Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms

Yesterday, my oldest of three children turned 34 years old. It was an emotional day for me as I reflected back on those thirty-four years from the moment of birth until now. The evening would bring a small gathering to celebrate with good food including these Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms.
I had to search on line for artichoke recipes and that's when I came upon this recipe from Saveur on line recipes and it sounded good. I altered the recipe ever so slightly but the credit still goes to Saveur for the creation of it. The mushrooms were a hit, everyone including one of the kids seemed to like them. Our main dish was Jen's favorite, Bake Stuffed Scallops.

• 2 boxes ( 8 oz.) white button mushrooms (save the stems)
• 1 - 14 oz. can artichoke hearts
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 3 large garlic cloves - minced
• 1 medium shallot - minced
• 1/2 cup white wine (half for the mixture, half for the baking pan)
• 1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
• 3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 3 tbsp. fresh parsley - fine chop
• 1 tbsp. fresh thyme - fine chop
• salt and ground black pepper to taste

1. I used my food processor and pulsed the mushroom stems until they were pretty fine. I transferred them to a dish and then did the garlic and shallot together. You can hand chop and mince - it's your choice. The small food processor did a fine job and saved time.
2. In a large skillet melt the butter over medium low heat. When the butter is melted add in the shallot and garlic and give a good stir. Add some salt and black pepper to taste and cook for about 2 minutes over medium heat. Add in the chopped mushroom stems and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed.
3. De-glaze the pan with 1/4 cup of wine and cook until most of the wine has cooked out and the mixture is fairly dry. Takes 5-7 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool down.
4. Open the artichokes and drain them. Pulse them in the food processor as well.
5. In a bowl, combine the cooled down shallot mixture, the artichokes, the Parmesan Cheese, the Panko bread crumbs and fresh herbs along with some black pepper. I did not salt again for the fact that the Parmesan Cheese and the artichokes were packed in a salted water solution and I used salted butter. So if you also are watching sodium I would skip the salt - they didn't need it.
6. Fill each mushroom cap. Add the last 1/4 cup of wine to a baking dish and place the mushrooms in the dish.
7. Bake for about 30-35 minutes until golden brown in a preheated 375° oven.

Two boxes of mushrooms yielded 24 mushrooms and there was enough stuffing  for all of them. The total of this appetizer cost $9.36.