The Fergus Falls Daily Journal

Grilled Portobello sandwiches

By Allison Myhre

February 13, 2008

1 comment

A few weeks ago, my sister and I took our mom to Chicago for a long weekend of shopping and eating to celebrate her 60th birthday. In hindsight, a beach vacation might have been a better option than Chicago in January, but I can say that we weren’t disappointed in the shopping and eating.

One of the things I love about traveling is experiencing all the different cuisines and menus of a different place. We dined on pizza, seafood, Greek, French, Chinese, and many others meals I can’t recall. I even managed to get inspired enough to re-create a sandwich that my sister had for lunch one day.

With the weather in Chicago being less than ideal, walking miles each day through the different neighborhoods probably made my mother wish for a vacation away from her precious offspring, but as she trotted twenty paces behind her speed walking kids, she put on a brave face. And on this particular day, as we indecisively wandered back and forth between a couple of restaurant options, Mom said, “I want to eat here,” and we walked into a small and pretty French bistro called Bijan.

Mom had ham and brie on a baguette, and I had a delicious Cobb salad, but immediately regretted my order once my sister’s balsamic and goat cheese Portobello sandwich arrived. It was served on a bed of arugula, lightly dressed with balsamic vinaigrette and the mushroom itself was marinated in the same flavor. Yum.

Here’s my best effort at the sandwich:

Grilled Portobello sandwich with goat cheese and arugula

Serves 4

Four medium-sized Portobello mushrooms, with gills cut out

1 baguette or loaf of French bread, sliced lengthwise and sliced into 4 servings

1 bunch arugula

Balsamic vinegar

Olive oil

Seasonings

Goat cheese, crumbled

Marinate the mushrooms in vinaigrette made with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt & pepper, and any other seasonings you like in vinaigrette for at least ½ hour. On a heated grill pan, lightly toast the sliced bread after drizzling with olive oil. After the bread is done, spread goat cheese on the slices. Grill the Portobellos for 3-4 minutes on each side.

Slice the portobellos to fit on the bread and place over the goat cheese. Drizzle with additional vinaigrette and sprinkle more goat cheese over the top. Serve open face or as a sandwich on a bed of arugula tossed in more vinaigrette.