19 September 2010
Marinated Cow Flops
09/23/2010 03:02 PM Filed in: recipes
Ha! That title got your attention, didn’t it? I struggle with writing blog titles, coming up with something both intriguing and informative that isn’t completely dull. But this one just came to me!
My mother hates portobello mushrooms. Hates hates hates. Will not eat. She says they look like cow flops, which here in Central Pennsylvania, is a cow turd. The comparison strikes me as fairly illogical, but hey.
Regardless of what my mother says, this is an incredibly easy and delicious way to eat portobellos. I owe this recipe to a former boss, who took our whole office out to dinner in Little Italy while we were at a conference in Manhattan. Normally I would never ever have tried this, but he insisted and well, I owe him.
Basically, this is a portobello marinated in a balsamic vinaigrette, pan seared with cheese melted on top, then sprinkled with sea salt and sometimes bits of bacon. If that doesn’t make your mouth water, I don’t know that we can be friends.
So, take a nice sized portobello.
Remove the stem and the gills
Sans stem:
Please use a sharp knife so you don’t totally ravage the mushroom like I did:
I’m not even going to show you the underside of the poor thing, it was really that bad.
Put the mushroom in a bowl or container of some kind where it can marinate
See what I mean? I abused that thing so badly even the cap is maimed. Learn from my failure: sharp knife.
Anyway, pour the balsamic vinaigrette of your choice over it and let it marinate for at least a couple hours, I left it overnight.
Now a skillet, over medium heat:
Now, this is a non-stick skillet. So this isn’t really a “sear”, but whatever. The purpose here is to get the mushroom cooked and hot the whole way through.
Because there’s still an edge around it, you’re going to have to flatten it with a spatula. Gently.
It’s going to give off liquid, that’s okay.
Flip it a couple times so that both sides are cooking. Eventually, once the liquid output has slowed, add pieces of the cheese of your choice to the top and lower the heat.
This is mozzarella, the first time I had it was with fontina. You’re looking for a soft white cheese with good meltability. Both mozzarella and fontina were delicious.
Melting...
Once the cheese has melted, add just a pinch of a good salt. This particular time I cooked, I didn’t have any bacon. I would strongly recommend going out and getting some, specifically for this.
Plate and serve hot.
I wish I remembered which restaurant this came from, but New York, Little Italy, small place with to die for lobster cannelloni. Ring a bell for anyone?
Ingredients:
large portobello
balsamic vinaigrette
white cheese (mozzarella, fontina etc)
sea salt
bits of bacon
Tools:
flat bottomed bowl or tupperware
skillet
1. Clean portobello thoroughly and remove stem and gills
2. Marinate in balsamic vinaigrette for at least 2 hours, but overnight is fine
3. Cook marinated portobello over medium high heat until liquid release slows
4. Lower heat, place cheese on top and allow cheese to melt
5. When cheese is melted, add salt and bacon
6. Plate and serve
So, anyone have a portobello recipe to share?
My mother hates portobello mushrooms. Hates hates hates. Will not eat. She says they look like cow flops, which here in Central Pennsylvania, is a cow turd. The comparison strikes me as fairly illogical, but hey.
Regardless of what my mother says, this is an incredibly easy and delicious way to eat portobellos. I owe this recipe to a former boss, who took our whole office out to dinner in Little Italy while we were at a conference in Manhattan. Normally I would never ever have tried this, but he insisted and well, I owe him.
Basically, this is a portobello marinated in a balsamic vinaigrette, pan seared with cheese melted on top, then sprinkled with sea salt and sometimes bits of bacon. If that doesn’t make your mouth water, I don’t know that we can be friends.
So, take a nice sized portobello.
Remove the stem and the gills
Sans stem:
Please use a sharp knife so you don’t totally ravage the mushroom like I did:
I’m not even going to show you the underside of the poor thing, it was really that bad.
Put the mushroom in a bowl or container of some kind where it can marinate
See what I mean? I abused that thing so badly even the cap is maimed. Learn from my failure: sharp knife.
Anyway, pour the balsamic vinaigrette of your choice over it and let it marinate for at least a couple hours, I left it overnight.
Now a skillet, over medium heat:
Now, this is a non-stick skillet. So this isn’t really a “sear”, but whatever. The purpose here is to get the mushroom cooked and hot the whole way through.
Because there’s still an edge around it, you’re going to have to flatten it with a spatula. Gently.
It’s going to give off liquid, that’s okay.
Flip it a couple times so that both sides are cooking. Eventually, once the liquid output has slowed, add pieces of the cheese of your choice to the top and lower the heat.
This is mozzarella, the first time I had it was with fontina. You’re looking for a soft white cheese with good meltability. Both mozzarella and fontina were delicious.
Melting...
Once the cheese has melted, add just a pinch of a good salt. This particular time I cooked, I didn’t have any bacon. I would strongly recommend going out and getting some, specifically for this.
Plate and serve hot.
I wish I remembered which restaurant this came from, but New York, Little Italy, small place with to die for lobster cannelloni. Ring a bell for anyone?
Ingredients:
large portobello
balsamic vinaigrette
white cheese (mozzarella, fontina etc)
sea salt
bits of bacon
Tools:
flat bottomed bowl or tupperware
skillet
1. Clean portobello thoroughly and remove stem and gills
2. Marinate in balsamic vinaigrette for at least 2 hours, but overnight is fine
3. Cook marinated portobello over medium high heat until liquid release slows
4. Lower heat, place cheese on top and allow cheese to melt
5. When cheese is melted, add salt and bacon
6. Plate and serve
So, anyone have a portobello recipe to share?
Comments
Skillet Corn Bread
09/23/2010 01:38 PM Filed in: recipes
So chili and cornbread are one of the meal combos that is in regular rotation in my house, especially in the winter. This recipe specifically has been in such rotation that the Food & Wine magazine from whence this recipe comes has barely left my kitchen. There are probably 30 cookbooks in my house and we keep exactly two of them in the kitchen. There isn’t much storage space available. So for this magazine to have been kept there? It’s saying something.
So, pitch #2 (see #1) for you go to out and buy a cast iron skillet. Really. I mean it. Go buy one. Incredibly versatile and it will last you forever.
Anyway, put the pan on the stove top and turn the burner on, medium heat.
Add 2 tablespoons of butter, the recipe says unsalted, I’ve used both and it’s fine.
Keep an eye on the butter. You want it fully melted and bubbling well, but not burning. It’s a balancing act, but well well worth it.
Dry ingredients! 1 1/2 cup flour, 3/4 cup cornmeal, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 2 teaspoons salt.
Melt 6 tablespoons butter (the rest of the stick from above) in a microwave-safe container. 50 seconds does it in mine.
Lightly beat 2 eggs
Add in 1 1/4 cup milk (I use skim, but whatever works)
Look! Melted butter.
Add the butter to the egg/milk combination and add all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir until the batter is moist and evenly mixed.
By now the butter should be nicely melted and bubbly. This picture is actually a little premature.
Pour in the batter and spread if it doesn’t cover the whole pan.
Pop that sucker in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes at 425. You’ll know it’s done when the edges are browned and a toothpick or fork come out of the center clean.
Devour.
We would eat this with chicken chili. And all would be well with the world for the rest of the evening.
This recipe is modified from Food & Wine, the August 2010 edition, page 103. The original can be found here. I’m not so much on the whole “relish” concept, so I cannot comment on any taste/texture differences between mine and theirs. I can tell you that mine is mildly sweet and totally delicious.
Ingredients:
1 stick butter
1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
Tools:
10” cast iron pan
large bowl
microwave safe bowl
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Heat skillet on stovetop at medium heat
3. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in skillet
4. Mix dry ingredients
5. Melt remaining butter in a microwave
6. Mix melted butter (from step #5, not step #3) with milk and eggs
7. Combine wet and dry ingredients, being careful not to overmix (unless you want stone bread)
8. Pour batter into skillet and spread if need be
9. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a tester comes out clean from the center
10. Let the skillet cool and devour
Make It Yours: The amount of sugar is the real variable here. If you go up to 3/4 cup sugar, this is a definitively sweet corn bread. If you go below 1/2 cup, it is not. The recipe from F&W called for 1 tablespoon. In my mind? Blech. But this is you, cooking in your kitchen for your family. Use your best judgement, or make it a couple times and play around with it.
So, how do you like your cornbread?
So, pitch #2 (see #1) for you go to out and buy a cast iron skillet. Really. I mean it. Go buy one. Incredibly versatile and it will last you forever.
Anyway, put the pan on the stove top and turn the burner on, medium heat.
Add 2 tablespoons of butter, the recipe says unsalted, I’ve used both and it’s fine.
Keep an eye on the butter. You want it fully melted and bubbling well, but not burning. It’s a balancing act, but well well worth it.
Dry ingredients! 1 1/2 cup flour, 3/4 cup cornmeal, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 2 teaspoons salt.
Melt 6 tablespoons butter (the rest of the stick from above) in a microwave-safe container. 50 seconds does it in mine.
Lightly beat 2 eggs
Add in 1 1/4 cup milk (I use skim, but whatever works)
Look! Melted butter.
Add the butter to the egg/milk combination and add all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir until the batter is moist and evenly mixed.
By now the butter should be nicely melted and bubbly. This picture is actually a little premature.
Pour in the batter and spread if it doesn’t cover the whole pan.
Pop that sucker in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes at 425. You’ll know it’s done when the edges are browned and a toothpick or fork come out of the center clean.
Devour.
We would eat this with chicken chili. And all would be well with the world for the rest of the evening.
This recipe is modified from Food & Wine, the August 2010 edition, page 103. The original can be found here. I’m not so much on the whole “relish” concept, so I cannot comment on any taste/texture differences between mine and theirs. I can tell you that mine is mildly sweet and totally delicious.
Ingredients:
1 stick butter
1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
Tools:
10” cast iron pan
large bowl
microwave safe bowl
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Heat skillet on stovetop at medium heat
3. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in skillet
4. Mix dry ingredients
5. Melt remaining butter in a microwave
6. Mix melted butter (from step #5, not step #3) with milk and eggs
7. Combine wet and dry ingredients, being careful not to overmix (unless you want stone bread)
8. Pour batter into skillet and spread if need be
9. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a tester comes out clean from the center
10. Let the skillet cool and devour
Make It Yours: The amount of sugar is the real variable here. If you go up to 3/4 cup sugar, this is a definitively sweet corn bread. If you go below 1/2 cup, it is not. The recipe from F&W called for 1 tablespoon. In my mind? Blech. But this is you, cooking in your kitchen for your family. Use your best judgement, or make it a couple times and play around with it.
So, how do you like your cornbread?
Nutty Granola
09/21/2010 12:31 PM Filed in: recipes
Now that fall is imminent, ie: tomorrow, my taste in breakfast has swung not quite to oatmeal, but to granola! Sure, you could just go buy a bag at the grocery store, but wouldn’t you rather have exactly what you want and cheaper? And gosh, look at that bowl:
When the idea to cook a food comes to mind, as opposed to being inspired by something I read, my first consideration before I look for a recipe is high or low. Haute cuisine versus...not haute. My use of “low” is not in any way pejorative, in fact my whole blog is pretty much dedicated to the lowering of “cuisine”. But anyway. If I’m looking for something more “haute”, my first stop is almost always epicurious.com. If I’m not, it’s allrecipes.com. And All Recipes came through gloriously for the recipe I used here.
The goods:
Full disclosure: I got the idea to picture everything I use in a recipe from Jenna at Eat Live Run. It’s one of my very favorite blogs to read, so I’m testing out her method to see if it helps me organize better. Stay tuned.
Anyway, take 4 cups old fashioned oats, 1 cup wheat germ, 1/2 cup flax meal, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup chopped pecans, 1 cup chopped almonds, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon nutmug. In a BIG bowl. The bowl I used wasn’t exactly big enough.
Stirring was tricky, but we got there.
Then mix 1/3 cup canola oil, 3/4 cup water and 2 teaspoons vanilla in a separate bowl. Or big measuring cup like me. This looks pretty gross, so I didn’t take a picture, but I’m sure y’all can visualize sufficiently.
Take a 13x9” pan, grease it. Again, PAM for Baking ftw.
Spread the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients. Mix until it clumps up and most of the dry ingredients are no longer dry.
Bake at 300 degrees for an hour, stirring a couple times throughout. The original recipe says to stir every 20 minutes, but I got distracted and stirred at 30 minutes and then 45. And it turned out fine.
See?
Let it cool and transfer to the air-tight container for your choice. I used a gallon bag.
All told, this is about a half gallon of granola. I expect it to last me quite a while, so many more of these delicious breakfasts to come.
The original recipe can be found here courtesy of AllRecipes.com
Ingredients:
4 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup flax meal (ground flax seeds. Toss ‘em in a clean coffee grinder if you have whole seeds)
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 chopped pecans
1 cup chopped almonds
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/3 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup water
Tools:
13x9” pan
PAM for Baking
big bowl
smaller bowl
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. Mix dry ingredients
3. Mix wet ingredients
4. Pour dry ingredient mix in greased pan
5. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and mix
6. Baking for one hour, stirring midway through, until crispy/chunky
7. Cool and store in airtight container
Make It Yours: the only real essentials in this granola are the oats, the wheat germ, the oil and the water. You can change the nuts, change the spices, add dried coconut..whatever strikes your fancy. I happened to have almonds and pecans in my kitchen, so that’s what went in. While I realize that this recipe is totally delicious (it’s okay, I’ll own it), part of the point of me sharing this with you is to show people how easy it is to create recipes for yourselves. So go wild! And report back!
So tell me, how do you eat granola?
When the idea to cook a food comes to mind, as opposed to being inspired by something I read, my first consideration before I look for a recipe is high or low. Haute cuisine versus...not haute. My use of “low” is not in any way pejorative, in fact my whole blog is pretty much dedicated to the lowering of “cuisine”. But anyway. If I’m looking for something more “haute”, my first stop is almost always epicurious.com. If I’m not, it’s allrecipes.com. And All Recipes came through gloriously for the recipe I used here.
The goods:
Full disclosure: I got the idea to picture everything I use in a recipe from Jenna at Eat Live Run. It’s one of my very favorite blogs to read, so I’m testing out her method to see if it helps me organize better. Stay tuned.
Anyway, take 4 cups old fashioned oats, 1 cup wheat germ, 1/2 cup flax meal, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup chopped pecans, 1 cup chopped almonds, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon nutmug. In a BIG bowl. The bowl I used wasn’t exactly big enough.
Stirring was tricky, but we got there.
Then mix 1/3 cup canola oil, 3/4 cup water and 2 teaspoons vanilla in a separate bowl. Or big measuring cup like me. This looks pretty gross, so I didn’t take a picture, but I’m sure y’all can visualize sufficiently.
Take a 13x9” pan, grease it. Again, PAM for Baking ftw.
Spread the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients. Mix until it clumps up and most of the dry ingredients are no longer dry.
Bake at 300 degrees for an hour, stirring a couple times throughout. The original recipe says to stir every 20 minutes, but I got distracted and stirred at 30 minutes and then 45. And it turned out fine.
See?
Let it cool and transfer to the air-tight container for your choice. I used a gallon bag.
All told, this is about a half gallon of granola. I expect it to last me quite a while, so many more of these delicious breakfasts to come.
The original recipe can be found here courtesy of AllRecipes.com
Ingredients:
4 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup flax meal (ground flax seeds. Toss ‘em in a clean coffee grinder if you have whole seeds)
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 chopped pecans
1 cup chopped almonds
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/3 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup water
Tools:
13x9” pan
PAM for Baking
big bowl
smaller bowl
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. Mix dry ingredients
3. Mix wet ingredients
4. Pour dry ingredient mix in greased pan
5. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and mix
6. Baking for one hour, stirring midway through, until crispy/chunky
7. Cool and store in airtight container
Make It Yours: the only real essentials in this granola are the oats, the wheat germ, the oil and the water. You can change the nuts, change the spices, add dried coconut..whatever strikes your fancy. I happened to have almonds and pecans in my kitchen, so that’s what went in. While I realize that this recipe is totally delicious (it’s okay, I’ll own it), part of the point of me sharing this with you is to show people how easy it is to create recipes for yourselves. So go wild! And report back!
So tell me, how do you eat granola?
