Grilled Mushrooms

On a recent trip to the Growing Roots Farmers Market in Malvern, Pennsylvania, I found beautiful mushrooms at B & H Organic Produce. I bought a bag of shiitake and a bag of cremini (also called baby bella or brown) mushrooms.

Ed will tell you that I look for any excuse to add mushrooms to something. He’s not wrong. So he was particularly amused when I got home and told him that these mushrooms had ‘spoken’ to me. He knew that they hadn’t but they were too beautiful to pass up.

Ed was preparing Josphine’s Beef Spiedini – one of his favorite recipes that his mom made when he was a child – that night. I knew that these mushrooms would pair well with the grilled skewered meat.

Instead of sautéing them on top of the stove, I thought they’d be better grilled alongside the beef. After cleaning them, I cut them into quarters and tossed them in olive oil, minced garlic, chopped thyme (rosemary would be good as well), salt and pepper. Since they are too small to go directly on the grate, they went in a grill basket for cooking. 

Once off the grill, I quickly shaved fresh Pecorino-Romano over the mushrooms with a microplane. I wanted the grated cheese to lightly coat the mushrooms.  

We are fortunate that we live in the same county as Kennett Square, the Mushroom Capital of the World. Over half of the mushrooms grown in the United States come from area surrounding Kennett Square in southern Chester County. As such, we are fortunate to have access to many types of fresh mushrooms. 

These were particularly delicious and were the perfect side to accompany the skewered beef. They’d be delicious with any grilled meat or fish as well. Leftover mushrooms are a great addition to an omelette, too.