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Monday, January 31, 2011

Mushroom lovers rejoice

Tonight I made a recipe that I made a long time ago and it was fabulous again. This was a "what do I have in the fridge?" night and what I came up with was the sauteed mushrooms over croutons with an egg recipe that can be found here. This time I followed the instructions and left the egg to cook in the 400º oven for exactly 15 minutes. It was perfect. I served it with brussels sprouts and pistachios cooked in garlic butter. (I have George addicted to these now!)

I also tried making it in 2 oven-proof bowls this time, which cut down on dishes and the recipe was perfect for 2 people.

The combination of mushrooms, rosemary, red wine, croutons, and eggs is simply inspired. This dish is fast and easy and super tasty. A must try. I need to memorize this one so I can pull it together quickly any old time.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Portobello Sandwiches with mozzarella and greens

Oh wow, I will definitely be making this again. These open-faced sandwiches are good enough to serve to company. It took under half an hour and had a big flavor payoff. I think garlic mashed potatoes would be a nice accompaniment. Deborah recommends a pinot noir to go with this meal, but I think any red will do.

We had leftover hamburger buns that we needed to use up, so that's what we used for these sandwiches. The recipe calls for ciabbata or good crusty french bread, which would be fabulous.

Let's Get Started
Preheat the oven to 400º. You'll need one portobello mushroom per person. Using a damp paper towel, wipe off the cap of the mushroom. Remove the stem and the gills. The gills are those dark brown things inside the mushroom. A spoon works great to remove them. Drizzle the inside of the mushroom with olive oil and set on a baking dish. Chop 2 cloves of garlic together with a small handful of parsley leaves. Sprinkle the garlic-parsley mixture onto the inside of the mushroom (saving 1 t. of the mixture for later). Add salt and pepper and pop them in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until they are sizzling.

While they are cooking, wash and trim 1/3 pound greens. I used beet greens and curly kale. Any kind of braising greens will do. Heat 2 t. oil. Add the greens, the rest of the garlic-parsley mixture, a pinch of red pepper flakes and some salt. Saute the greens until they are tender. Taste for seasonings and doneness of the greens

Cut some fairly thick slices of fresh mozzarella. Put the mozzarella slices on top of the mushrooms, then layer the cooked greens on top of that. Bake for 5-7 minutes, until the cheese is melted. While that is baking, toast 1 thick slice of bread per person. Place the cooked mushrooms on top of the bread and serve.

Things I'd do differently next time
I just realized that the recipe called for 2 garlic cloves, a small handful of parsley, 1/3 pound of greens and 4 portobellos, but I only used 2 portobellos. If I were making this for 4 people, I think I'd increase the amount of garlic and parsley and greens, because those amounts worked perfectly for 2 portobellos.

I'd also try this with ciabatta or focaccia bread. It would also be wonderful with polenta or garlic mashed potatoes instead of the bread.

Cost to Prepare (for 2 people)
2 portobellos - $4.00
fresh mozzarella (4 slices) - $3.00
1/3 pound greens - $1.50 (organic)
2 slices bread - $.25
2 cloves garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, olive oil - negligible
TOTAL - $8.75 for 2

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Brown rice and mushroom "burgers"

One night while the kids were here visiting, we decided to have burgers for dinner. They made their own meat version, and I made these vegetarian patties for George and me. They are so much better than any veggie burger I've bought at the store. This recipe could also be formed into a loaf and sliced into sandwich shaped slices and frozen for future burger nights. This recipe is also used as the filling material for "Cabbage Parcels with Sweet-and-sour Sauce". I made that a couple nights later and was actually disappointed that I didn't have any more of the filling material left to just cook up and eat when I felt hungry. It's really yummy.

I made the recipe while up at Lake Tahoe, and I didn't have a food processor, so I just chopped it up after it was cooked. It didn't stick together in burgers very well. I'd like to try it again and see how much difference the food processor makes.

Ok, Let's Get Started
  • You'll need to start out with 1 cup cooked brown rice. It's great to use leftover rice, but if you need to cook the rice, get it going first. Brown rice usually takes about 45 minutes to cook.
  • Grate 1/2 cup cheddar cheese. Have 1/2 cup bread crumbs and 1 egg standing by for later.
  • Chop an onion into fairly small dice. Have 1 t. dried sage leaves and 2 pinches of thyme standing by. (I used fresh sage and fresh thyme.)
  • Heat 1 T. olive oil in a medium skillet. Add the onion and crumble the herbs on top. Cook over high heat stirring frequently, about 4 minutes.
  • While that is cooking, chop 1/2 pound of mushrooms, 1/2 cup of cashews, and 1/2 cup of pecans.
  • Add the mushrooms and nuts and cook, stirring frequently. The mushrooms will release their juices and then they will reabsorb back into the dish.
  • Stir in 1 teaspoon tamari (or soy sauce if you don't have tamari). Season with 1/2 t. salt and pepper to taste.
  • Transfer this mixture to a food processor. Add 1 cup cooked rice, 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese, 1 egg, and 1/2 cup bread crumbs.
  • Pulse this mixture in the food processor until it resembles ground meat.
  • Fry a dab in some olive oil to check the seasonings and correct them if needed.
  • Fry up your veggie burgers by scooping 1/2 cup measures into a heated skillet coated with oil. Press down on the mixture with a spatula so that the patties are about 1/2 inch thick. Fry over medium heat until brown, 4 to 5 minutes, then turn and cook the second side.
  • Serve with buns and burger fixings.
Things I'd Do Differently Next Time
I'd use a food processor to get the texture right. Even though I just chopped it all up really fine with a knife, it didn't alter the taste, and they were delicious. I'd make a whole batch of this and freeze the leftovers in pre-formed patties for later use. I might also try cooking the whole batch in a loaf pan, slicing it and freezing it to have individual patties that could be used for quick weeknight "burgers".

Cost to Prepare
1/2 cup brown rice (to make one cup cooked) - $.25
1 large onion - $.50
1 t. dried sage, 2 pinches dried thyme - negligible
1/2 pound mushrooms - $2.50 (for cremini in bulk)
1/2 cup cashews - $2.00
1/2 cup pecans - $1.50
tamari, salt, pepper - negligible
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese - $1.00
1 egg - $.50 (less if you buy conventional eggs)
1/2 cup bread crumbs - $.25
TOTAL - $8.50

This made enough for 2 burgers, plus filling for the Sweet and Sour Cabbage Parcels which I made later. If you used this just for veggie burgers it would make about 6 or 7 of them.