Geek Soup

And yes: I checked the spelling. The shrooms were reportedly named after the street in London; people use the feminized "portabella" to refer to the smaller versions.

Gender stereotyping aside, these make an incredible faux burger. About the size of your palm and surprisingly capable of holding up to squishing, 'bellos also take very well to just about any marinade you can throw at them.

Tonight's particular batch came out stronger than I generally like, but here's roughly how I do it:

2 largeish portobellos, just a bit bigger than your palm
a small dash of balsamic vinegar
about 1/4 cup of GOOD soy sauce (Kikkoman never passes my threshhold; I use Pearl River Valley)
water for dilution to taste (tonight I omitted the water--um, don't do it)
2 cloves of garlic, smashed, crushed or chopped fine (crushed yields more flavor, so naturally I crush it and then chop it)

Dump all that stuff in a zip-top bag; slosh around. Drop in your scrubbed and de-stemmed shrooms. Marinate for half an hour, ish.

Cook them in a hot pan, flattening them a bit for more even searing, or just use a panini press (or your very handy George Foreman grill). I served mine on wheat buns with a garlic guacamole spread I threw together (garlic, small splash of olive oil, tablespoon of mayo, 1 avocado, mush together), some spinach leaves and a sprinkle of shredded fresh parmesan.