Archive | March, 2010

Spring Cleaning Stuffed Mushrooms

11 Mar

In reading several new cooking books and magazine recipes, I’ve run into a lot of variations on stuffed mushrooms. Most all of the recipes include cheese and breadcrumbs.  From there, people tend to add what ever they like – sausages, meats, herbs… or what ever they think is particularly trendy or in season. For me, it is what ever is about to go in my fridge.  Again, in my spring cleaning I noticed that I still had some Goat Lady Dairy cheese leftover in my fridge from Kat and my trip to the Curb Market a couple weeks ago. I needed to use the cheese and thought this would be a good excuse to experiment with stuffed mushrooms. Like I mention in my warning below – I’m no baker – I hate to measure  – so if you do – you have been warned.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • goat cheese
  • 4 slices prosciutto, minced
  • thyme
  • panko breadcrumbs
  • mushrooms, cleaned and caps removed
  • salt and pepper
  • olive oil

Warning: If you like to use measuring cups – this recipe is going to annoy you.

Assembly: Clean and remove the caps from a big tub of mushrooms (either button or cremini work). Saute the garlic and shallot in olive oil until brown. In a large bowl, mash up a small log of goat cheese. Add a couple pinches of fresh thyme, the garlic and shallots and the prosciutto. Mash together. Fold in a handful or so of breadcrumbs. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Stuff the mixture into the mushrooms and lightly drizzle with olive oil. Bake for about 30 minutes at 350. At the last minute, I broiled the mushrooms to make sure they were brown and crispy on top.

Lemon Drop Martinis

10 Mar

My friends say that they worry about any cocktail I make in a beaker (I typically mix cocktails in Bodium frenchpress coffee maker replacement glasses I picked up at Tobacco USA when it went under.) A couple years ago, before I lived on Mendenhall, I made a cocktail called the “Brazilian Honeybee” that stung everyone who drank it. Half of the party (and I must say these are grown men) woke up with their heads practically in the toilet – while another friend, who will remain nameless, passed out in the middle of the party on my fatboy (a big girl beanbag I own). So, I won’t argue with their point.

In this weekends spring cleaning, I noticed I still had a number of limequats left over from my trip from Florida and they were going south quickly. I juiced them to save what was left and wanted to think of something to use about 2 cups worth of lemon juice. Why make lemonade when you can make lemon cocktails?  

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup lemon juice, fresh squeezed
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 cups vodka
  • sliced lemon for garnish

Assembly: Mix the lemon juice and sugar until dissolved. Add the vodka and chill for a couple hours. If you want to reduce the alcohol content you can add less lemon juice or shake with ice before serving.

Oscar Night Martinis and Paninis

9 Mar

Out of a couple glamorous things to do on Oscar night in Greensboro, I have found that there is no where I’d rather be than my couch. Last year I started a tradition with my movie-buff friends of enjoying a casual meal in our laps while packed into my tiny tv room. With the causal atmosphere on my side, I think a do-it-yourself approach is the perfect fit with close friends. Ironically, so do our friends at The Kitchn as they posted on “Something for Everyone! Ideas for Dinner Buffet Bars“ just yesterday.  

I can’t forget how excited my friend Bruce was last year when he got to make his own personal pizza. He told us the story of his 8th grade birthday party and how they did the very same activity. Sadly, Bruce was in sunny LA with all the stars for Oscar night this year. Bruce, we miss you!

This year I wanted to take advantage of my new panini machine and thought - what could be better than paninis and martinis for Oscar night?! The options for paninis are of course endless. Like my friend Heather mentioned in her Mod Meals from Madison post, her partners Becci says “Sandwich recipes are nothing more than lists.” Hey Becci, do paninis count since they’re hot? Anyway, I arranged a couple options for assembly – meats (turkey and prosciutto), veggies (tomatoes and basil), and spreads (good mustard and homemade tapanade). Make your own “recipe” or “list” and enjoy! I’ll post the recipes for the starter stuffed mushrooms, lemon drop martinis and chickpea salad in the next couple days.

Kat’s Krispy Kale

5 Mar

The other weekend my friend Kathryn and I made a trip to the Greensboro Curb Market. Getting out of bed in the winter is always more difficult for me so it was nice to have the extra incentive to get to the Market. Kathryn and I are pretty much the complete opposite types of shoppers at the farmers market. I have my eyes on all the bad (good) stuff (breads, cheeses, butters, hams) while Kathryn buys the good (good) stuff – like kale. I walked out spending more than $25… Kat spent .50 cents.

I hadn’t eaten a winter green since the age of seven when my grandmother paid me a dollar to try collard greens. So when Katheryn told me about her Krispy Kale I was very hesitant. Kathryn is in PR so it didn’t take her long to convince me to try it – she claimed that they would taste like potato chips.

This recipe proves the point that anything can taste good with enough olive oil and salt. The kale was good! I’m not sure I’ll be running back each Saturday until Spring investing my quarters in kale. But, if you havent tried it – it is worth your cents.

Whatever you decided to purchase at the Greensboro Curb Market I advise you to get your butt out of bed and get there tomorrow! Maybe… maybe… I’ll see you there.

Kat’s Krispy Kale

from the Feb issue of “Vegetarian Times”

  • 1 lb kale, rinse and patted dry (or a half pound for .50 cents from the farmers market…)
    2 Tbs olive oil
    1/2 tsp (I like more) sea salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, coat baking sheet with spray
tear kale into 3 inch pieces, removing tough stems. transfer leaves to bowl
toss kale leaves with olive oil in bowl until well coated. spread on baking sheet and bake 15 minutes. turn kale with tongs and bake 10-15 more minutes until edges are browned and leaves are crispy. sprinkle with salt. serve immediately.

Garlicy Shrimp with Garlic Chips

3 Mar

Since we are all friends now, I’ll make a confession. I played the trombone for about twelve years during my school years. I’ve stopped playing in my non-school years but I still own a trombone and will bring it out occasionally at dinner parties if there is enough wine around. The trombone, while embarrassing, brought a number of good things into my life – some skills and experiences including a lovely trip to Spain and Portugal to study jazz. This was my first trip to Europe and I still keep a journal from this adventure somewhere in the backs of my closet.

Somewhere in Madrid I remember eating some pretty amazing shrimp for dinner. The shrimp were extremely large and swimming in garlic oil with large chips of fried garlic chips. We pealed the shrimp with our bare hands, dipped bread in the oil and washed it down with cold beers. This was a pure dream at the age of 19.

A made a variation of this dish to accompany the Pasta Puttenesca on Sunday night. I heated olive oil on medium low and added thin slices of garlic (about 6 cloves) until brown and then removed the chips. Using the same oil (minus the chips), I sautéed the shrimp (about a half pound) and added red pepper flakes and a bit of fresh thyme. Sprinkle with the crispy garlic chips and good salt. Dig in!

On this episode of Cheaters: Pasta Puttanesca

2 Mar

I’m not sure if the show Cheaters is still on but it used to be a late night favorite of my roommate, Morgan, and I in college. Back in the day when we could stay up late watching tv, eating cheese popcorn and drinking beers. Everything has its time.

Like I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I’ve been thinking about great adult memories around food. The last time I traveled to Europe I was in the Netherlands and Holland with my good friends Alison and Piet. I know Alison and Piet from different stages of my life and so therefor we do dramatically different things when we are together. During my time with Alison, we cooked in and I got the opportunity to explore grocery shopping in Dutch (she called her side of the trip “Baller on a Budget). With Piet, we ate out mostly trying his family’s favorite meals. I had some really great meals on that trip. The last night I was there I had a spicy pasta dish. The pasta was delicious – homemade and extremely thin. I’m not sure it was so good because I was really hungry and partly hungover - but I remember it fondly.

Sunday night I made a cheaters version of a Spicy Pasta Puttanesca. It wasnt as good as the homemade pasta and sauce in Belgium but it hit the spot on a cold Sunday evening.

A Cheaters Spicy Pasta Puttanesca

Ingredients:

  • olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 large pinches red pepper flakes (or to your liking)
  • 1 half can anchovies, minced
  • 1 large handful olives, pitted and minced (I use black olives but either would work)
  • 1 small handful capers
  • 1 jar marinara sauce (I use San Marzano)

Assembly: In a large pan, saute the garlic, red pepper flakes, anchovies, olives and capers in a splash of olive oil. Once it is fragrant and the garlic has toasted, add the marinara sauce. The San Marzano is a bit pricer than Ragu but I think it makes a huge difference. Cook the pasta to just before aldente and add it to the sauce to finish cooking. Add a splash of pasta water if you need to thicken the sauce!

Eat, Memories

1 Mar

This past week I ate more banquet food than I ever desired – as if anyone ever desires overcooked chicken breasts. Among all the ordinary meals, I shared some great moments. Most importantly, my first love – the Guilford Green Foundation - received an award this weekend in Raleigh from the Human Rights Campaign. It was a long time coming – for this acknowledgment is a flicker in the history of this organizations successes. The lives saved… and touched…and moved… are surely the moments they hold most dear – but it never hurts to have a standing ovation from hundreds of LGBT advocates. Kudos to the hundreds of volunteers and donors that made these moments a reality. What does this have to do with food? Not much – other than it explains why I have been cooking and posting less these past few days.

 

On the way to Chicago last month I read Eat, Memory by New York Times food writer Amanda Hesser. This collection of essays on food and food memories reminded me of all the fond food memories I have. Most the memories I’ve shared here on MMoM are from my childhood but I have so so many from my adult travels. Before the days of home and puppy ownership, I found the time to travel to Europe about once a year. I have so many memories  - and probably many I don’t remember due to the copious amounts of alcohol consumed. I will never attempt to recreate some of the meals I had in the home of Mary James Lawrence and Xavier in the South of France (they are just too good to fool around with). But some of the simpler meals – like a spicy pasta in Belgium or garlicy shrimp in Spain I’ll experiment with. I tried to recreate these two on Sunday night. Lots of garlic – and close enough without a plane ride.

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