August 3, 2009
tessipes: How To Roast Mushrooms And Blow Your Own Mind Ingredients Mushrooms (what variety of mushroom you choose is up to you. Good choices: baby portabellas/cremini/white button mushrooms, whole and washed, with their stems cut level with the caps; shiitakes, washed and torn in half; chunks of portabella; maitakes, halved (watch for burning); they’re all so good) Olive oil (for coating — the amount you need depends on taste and the amount of mushrooms) Sea salt and black pepper Optional: crushed garlic, thyme, a squeeze of lemon, soy and ginger (in which case, just sub peanut, sesame or plain vegetable oil for the olive oil) KEEP IN MIND: mushrooms shrink when you cook them by about half, especially less meaty ‘shrooms like maitakes and shiitakes. Preheat your oven to 475. Prepare a cookie sheet or shallow baking pan by lining it with parchment paper. Wash your mushrooms, and cut off ends of stems. Put mushrooms, salt, pepper, and oil in a bowl (add optional ingredients, except lemon, at this time), and toss to coat. Set bowl aside (don’t rinse it!). Pop your mushrooms in the oven. Check them after about 10-15 minutes, stirring them a bit. Continue to cook 5-10 minutes, until mushrooms are browning (if using whole mushroom caps, their texture will become slightly wilted/wrinkly).  Remove from oven, and place mushrooms back in the bowl in which you’d originally seasoned them.  Toss again to coat with the olive oil in the bowl (if you’re using lemon, squeeze now), adding more if mushrooms seem dry. These are a great side dish. They’re also wonderful tossed with pasta, or atop a crusty slice of bread with a salad.

tessipes:

How To Roast Mushrooms And Blow Your Own Mind

Ingredients

Mushrooms (what variety of mushroom you choose is up to you. Good choices: baby portabellas/cremini/white button mushrooms, whole and washed, with their stems cut level with the caps; shiitakes, washed and torn in half; chunks of portabella; maitakes, halved (watch for burning); they’re all so good)

Olive oil (for coating — the amount you need depends on taste and the amount of mushrooms)

Sea salt and black pepper

Optional: crushed garlic, thyme, a squeeze of lemon, soy and ginger (in which case, just sub peanut, sesame or plain vegetable oil for the olive oil)

KEEP IN MIND: mushrooms shrink when you cook them by about half, especially less meaty ‘shrooms like maitakes and shiitakes.

Preheat your oven to 475. Prepare a cookie sheet or shallow baking pan by lining it with parchment paper. Wash your mushrooms, and cut off ends of stems. Put mushrooms, salt, pepper, and oil in a bowl (add optional ingredients, except lemon, at this time), and toss to coat. Set bowl aside (don’t rinse it!). Pop your mushrooms in the oven. Check them after about 10-15 minutes, stirring them a bit. Continue to cook 5-10 minutes, until mushrooms are browning (if using whole mushroom caps, their texture will become slightly wilted/wrinkly).  Remove from oven, and place mushrooms back in the bowl in which you’d originally seasoned them.  Toss again to coat with the olive oil in the bowl (if you’re using lemon, squeeze now), adding more if mushrooms seem dry.

These are a great side dish. They’re also wonderful tossed with pasta, or atop a crusty slice of bread with a salad.

3:51pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z_kIYy9EAkU
(Notes: 14)
  
Filed under: vegetarian mains 
July 2, 2009
Bork, bork, bork

karion:

Okay, so inspired by Jolie’s post about collecting recipes from family members, I tracked down this one for my aunt Delaine’s absolutely kickass Swedish meatballs.  A word about this - I almost didn’t want to know how the proverbial sausage was made, and when I read the whole thing, I was a little horrified.  I hate mushrooms (fungus) and cream of mushroom soup (fungus soup), and I believe that the word sour should never appear anywhere near cream, and please don’t even get me started on wet bread.  Still, I am making a monster batch of these tomorrow.

Aunt D’s Swedish Meatballs of Awesome (recipe is per 1.5 pounds of meat - you will want a ton)

  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • 1/2 pound pork sausage
  • 1 egg
  • 1 piece of bread, soaked in milk (gah)
  • garlic powder
  • onion salt
  • salt and pepper

Combine and roll into little balls of goodness.  She is now baking them (“it is healthier”) for about 30 minutes, I am guessing at 375.

Pour the juices from the baking pan into a saucepan and mix well. And add one can of (gulp) cream of mushroom soup and 1 “thing” (pint? container?  not really sure) of (gulp) sour cream and bring to a bubble.  Add beef stock if needed (not really sure what constitutes need here, but guessing thickness of sauce).  Pour over balls (heh) in an oven-safe container and hold in a warm oven until ready to serve.

11:25pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z_kIYy7-j7z
(Notes: 6)
  
Filed under: mains 
April 28, 2009
Little Eggplant Stacks

momstowork:

As a vegetarian, I’m always looking for quick and delicious recipes. This is what I threw together in about 15 minutes last night. It involves some ‘cheating’, if you have more time (lucky you!) you…

You’ll need:
About 4 baby eggplants (find glossy black ones that shouldn’t require ’salting’)
Haloumi cheese (or another cheese that can be broiled, or indeed goat’s cheese or whatever you have on hand)
Jar of fire roasted red peppers (I use Trader Joes)
Store bought Cilantro-lime pesto (or regular basil pesto) (Or make pesto yourself!)
Basil leaves to garnish, if the mood takes you and you have them on hand

Preheat a broiler (avoid frying the eggplant if you want a nuttier flavor and don’t want to use a ton of oil in this recipe). Slice the egglants into 1/2 inch discs and place them on a baking sheet, without overlapping. Either brush with grapeseed or olive oil, or spray them if it is easier. I happen to have a spray, actually a ‘gourmet mist’ of balsamic vinegar infused with pomegranate that I also gave the eggplant a quick shot with. Season with a little sea salt and pepper. I also sprinkled some Middle Eastern spice, zaatar, because it added flavor and was in the same cupboard as the ‘pomegranate spray’! Not necessary, I just like to give the eggplant a little more personality. You could use lemon pepper or any other additional flavoring.

Slice the haloumi cheese into about 2 inch square pieces (depending on the original shape of the cheese, you’re just making small pieces to add to each stack really, so shape them how you will) and add this to the baking sheet. Place under broiler and cook until the eggplant and the cheese are brown, about 6 minutes each side. If you find the haloumi is losing moisture as it cooks, you may need to use a separate baking sheet, but I try to minimize cleanup by using the same sheet.

Meanwhile, have your red peppers cut and ready to add to your ’stacks’ and make a quick green salad using whatever you have at hand. When ready remove cheese and eggplants from broiler and take a slice of eggplant and layer with the cheese, red pepper, dollop of pesto…repeat to use all ingredients to make enough stacks for your hungry crowd. I try to raise my stacks to about 3 layers of each ingredient, just because it thrills my family to tackle ‘high towers’, please yourself as to the height. Either way, end with a cap of eggplant and a dollop of pesto, adding your basil leaves as a final flourish, if desired.

Enjoy!

9:11am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z_kIYy60emv
Filed under: vegetarian mains