Portabella Mushroom Burger

Now I have been a self-proclaimed, well why lie, most know me as a solid meatatarian for many years. I don't need to self-proclaim. Skip the starch and veggies. Give me meat, lots of it, the rarer the better. But I got to tell you other meat lovers out there, Portabella Mushrooms, done properly, are a great alternative if you are sharing a meal with non-meat eaters.

As I said in the previous entry, I have been frequenting the local farmers market and picking up some great little items. On my last trip I picked up 2 cooking/salad oils. One was a White Truffle oil and the other was a Rosemary Garlic Roasted Cabernet oil. The oils are from Bistro Blend of Napa Valley, CA. Both were used in this meal and really is what made this meal so incredible.

I put in a bowl some grape tomatoes sliced in half, cucumber, cilantro, and red onion and set in the fridge to stay chilled. I rinsed my spinach and set aside.I used the White Truffle oil as a dressing. I was tempted to use a raspberry wine vinegar but being I was using a Cabernet oil for the Portabellas, I decided it might be too conflicting to the palate. In a bowl I whisked together some White Truffle oil, white vinegar, sea salt, fresh ground black pepper, and dried dill. This was quite tasty, but I will be playing around with it to find something that really sets this dressing over the top. Still a good dressing.

The Portabellas I grilled on the BBQ over a medium flame. I covered both sides on the mushroom with the Rosemary Garlic Roasted Cabernet oil, a little salt and pepper. Do be too hasty in taking Portabellas off the grill. They do turn pretty dark but not charred. I cooked the first side for approx. 10 minutes, flipped it and cooked the other side for about 5 minutes before putting a slice of real mozzarella cheese and some large leaf basil I picked out of my garden on top. The RGRC oil was so wonderful I used a little more on the onion buns and toasted them on the grill as well.

I plated the spinach and spooned on the cucumber/ tomato/ dressing mix. I also added to the plate some Cerignola olives. These olives are tri-colored and very unique in flavor.

As you can see it was a beautiful plate. The White Truffle dressing on the salad really tied the Portabella Burger together.

I am happy with this meal, but I will be toying with some alternatives to the Portabella Mushroom Burger plate. Maybe a different cheese or bread. Again this was very good. But I don't think it's quite enough to really stand out in the foodie world.