Portobello Mushroom Sliders

This recipe was born out of one thing: hunger. I got home from our 6 hour drive from Nags Head totally beat and looking for a quick fix. Like Old Mother Hubbard before me, my cupboard was bare. Some extensive refrigerator rummaging produced two Portobello mushrooms and a lemon. “Grill them for burgers,” thought I. But then…no buns!! I did have little slider buns (I happen to live with the slider queen of DC). Thus Portobello Mushroom Sliders were born. I actually think they are super adorable and I will be making them for my next party. I predict that carnivores and vegetarians alike will be swarming around the tray to get a tasty bite. The sharp lemon marinade makes these little sliders really pop in your mouth. I will probably try and substitute regular button mushrooms next time so that I can skip the whole cutting up portabellas, but I do really enjoy the meaty texture from these granddaddy shrooms. You could always just cut the mushroom in quarters and not have perfect circles. Maybe that is the best compromise.
Portobello Mushroom Sliders
Ingredients:
2 Portobello Mushrooms
1 lemon
1 fat clove garlic
2 Tablespoons light mayonnaise
Olive oil
8 basil or baby spinach leaves
8 slider buns (I use Martin’s Potato mini-rolls)

1. Clean the mushrooms with a damp paper towel and cut out circles with a 1 inch circle cookie cutter (I use the “O” from my alphabet cookie cutter set). Again, button mushrooms can be substituted or just cut them in quarters and don’t worry about having circular “burgers.”
2. Zest the lemon and finely grate the garlic onto a cutting board.
3. To make the zesty mayo that you’ll spread on your buns, combine a pinch of the zest and pinch of grated garlic with the mayonnaise to lightly flavor. Add about 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and a sprinkle of salt and pepper and mix until smooth.
4. In another bowl, you will make a marinade for the mushrooms by combining the rest of the zest, garlic, the juice the rest of the lemon and 2 Tablespoons olive oil with a sprinkle of salt and pepper in a small bowl.
5. Add the mushroom discs to this mixture and let sit for a few minutes.
6. Grill the mushroom discs on a grill pan or skillet on high heat for about 2-3 minutes per side.
7. Place mushroom sliders on the buns with a dollop of lemon-mayo. Top each slider with a basil or spinach leaf and they are ready for their close-up.

In case you were wondering, on our vacation we saw SJP's stand-in from the SATC2 movie on location in Morocco along with Matt Damon's stunt double for his latest Bourne flick.