If you are throwing a party or attending a get-together with friends and family, you shouldn’t underestimate the importance of the Hors d’oeuvre or appetizer. These bite sized finger foods are typically served before the main course and are always a crowd pleaser keeping your guests sustained until the main dish is ready to be served.
A popular Hors d’oeuvre is the stuffed mushroom which is an elegant classic appetizer filled with rich and warm ingredients. My crowd-pleaser recipe combines ground elk seasoned with perfumy fennel, breadcrumbs and Gruyere which is a sweet and salty cheese. Stuff each individual buttery mushroom cap with a generous amount of filling, bake until the tops are golden brown and watch how fast they disappear when served.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground elk
- 20 mushrooms
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup Gruyère cheese,
shredded - 2 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tsp ground fennel
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Remove the mushroom stems and wipe the mushroom caps with a towel to remove any dirt. Set mushrooms aside.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil, ground elk, onions, ground fennel, garlic powder and salt. Cook the meat until browned and the onions have softened, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped parsley and remove from heat and let cool slightly.
- In a large bowl mix together the elk meat, breadcrumbs and Gruyère cheese. Take each mushroom cap and dip the stem side in melted butter before stuffing with the filling. Set the mushrooms on a sheet pan and bake for 18-20 minutes.
Video
They were pretty good. Not sure if my store just had mushrooms that were freakishly small but you’ll probably want to either halve the filling or double the mushrooms. Wouldn’t hurt to up the seasonings a little.
Turned out amazing. Removed the fennel from the recipe because my wife hates it. Needed just a little bit more salt for my taste, so added some Kosher salt to the top for the rest.
Will be serving at a party next weekend.
I made these as well as the Puff Pastry Elk Appetizers for a recent party and both were a big hit. I used a mix of white and cremini mushrooms. I personally liked the cremini better, but that’s just me. Also, I had a hard time finding ground fennel at the store. There was plenty of fennel seed so I ended up making my own by crushing the seed as best as possible using a rolling pin. It seemed to work. The nice thing is I was able to make these ahead of time and leave in the fridge on a covered tray. I brought them out for the party and baked for 20 mins. My significant other actually topped a few of them with some left over prosciutto from the other recipe. They were excellent as well. Another simple and great recipe to share with friends and family.
Could you suggest another herb here besides fennel? I plan to use for an upcoming wine tasting and I know that one lady doesn’t like the licorice flavor of the fennel. I really don’t care for it either.
Thanks for your input. You have some great recipes, but I live by myself, and a lot of them are for large gatherings or families. I’ll just have to proportion it down to half or a quarter of what you have listed.
Thyme or sage would be a great substitute for the fennel.