Truffled Goat Cheese/Mascarpone Mushroom Polenta Cups

Last minute panic set in this year and although we had more than enough food for our holiday party, I felt compelled to make another appetizer filling to use in a fried won ton. As usual, there was no time to fry them on the day of the party, but a good use for this particular filling came up the next day when I started mixing and matching leftovers.

Ingredients and directions for mushroom filling:
20 shitake mushrooms
1 can water chestnuts
1 large shallot
1T black sesame seed oil
2T extra virgin olive oil
2T chopped cilantro

Saute the finely diced shallot in the oils over a medium heat then add the chopped mushrooms, reduce the heat and cover to steam. In the interim, chop the water chestnuts and add them to the mushrooms. Finally toss in the chopped cilantro and saute for another minute or two. I've used this filling for fried won tons too.

Ingredients and directions for cheese filling:
4 oz. goat cheese
2 oz. mascarpone
1T truffle paste or tartufatta
salt

Simply mix these ingredients at room temperature, taste and add salt if desired. This same cheese mixture can be used with crackers. If I make a log of it I use minced dry porcini on the exterior.

Directions for construction of appetizer:

Please refer to the recipe on making polenta cups and make the truffle version for this appetizer. Take a small scoop of the cheese spread and place it in the cup, now make an indentation into the cheese and fill with the mushroom filling. These two components work much better together than you might imagine, but you can also use plain goat cheese if you would prefer to, or cream cheese. Heat in a 400 degree oven for 4 minutes.