Jalapeno Mushrooms, Revisited

Happy New Year!  I pray your New Year will be filled with joy and an awareness of how much God loves you!

     And now for the reason of my post:  I know, I know!  This is a lot of posting on one recipe but sometimes it takes experimenting to reach perfection. 😀.  I made the Jalapeno Popper Mushrooms again last night for a party, and because I forgot the ingredients included bacon and didn't have any, I decided to make them without it.  Absolutely fabulous!  We thought they were better --if that is possible, since we loved the others!
      Below is the recipe that seems to me to be perfection.  Since I had some of the filling left, I didn't want to waste it so put it in a small dish and cooked it with the stuffed mushrooms.  This was excellent on crackers.  It was so good that I believe to save time both for prep and cooking, the mushrooms could all be chopped, added to the rest of the ingredients and then baked as a dip.

Jalapeno Popper Mushrooms

• 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
• 8 large mushrooms, or 16 small, stems
• removed and chopped and caps reserved
• 1 clove garlic, minced  
• 1 jalapeno pepper, ribs and seeds       
•        removed, finely chopped (or use     
•        canned, which I prefer.)

• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, 
•       softened
• 1/4 c. mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons shredded Cheddar 
•       cheese
• 3 T. Parmesan Cheese
• sea salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a baking dish with cooking spray.
2. 
   

1. To prevent mushrooms from being soggy, remove stems and place upside down in cooking dish.  Bake 15 minutes till they release water before stuffing. 
2. 
   
3. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the chopped mushroom stems, garlic, and jalapeno; (can add a few seeds if you would like it spicier) cook and stir until the mushrooms release moisture and soften, about 10 minutes. Transfer the mushroom mixture to a bowl, and stir in the cream cheese, mayonnaise, cheddar & Parmesan cheese.  Season with salt and pepper. Spoon the cheese mixture generously into the reserved mushroom caps, and arrange the stuffed caps on the prepared baking dish.
4. 
   
5. Bake in the preheated oven until cheese begins to brown, 15 to 20 minutes.