Baked Oyster Mushroom and Bacom

Baked Oyster Mushroom and Bacon

A great hors-d'oeuvre or first course served with a small salad. Make ahead and reheat for 5 minutes in a 350ºF oven.

Ingredients: 1 lb mussels approx. (16 to 18)

2/3 cup Pilsner

½ cup whipping cream

1 Tablespoon butter

2 Tablespoon finely diced shallots

¼ cup finely diced smoked bacon

1½ cups chopped mixed oyster and brown cremini mushrooms

1 Tablespoon chopped parsley

½ cup grated fontina cheese

Salt and freshly ground pepper

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Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF.

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2. Put mussels, pilsner and cream in a large pot, cover with a lid, bring to a boil and steam for 2 to 3 minutes, or until mussels have opened. Remove from heat and drain, reserving cooking liquid in a bowl and discarding any mussels whose shells remain closed. Strain cooking liquid through a fine sieve, place in a pan and boil for 5 minutes or until thickened. Reserve for sauce.

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3. Remove mussels from shells, separate top and bottom halves of shells, discarding top halves. Reserve remaining shells and mussels separately.

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4. Melt butter over high heat in a large skillet. Sauté shallots, smoked bacon and mushrooms for 3 minutes, or until bacon is cooked and vegetables are soft. Combine vegetable mixture with reserved mussels, reduced cooking liquid and chopped parsley.

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5. Spoon mussels and mixture into reserved mussel shells. Place in a baking dish, top with grated cheese (at this point you can refrigerate for up to 24 hours until ready to serve) and bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and mussels are warmed through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serves 2 to 4