Savory Bread Pudding

This is a recipe from my dear friend, John Brosnan. I make this a couple times every winter. It is delicious and makes great leftovers. Perfect for a larger gathering because it serves 10-12 people.

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs. french bread, crusts removed, shredded
3 large onions, sliced
Butter, at least 1 stick
1 lb. crimini brown mushrooms
1 T. fresh thyme
2T. fresh parsley
1 head spinach
2+ cups Gruyere
2+ cups swiss, any kind
1 cup parmesan
2 cups whole milk
6 eggs
Cayenne
Garlic
Salt + Pepper
Cornmeal or crushed pecans (optional)

preparation

Shred bread into 13" x 9" pan. It should be filled to the top. Saute onions in 3 T. butter, over medium-high heat, 20 minutes. Keep stirring until browned. Set aside. In sauce pan, saute mushrooms with sliced garlic, 1 tsp. thyme, and 2 tsp. fresh parsley, for 15 minutes. Set aside and cool. Saute spinach in butter. Add chopped garlic + salt after cooked. Mix whole milk, eggs, 2 tsp. salt + pepper, remaining thyme, parsley, and 1 tsp. cayenne. Add cheeses. Mix all ingredients together, in 2 batches if necessary. Butter 13 x 9 pan and add crunchy texture like cornmeal or pecans, if desired. Put mixture in pan and sprinkle with extra cheese + herbs. Bake at 350˚ for 45 minutes (20 minutes with foil, 20+ mins. without). Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

note

I often add pimentòn (smoked Spanish paprika) to this dish for a smoky flavor. You can also add sausage if you like.

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.

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.

Mushroom and Tofu Saute with Rice Noodles

I made this for my family on Thanksgiving weekend. The asian flavors were a welcome break from the usual Thanksgiving fare that everyone had the day before. I loved it and everyone else seemed to enjoy it, too. This would make an excellent weeknight meal. I used very skinny rice noodles because that was all I could find. I think it would be better with wider rice noodles, or maybe even soba or udon noodles. This was fairly simple to prepare and it only took about half an hour.

Let's get started

• Cook the rice noodles in boiling, salted water according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking, and set aside.
• Cut one block of firm tofu into bite sized cubes. Simmer in boiling water for 2 minutes. Lift cubes out of the water and set them in a colander to drain.
• In a small bowl, combine 2 t. tamari or mushroom soy sauce, 3 T. naturally brewed soy sauce, and 2 T. brown sugar.
• Chop together 2 cloves garlic, 3 T. fresh tarragon, 1/2 t. salt, and freshly ground pepper. (I know 3 T. sounds like a lot of tarragon, but it blends beautifully into the dish. Don't be shy about using the full 3 T. of tarragon. This is almost a full bunch if you buy it at the supermarket.)
• Clean and trim 1 pound mushrooms, including some shiitakes, if possible. Cut into quarters or thick slices.
• Finely dice one large shallot (about 1/2 cup total)
• Heat a little peanut oil (or vegetable oil) in a skillet. Add the garlic mixture and stir fry for 20 seconds or so, then add the mushrooms and shallot. Saute over high heat until the juices have been released and then reabsorbed and the mushrooms have started to brown, (7 - 10 minutes).
• While that is cooking, finely slice 4 green onions and set aside.
• Add the tofu, followed by the soy mixture and the cooked noodles.
• Mix gently, taste for salt, transfer to a platter and serve garnished with green onions.

Things I'd do differently next time: Use wider rice noodles, or experiment with other types of noodles. This would also be good over rice.

Cost to prepare

3/4 pound mushrooms (white and cremini mix) - $3.75

1/4 pound shiitake mushrooms - $2.50

3 T. chopped tarragon - $1.50

3 T. chopped garlic (2-3 cloves) - $.30

1 carton firm tofu - $1.50

soy sauces - $1.00 (?)

1 large shallot - $.75

4 scallions - $.25

6 ounces dried rice noodles - $1.00

TOTAL - $12.55 for 4 people

Suggested wine - a spicy, dry Gewurztraminer

Brussels Sprout and Mushroom Ragout with herb dumplings

Ok. How's this for an impulse buy? I was at the supermarket yesterday, and I saw these beautiful, bright green brussels sprouts, and I just had to have some. I knew I had a recipe to do that featured them, but I had no idea what else was in it. I have never cooked a brussels sprout in my life, but for reasons unknown, I had to have them.

Well as it turned out, I had everything else for the recipe in the house - sort of. We just got some gourmet "royal trumpet" mushrooms in our CSA box, so I figured those could stand in for the mushrooms called for in the recipe. I was supposed to have 3/4 pound of mushrooms for the recipe, and I only had 4 ounces of the gourmet mushrooms, so I went to my pantry and pulled out a small handful of dried porcini mushrooms. I covered them with hot water, let them soak for 15 minutes, and then drained off the mushroomy broth to use in the recipe.

For those of you who haven't made friends with brussels sprouts in your adult life - now is the time. They are delicate and delicious when not boiled into a mushy mess. This dish is warm, earthy, and satisfying. I used sweet onions which made the broth pleasantly sweet and went well with the tarragon. It took me about 40 minutes to make, but would be closer to an hour if you make the stock.

This recipe begins by asking you to make mushroom stock - which is delicious and well worth the extra time, but I happened to have some on hand from the last time I made it. Yay! (You can find the instructions for the mushroom stock here.)

This was also my first time making dumplings, which are much easier than I imagined. This meal did feature a lot of dirty dishes, but it was well worth it. There are several steps, so I'll do this more like a regular recipe.

1. Make the mushroom stock. See above.

2. While that is cooking, put on a pot of water to boil for the brussels sprouts. Rinse the brussels sprouts and cut them in half or quarters. (I cut them in half, but then they were too big to eat in one bite in the finished ragout. I think quarters is better unless your sprouts are quite small.) Set them aside to be ready when the water boils.

3. Heat 1 T. olive oil in a skillet and slice up 2 onions. I highly recommend sweet onions for this dish. Saute the onions over medium heat until nicely colored - 12 to 15 minutes.

4. While the onions saute, chop 5 T. parsley and 2 T. tarragon. Separate the herbs into 2 piles: 3 T. parsley and 1 T. tarragon will go in with the onions; the rest will go into the dumplings.

5. Mince 1 clove garlic, and the mushrooms. Use 3/4 pound white, crimini, shiitake, or a mixture. (Or whatever you have on hand.)

6. When the onions are nicely colored, stir in the herbs, garlic, and mushrooms.

7. Squeeze half a lemon over the onion and mushroom mixture. Turn up the heat and saute until the mushrooms are browned in places (5-7 minutes.) Then lower the heat to low.

8. When the water boils, add salt. Cook the brussels sprouts for 5 minutes, or until they are tender when you poke them with a fork. Drain.

9. Add the brussels sprouts and the mushroom broth to the pan with the onions and mushrooms. (I used about 2 cups of broth, but it could handle a little more than that.) Taste for seasoning.

10. Turn off the heat while you make the dumplings.

11. To make the dumplings, combine the following dry ingredients, and then stir in the wet ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 t. baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup milk warmed with 3 T. butter or oil
• 1 egg
• the tarragon/parsley mixture you set aside earlier

12. Return the ragout to low heat, and drop spoonfuls of batter into the warm liquid. Cover (or tent with foil if you need more room), and cook on low for 10 minutes or so. Don't add any more than 12 dumplings or it will get too bready and messy. I only used 8. You'll have leftover batter which you can fry up later.

I learned that the dumplings don't need to be down in the liquid. They can sit on top and they'll still cook if you leave the cover on.

Serve in low, flat bowls if you've got them, including 2-3 dumplings per bowl. I just used regular soup bowls, but it would be really pretty though to see all the different ingredients.

The tarragon, mushrooms, sweet onions, and brussels sprouts are really wonderful together. This would go great with some kind of winter squash as a side dish.

Things I'd do differently next time: Try the dish with more mushrooms, of the recommended variety. I'll definitely continue using the sweet onions if I have them around.

Approximate cost to prepare:

1 pound brussels sprouts - $2.00

3/4 pound mushrooms - $2.25

2 medium to large onions - $1.00

5 T. parsley, and 2 T. tarragon - $1.00

1/2 lemon - $.25

garlic, olive oil - negligible

Mushroom stock - $1.50 or so

The dumplings

1 cup flour - $.25

3/4 cup milk - $.20 (?)

parsley and tarragon (inc. above)

1 egg - $.25

salt, baking powder - negligible

TOTAL - $8.75 for 4 people

Garden Ragout for Midsummer with Marjoram Pesto

This yummy summer stew can be served hot, warm, or cold. It doesn't take long to make, aside from chopping the vegetables, and it is a great way to use some of summer's bounty. It only cooks for about 15 minutes, which leaves the vegetables still crunchy and fresh. The marjoram pesto is bright and flavorful and really makes this dish sing. One of the best things about it is that you can use a variety of summer produce - nearly whatever you have in your garden or can get at your local farm or farmer's market.

This recipe calls for white beans, which I had in my freezer, along with some broth I had made with leftover leeks a few weeks back. You can use canned beans, but be sure to rinse them first, and canned veggie or chicken stock (if you're not a vegetarian). If you cook your own white beans, save the bean broth to use in this recipe in place of the stock.

Here's how I did it:

Cut into small dice 1 new, fresh onion (rather than an old storage onion), 3 small zucchini or summer squash (I used the little yellow ones), 2 medium carrots, and 4 white mushrooms. Tip and tail a handful of green beans and cut them into 1-inch pieces. You can also add a couple small white turnips if you have them - which I didn't. Sliver 2 smallish garlic cloves.

While you're at it, cut up one large tomato or a handful of cherry tomatoes. Have one marjoram sprig standing by.

Heat up 2 T. olive oil in a soup pot. Add the vegetables and the garlic and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, just to warm them up. Season with salt and pepper, and add 2 cups broth. Bring everything to a slow boil, pull the leaves off the marjoram sprig and add them in, and then lay a piece of parchment paper across the top to keep the veggies on top from drying out. The broth doesn't quite cover all the veggies.

Let that cook for about 10 minutes. While it's cooking, make the marjoram pesto. Deborah Madison recommends making this in a mortar and pestle. I started it that way, but then realized that my mortar was too small to make the whole thing, so I switched to a food processor. Either way, you just keep grinding stuff in.

Marjoram Pesto: Put one small slice country bread, crusts trimmed off, into a bowl and sprinkle 2 T. red wine vinegar over it. Leave it to soak. In your mortar or food processor, add 1 clove chopped garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 cup marjoram leaves. (I used all the leaves from the whole bunch I bought at the store.) Then add in 3 T. rinsed capers, 1/2 cup pine nuts, and 1 cup chopped parsley. Add the vinegar-soaked bread and 1/3 to 1/2 cup olive oil. Add a little pepper and taste for vinegar.

After the 10 minutes are up, stir in the white beans and a cup more broth. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are a pleasing consistency to you. Don't overcook them, though. Ladle the vegetables into soup or pasta plates and add a big spoonful of pesto to the top of each one.

We had this hot the first night, cold for lunch the next day, and room temperature a few days later. All three ways were terrific. We also had some leftover marjoram pesto which was wonderful on crackers.

We didn't bother making anything along with this, though Deborah recommends starting the meal with crostini, adding a salad, and a nice fruity white wine such as a Dolcetto from the Piedmont region of Italy, and having fruit for dessert.

I realized while I was eating that the whole dish is vegan, since there is no cheese in the pesto. While this isn't technically a soup, it is my current favorite non-creamy soup. The crunch of the vegetables and the zing of the pesto is just a fabulous combination.

Things I'd do differently next time:

I'd use the food processor to make the pesto. I might even make a double batch of it and put half in the freezer for later. It is REALLY good and I'd like to try it on pasta.

I might try making this with some other vegetables in the fall or winter.

Cost to prepare: (I'm really guessing here since most of this came from my CSA box, my garden, and my freezer)

1 new onion - $.25

3 small summer squash - $1.00

2 carrots - $.25

4 mushrooms - $.25

handful of green beans - $1.00

garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil - negligible

1 cup white beans - $.50

Broth or water - $.50

1 large tomato - $.35

TOTAL - $3.85

Marjoram pesto:

1 bunch marjoram - $1.85

a slice of bread and some vinegar - $.20

3 T. capers - $.30

1/2 c. pine nuts - $1.00

1 c. parsley - $.50

1/2 c. olive oil - $2.00

TOTAL - $5.85

GRAND TOTAL - $9.70 for 4 people or for several meals for 2 people

Asparagus Ragout (for a transitional season)

This dish has spring ingredients such as asparagus and peas, but it still has some winter ingredients in it, too, such as chard, carrots, and mushrooms. The recipe calls for chervil, an herb related to parsley, but I couldn't find any. The alternative was a mix of parsley and tarragon. I got lazy and just used tarragon - to great effect. I think I used almost twice as much as it called for, and it gave the dish this wonderful anise flavor.

This was my first time making buerre blanc (white butter, in french), a butter sauce. You really can't go wrong with butter. This sauce goes on top of the veggies and broth. You're supposed to serve this in individual bowls with a dollop of sauce on each, but I made this for a potluck, so I just put it in one big, pretty bowl and put little dollops all over the place. It's a beautiful dish with all the vegetables. I ate the leftovers for lunch several days in a row and it was delicious every time.

The recipe has you cook lots of vegetables separately in separate pans. I'll walk you through it the way I made it (the way the recipe recommends), but then I'll give you my recommendation about how to make this easier and have less cleanup at the end. My kitchen was a wreck when people arrived for the potluck. Thank goodness they like me for who I am and don't judge me based on a messy kitchen. :-)

This dish took about an hour. Here's how to get started:

Make the buerre blanc first. Put 1/4 cup white wine vinegar, 1/4 cup dry white wine, 2 T. diced shallot, and a pinch of salt in a saucepan. Simmer until only 2 T. remain. While it is simmering, cut 6-8 T. cold butter into small pieces. Turn off the heat and whisk in the butter pieces a couple at a time until it is all incorporated. The heat from the pan melts the butter bits and incorporates it into a thick white sauce. Season with a little pepper and set aside.

Then start the ragout: Slice the leaves off 1 bunch of chard. Cut the leaves into ribbons about an inch wide. Trim the stems into even planks and lice into strips about 3/8 inch wide and 3 inches long. (I think this is a little too long for bite sized pieces.) Bring 2-3 cups water to a boil, add some salt, and simmer the chard stems for a few minutes. Lay the leaves over the top and cook until tender, a few more minutes. Set aside.

Wash 8-12 slender carrots, and cut them in half lengthwise. (She says to leave them this size. I cut them into 3 inch pieces, which were a little too long.) Chop one small onion or leek (approx. 1/3 cup chopped). Wash 1 1/2 pounds asparagus and snapp off the tough tends. Cut it into 3 inch lengths. Heat 1 T. butter and 1 T. olive oil in a wide skillet with a lid. Cook the onion and carrots over medium-high heat for a few minutes to brown them a bit, then reduce the heat to medium. Add 1/2 cup dry white wine and let most of it sizzle away. Add 1 cup water and the asparagus. Season with salt and reduce the heat even more, cover, and cook until the asparagus and carrots are nearly tender (about 6 minutes.) Add 1/4 pound edible-pod peas, such as snow peas. Turn off the heat.

Heat another tablespoon of butter and olive oil over high heat. When the butter foams, add the mushrooms and quickly stir them about. Saute until they've browned a bit. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking until they've released and then reabsorbed their juices a bit. (About 8 minutes total.) Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Loosely arrange the vegetables into 4 pasta bowls. Distribute the chard and stems amoung them, then spoon several tablespoons of juice into each bowl. Add a dollop of the buerre blanc to each bowl, cover with the mushrooms, and garnish with the herbs.

Things I'd do differently next time: I'd cook the chard, and then set it aside in a bowl, reserving the cooking water in a jar in case I needed it for the broth later on. Then I'd use the same pan to cook the carrots, onions, asparagus and peas along with the broth. I would dump all this on top of the chard. Then I'd use the same pan to cook the mushrooms. I'd put the mushrooms in a small bowl and return all the other veggies and broth to the pan and warm through. I'd put this in individual bowls (or one big bowl), add the buerre blanc, then the mushrooms, then the herbs. This would cut down on the number of skillets to wash and the chard wouldn't be cold when you served it.

Alternatively, you could set aside the chard, and then cook pan of carrots, etc. and the pan of mushrooms at the same time. After you've turned off the heat to the carrots, you could add the chard in with the warm veggies and juice and then combine everything. This would cut out one pan and speed up the process a bit. You'd have to have all your veggies chopped first.

Approximate cost to prepare:

1/4 cup white wine vinegar - $.40
3/4 cup white wine - $1.50
2 T. shallot - $.40
8 T. butter - $.75
1 bunch chard - $2.50
one small onion - $.20
8-12 slender carrots - $2.00
1 1/2 pounds asparagus - $5.00
1/4 pound snow peas - $1.25
3/4 pound cremini mushrooms - $3.00
2 T. chervil or a mixture of parsley and tarragon - $.50 (I used half a bunch of tarragon, at $1.29 a bunch = $.65)
TOTAL - $17.00 for 4 or more people. 7 people had a serving of this at a potluck, and then I had it for lunch for 3 days. That's more like 10 servings.

Dried Porcini and Fresh Mushroom Tart

January 24th, 2010

I made this dish (and a few others) for my friends, Rhonda and Eric. This one is a little time consuming because you have to make a tart shell, which is actually pretty easy, but it has to go in the freezer for 20 minutes, and then in the oven for 30 minutes before you put any of the goodies in the middle. That turned out to be fine, because I was making a lot of stuff that day and it took several hours. I don't know how long this one dish would take by itself. Probably a little over an hour. You can make the tart shell and freeze it a day ahead to speed things up.

This dish uses dried porcini mushrooms, along with fresh crimini mushrooms, so it has a nice earthy, woodsy flavor. I made a mushroom stock to give it an even more intense flavor. It turned out a little dark in color, but still very tasty.

The tart shell and the mushroom stock are 2 separate recipes in the book, so this post accounts for 3 recipes. If you don't want to take the time to make mushroom stock, you can use half & half or cream (2/3 cup.)

Here's how you do it:
Make the tart shell. In a food processor, combine 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour, 1/2 cup + 2 T. all purpose flour, and 1/2 t. salt. Pulse in 5 T. of cold butter, cut into little cubes. Then pulse in 3 T. sour cream and a little ice water. It will look like course crumbs. Dump it out onto a board, shape into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Start the mushroom stock. Cover 1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms with 3 cups hot water and set aside. Heat up a little oil. Roughly chop 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 garlic clove, 2 mushrooms and all the trimmings from the mushrooms in the recipe. Saute over high heat until well browned. Reduce heat to medium, stir in 1 t. tomato paste, 1/2 cup white wine, and some marjoram or oregano. Sprinkle on 1 T. flour and some salt and pepper. Add the porcini and their soaking water and simmer for 20 minutes.

Since porcini mushrooms are expensive, I fished them out of the stock and used them in the tart, along with a few more that I soaked in hot water. I was supposed to put them in some wine and bring them to a boil, but soaking them in hot water worked out just fine. When they're soft, chop them and reserve the soaking water.

Take the dough out of the fridge, flour a board, and roll out the dough into a 10 inch circle. Lay it over a tart pan and gently settle it into the pan. It should be about 1/4 inch thick. Press it into all the crevices. Put it in the freezer for 15 minutes. (It can be frozen wrapped in foil for up to a week before baking.) Preheat the over to 425. While you're making the mushroom filling, bake the tart shell for 20 minutes. Check it periodically so it doesn't get too dark.

Heat some oil in a skillet and fry 1 large, chopped onion until it starts to turn golden. Add 1/2 pound sliced crimini mushrooms, 1/2 pound sliced portobellos, and some salt. Raise heat and cook until they start to color. Stir in 1 t. tomato paste, a few tablespoons of mushroom soaking liquid, the chopped porcinis, and more liquid as needed to keep the pan moist. Cook for about 15 minutes or until mushrooms are completely tender. Add a little parsley and marjoram (chopped) and season with pepper.

Beat one egg with 2/3 cup mushroom stock (or half and half or cream). Pour the mushrooms into the baked tart shell and then add the egg and stock mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes until set. Cool tart for a few minutes and rub a little oil over the top to make it shiny. Garnish with chopped herbs.

This was wonderful with a rose`. Sparkling wine would be good, too.

Approximate Cost:
Tart Shell
1/2 cup pastry flour - $.50
1/2 cup + 2 T. all purpose flour - $.40
5 T. butter - $.40
3 T. sour cream - $.20
TOTAL for tart shell - $1.50
1/2 cup dried porcini - $4.50
1/2 cup dry white wine - $1.50
1 onion - $.25
1/2 pound crimini mushrooms - $2.50
1/2 pound portobello - $2.50
1 egg - $.25
oil, tomato paste (1 tsp.), herbs - negligible
TOTAL for filling - $11.50
TOTAL for 2/3 cup mushroom stock or half & half - $1.50 (?)

TOTAL for dish - $14.50 for 4 people.

This is a beautiful, earthy, tasty dish to make for company.

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

January 20th, 2010

Well, I finally made a meal in under 30 minutes, thanks to Rachel Ray. I made stuffed portobello mushrooms for dinner and are they ever scrumptious. The recipe is here:

http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=1055

She actually includes 2 dishes in this recipe - stuffed portobellos and bread salad with tomatoes. Since tomatoes aren't in season, I just made the stuffed portobellos and a salad. I also served leftover green rice from the day before.

Since I was only making this recipe for 2 people, I had leftover artichoke and spinach filling. I think I'm going to try making some hand-made ravioli. I make pasta by hand quite often, but I've never tried ravioli before. I'll let you know how it goes.

The portobellos were fast, easy, and really tasty. You start by trimming and preparing your portobello, which usually includes scraping out the gills, but I didn't bother this time and they were really delicious. You oil the top side of the portobello and put it in the oven for 8 minutes or so. While it is cooking on that side, you combine frozen spinach (thawed), artichoke hearts, ricotta cheese, 1 egg yolk, one clove of garlic, and a little nutmeg, salt, and pepper. You then flip the portobellos over, and stuff them, and add a small handful of grated parmesan on top. Put them back in the oven for about 5 minutes. That's it.

They were juicy and delicious. With a salad, you've got a quick meal.

Approximate cost to prepare:
2 portobello mushrooms - 3.50
1 can artichoke hearts (organic) - 4.00
10 ounces frozen spinach (organic) - 2.00
1 egg yolk - .25
1 1/2 cups ricotta - 3.00
garlic, salt, pepper, nutmeg - negligible
1/4 cup parmesan - 1.00 (I found paremsan for $5.00/pound, which is unusual)
TOTAL - $13.75 However...

This was supposed to make 8 mushrooms. I counted the cost to make the stuffing for the full recipe, but only the cost of 2 portobellos. If you were making 8 of these, you would need to add another $10.00 or so for 6 more portobellos.

I didn't know an egg could do that (Sauteed Mushrooms & Croutons)

January 15, 2010

Well, I finally had a mini-disaster. This wouldn't be any fun without something going wrong, right?

Last night I made Baked Eggs Over Sauteed Mushrooms and Croutons, which was absolutely delicious, but I screwed up the eggs. Now, I really want to make this again to get the eggs right. I wish I'd taken a picture, but I can't seem to get the camera ready at the same time as the dish coming out of the oven. Maybe I should put George in charge of that.

So, here's the basic recipe. It serves 2 but can be multiplied for serving more people.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Oil or butter small dish that can go in the oven. I made this all in one dish, but next time, I'm going to try putting it in individual bowls that can go in the oven. Cut 2 slices of bread into cubes. Melt 1 T. butter over low heat and toss bread cubes in butter. Let brown (8 minutes or so.) Put croutons in oiled dish (or dishes). While the bread is browning, chop 2 small or 1 large shallots, 1 T. parsley, 2 t. rosemary, and half a pound of crimini mushrooms. Melt another tablespoon of butter and 1 T. of oil in the same pan. Saute the shallots for a couple minutes, then add the mushrooms and herbs and saute until mushrooms start to brown. Add 2 t. tomato paste and 3/4 cup red wine. Simmer until only a couple teaspoons of liquid remain. Put sauteed mushrooms in with croutons and mix a little. Break an egg or 2 over each dish and bake for 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

Here's where I went wrong. After 15 minutes, it looked like the whites weren't cooked, so I turned the oven to broil to finish cooking the eggs. The eggs got this hard skin on top that resembled plastic and was inedible. The yolks were beyond hard boiled, but the whites were still edible. What I thought was uncooked egg white was just too thin to turn white. Since the egg white goes down into the nooks and crannies, some of it is just very thin over the croutons and mushrooms.

Anyway, it was SUPER yummy. The rosemary made the whole house smell wonderful. Despite the egg problem, George said this was his favorite dish so far. I could just imagine how this dish would taste if it had the addition of egg yolks running into the bread and mushrooms. It seems like it would work just as well and be faster to just fry a couple eggs and put them on top of the mushrooms and croutons, but it wouldn't be as pretty as the sunny-side-up eggs. I don't think this would make good leftovers, so plan for about a slice of bread, 1/4 pound of mushroom, and one egg per person. Along with a salad and a hearty red wine, this is a fairly quick and easy weeknight dinner. I would definitely make this for guests because it is just so incredibly tasty.

This meal still took me an hour to prepare, including making the salad and setting the table. I think you could probably make the dish itself in about 40 minutes, including the 15 minutes of baking time. Maybe even faster. I made a spinach, endive, red cabbage, goat cheese and pecan salad with a dijon vinaigrette, which stood up nicely to the hearty mushroom dish. The recommended wine was a "working man's red", so I just pulled something out of the wine pantry - a nice spicy zin. Of course, this is the wine I used in the dish, too.

What I'd do differently if I made this again:
- Bake for exactly 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven and just trust that it would all work out.
- Use separate serving dishes for each person

Approximate cost:
- 2 slices of bread (the good stuff from the local bakery) - .50
- 1/2 pound crimini mushrooms - $3.00
- herbs - $.20
- 2 eggs - .50
- 3/4 cup wine - $2.50
- shallot - .30
TOTAL without wine - $7.00 for 2 people

You've got to try this one!