Grilled Portobellos

After a long, hard day of corporate nonsense, I found myself very hungry and looking for an excuse to change the course of the day. My avenue of escape was the local Harris Teeter. For Christmas, I received The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques by Steven Raichlen and had been looking for an excuse to grill something new and tasty. The 5 frisbee-sized portobellos on sale for $4 were a perfect option. I picked up the 'shrooms, some broccoli to grill, and some funky green bamboo rice and went to work. I used the following recipe for the mushrooms --

4 large portobello mushrooms (8-10 oz each)
2 cloves of garlic cut into slivers
1 oz Romano or comparable firm cheese cut into slivers
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/3 cups extra virgin olive oil

Trim the stems off the mushrooms so they are flush with the caps. Poke holes into the gill side of the mushrooms inserting the slivers of garlic, cheese, rosemary, and pine nuts into the holes. Mix the balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper (add basil if desired). Place the mushrooms in a baking dish gill side up and pour the marinade on top of the shrooms making sure to coat the bottoms as well. Marinate for somewhere between 30 mins and 3 hrs to maximize the flavor sensation.

When it's grilling time - hit them for about 3 mins face side down on high and flip them on their backs for another 4-6 mins. If you're feeling like a grilling superstar - you can turn at a 45 degree angle after about 2 mins to work some grill marks.

I was extremely pleased at how well these turned out and will definitely make this a regular in the dinner rotation. Plugging the ingredients into the 'shrooms takes a little bit of time but pays off big in flavor points. I'll give this one 5 stars.