganato an actual thing in the 70's?

[Jerseygirl111]

I was born in 1968, which is getting further and further down on the pull down menus online but that's for another day. Anyway, I recall eating, as a child with my parents, the most delicious Stuffed Mushrooms. They were definitely not the seafood or cheese based gems that are most commonly served nowadays. There was parsley and garlic and the only comparable concoction I can come up with is an oreganato.

Can anyone help? Can you provide a Stuffed Mushroom recipe popular in the 70's?

Thanks!

Jerseygirl111

[Bryan Pepperseed]

Although I love mushrooms in just about any form, I'm posting off topic today just to say that I noticed your (understandable) disappearance after Sandy and I'm glad you're back and that it sounds like at least meals are getting back to normal.

[chefj]

No, it was just a drug fueled hallucination, like most of the 70's

[antimony]

The version I have has finely minced onion and green bell peppers, sauteed in a lot of butter along with the minced mushroom stems, but is otherwise similar to the others posted. It's just memorable because I was terrible at fine, even mincing as a kid and hated helping make these. I should make them again some time -- I haven't in years.

[kattyeyes]

:) Let's start a stuffed shrooms trend! :)

[Nanzi]

My Mom always made them with crab meat in the stuffing, also yummy. And now that I think of it, mayo was in the stuffing mix too.

[hill food]

katty - there's material for a bad joke in there.

[kattyeyes]

Maybe so, purely unintentional. Go for it while no one's looking... ;)

[KSlink]

Mine include sweet and hot Italian sausage meat, and a little bit of fennel seed, IIRC. It's been years since I've made them, something I should haul out of retirement for this holiday season...

[hill food]

good choice and can be made way ahead and frozen for a simple re-heat.

[KSlink]

I found out the hard way that a frozen raw mushroom turns soggy upon baking (although my stuffing freezes beautifully)

[hill food]

it's been years, maybe I was thinking of only the stuffing. that makes sense KS.

[hill food]

Penelope Casas has a good recipe for a Spanish version that omits cheese but includes Jamon Serrano

[JulesLP]

My grandmother did the same thing as Todao as well, except did not include mushroom pieces in the breadcrumb mixture, so it was olive oil and garlic warmed, add the breadcrumbs and fresh parsley, then off the heat add parmesan cheese. Put that mixture in the mushrooms and bake for about 20 minutes. So easy, but so delicious.

Jules

[roxlet]

In our house, they were known simply as stuffed mushrooms, and they were a standard for Thanksgiving among other holiday dinners. I still make them and love them. Todao's preparation is spot on. My mother always roasted them on a tray pan and put a little water on the pan as well as drizzling some olive oil over them.

[Berheenia]

I've been using the recipe from the New York Times 1961 cookbook more or less for years and it is similar but uses onion and butter in place of the garlic and olive oil. My secret ingredient has always been deviled ham (yes the stuff in a can- I was young and poor in the seventies) to bind the crumbs and duxelles. Then I got to eat leftover deviled ham on crackers- these days it often gets tossed. My mushrooms were a big hit when I used to be a guest on Thanksgiving. Now I am the hostess and they don't always get on the menu but this year I'm making a big effort for our new extended family from the west coast and I already bought the deviled ham.

[kattyeyes]

YES, simply "stuffed mushrooms" here, too, but butter instead of olive oil and not specific to holiday time. We add sherry, too. I don't add Romano to mine--my mom always did. I made them the other day with extra mushrooms for my dinner. I didn't realize they were a 70s thing! I only remember not being interested when my mom first offered them, then she'd say (classic Janey line): "Try them...but don't like them TOO much!" HA HA HA! And now I love them.

[todao]

Yes; I've always known them as "Funghi Oreganata"
Just clean up some the caps from some large white mushrooms, remove and chop up the stems, combine crushed garlic, bread crumbs, grated Parmeggiano Reggiano, chopped parsely, with some olive oil.
Saute the garlic, bread crumbs, chopped mushroom pieces and parsely in the olive oil, and use it to stuff the mushroom caps.
Put them on a baking sheet, drizzle with additional olive oil and heat in a hot pe-heated (at least 400 degrees) oven and bake until browned. Cool/serve
I've seen many variations, using different cheeses and adding combinations of various herbs. They're fun to make when you're in a creative mood.
Caveat - I made a batch of them a few years back and put them, hot out of the oven, on a holiday decorated paper plate which I promptly placed on the coffee table for guests to help themselves. To make a long story short - I soon found myself in my workshop refinishing the coffee table.

[sunshine842]

Yes -- either saute the stem pieces until they release their liquid, or make sure you leave the filling on the dry side, as it will have a lot of liquid to absorb!

[Gio]

<"Just clean up some the caps from some large white mushrooms, remove and chop up the stems, combine crushed garlic, bread crumbs, grated Parmeggiano Reggiano, chopped parsely, with some olive oil.

Saute the garlic, bread crumbs, chopped mushroom pieces and parsely in the olive oil, and use it to stuff the mushroom caps.

Put them on a baking sheet, drizzle with additional olive oil and heat in a hot pe-heated (at least 400 degrees) oven and bake until browned. Cool/serve.">

This is The Recipe I remember and I was born Way before the OP. This is the way my family has been making Stuffed Mushrooms from time immemorial. The only ingredients I would add are a bit of sea salt and a few grindings of black pepper to the orgeganato mixture. Also I remember the use of Romano instead of Parmigiano. They are served at every family gathering holiday or not.

BTW: that mixture is also delicious as a topping for fish fillets, or steaks, or shrimp before baking and can be mixed with minced fresh clams for stuffed clams, A dash of paprika over top before baking prettys up the finished dish.

[biondanonima]

I always pre-bake the caps a little to get them to release some liquid, then pat them dry and fill. Keeps them from being soggy and they also seem to hang onto the filling better that way.

[sunshine842]

OMG how did I forget that!

I was served stuffed mushrooms at a formal reception (passed appetizers, no plates, no silverware, just a napkin)

You guessed it -- mushroom mess right down the white bodice of my organza gown. (on the outside, natch -- and not a drop on the BLACK skirt!) Happily, I got most of it out by heading for the ladies' room immediately....but later wondered why in the world you'd serve something so potentially sloppy at a formal reception.

[Jerseygirl111]

Btw, todao, I just wanted to let you know you were spot on with these. They were just as I remembered and a huge hit.

Thank you!

Jerseygirl111