Mmm...Mushrooms

I am not going to lie, I love mushrooms.  I love them raw, I love them cooked, I loved them fresh, I love them canned, I love mushrooms in a box, I love mushrooms with a fox.  I love mushrooms here and there, I love mushrooms everywhere! 

My love of mushrooms began as a child when my parents insisted on ordering mushrooms on pizza.  The passion just grew from there.  I began eating them on salads, as side dishes, as main dishes, raw, cooked…Well, you get the idea.  I love mushrooms and I am willing to eat them any way they are served.

The other day, I was in the mood for stir fry and when I went to my refrigerator to see what I could throw together, there, staring me in the face was two packages of organic mushrooms and a bunch of organic asparagus.  I knew immediately that the only answer to the question of what I was in the mood for was a Mushroom and Asparagus Stir Fry.  I could barely contain my excitement as I got out my rice cooker to get the rice going before I began preparing the sauce and vegetables.

I love Mushroom and Asparagus Stir Fry because it is simple and quick and it makes enough that I can portion out the leftovers and eat them for several days.  In a matter of minutes, I can have the sauce ready to go, the mushrooms cooking and a big pile of asparagus cut into bite size pieces and ready to go in the pan.  My recipe makes four generous portions or six normal size portions that are incredibly filling yet light enough that you will not feel weighed down after a meal.  On the down side, my husband would not touch Mushroom Asparagus Stir Fry with a ten foot pole.  He avoids both vegetables like the plague.  On the up side, that just means that I get to eat it all myself.  (It’s mine!  Mine I say!  All mine! – Insert maniacal laughter here.)

Mushroom Asparagus Stir Fry

Serves 4 – 6

Ingredients

• 1 pound white button or Baby Bella mushrooms
• 1 bunch fresh asparagus (about 1 pound)
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• Optional:  4 – 6 servings cooked rice or quinoa

Sauce Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• ½ cup vegetable broth
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch or flour

Directions

1. Thoroughly whisk together all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Cut mushrooms into quarters.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Add mushrooms and stir.
5. While mushrooms are cooking, cut asparagus into bite-size pieces.
6. Add the asparagus to the mushrooms, stir to combine, cover and allow to cook for about 5 minutes or until asparagus is tender-crisp.
7. Add the sauce, stir, cover and allow to cook for 3-4 more minutes.
8. Remove from heat, stir and serve over cooked rice or quinoa, making sure to drizzle the pan sauce over to top of the vegetables.

What is your favorite way to eat mushrooms?  Comment below and let me know!

Be the Change

A mother tends to her daughter, injured in Nepal's recent 

earthquake, at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital

in Kathmandu.                                                unicef.org

Today, I am not going to write about cooking or recipes.  Today, I have something far more pressing than what is going on in my kitchen to talk about.  Today, I am going to write about Nepal and the desperate need for your help.

I want to urge everyone to seek out charities that provide aid internationally in instances of disaster and please make a small donation.  Even if it is only a dollar or two, it helps.  Everything helps.  No amount is too small.

The massive earthquake in Nepal was just the start of the Nepalese people's struggle.  There are areas where 90% of structures have been reduced to rubble. --Homes, gone.  --Businesses, gone.  --Hospitals, gone.  Healthcare there was not a fraction of what we are accustomed to in the US to begin with and since the earthquake, hospitals have been pushed far beyond their limits.  Many are so overloaded, they are being forced to drag mattresses into parking lots to treat the 50,000 - 60,000 patients needing urgent care.  And it is going to get worse without help.

Millions of people are now without basic necessities like food, shelter and clean drinking water.  Medical facilities are running out of supplies as they try to help those in need.  Vaccination programs have had to be set aside while aid workers turn their attention to emergency care.  Without clean water and vaccinations, the Nepalese people will face the possibility of  epidemic outbreaks of diseases like cholera and measles.

An elderly woman receiving medical treatment at the open site 

of a hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 26, 2015.            

 -- PHOTO: EPA                                    straitstimes.com

Please, please, please help if you can.  Right now is our time to help make the world a better place.  It is so easy to do something so small and help people who are lost, scared and suffering.  We have the power to help.

There are many trustworthy groups to which you can make a donation.  If you aren't sure where to donate, consider one of the groups listed below, all of which are endorsed by Charitynavigator.com.  If you aren't comfortable with making a donation online, please check with your local churches or American Red Cross office.


AmeriCares:  http://www.americares.org/

CARE:  http://www.care.org/

Catholic Relief Services:  http://www.crs.org/

Direct Relief:  http://www.directrelief.org/

Global Giving:  http://www.globalgiving.org/

Oxfam:  http://www.oxfamamerica.org

Save the Children:  http://www.savethechildren.org/

Unicef:  http://www.unicef.org/

I Found My Thrill

I felt like it was time to post a dessert recipe since up to this point, I have only posted recipes for two cakes and two toppings.  This is because I am not a big fan of sweets so I just do not indulge in them very often and, therefore, do not often make them.  When I was at the grocery store last night, though, the blueberries were beautiful and they were calling my name.  I knew immediately that it was time to make Blueberry Hill.

Blueberry Hill is one of those recipes that is so incredibly easy and delicious, you will want to make it all of the time.  It is sweet and creamy and lemony and it is perfect for a special occasion or “just because”.  Make it once and your family will love you.  Make it twice and you may find yourself hiding in the closet so you won’t have to share with anyone else!

Blueberry Hill

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 18 ounces fresh blueberries
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• ¾ cup vanilla Greek yogurt
• 1 lemon, zested (Save the rest of the lemon to add to your drinking water!)
• 1 teaspoon honey

Directions

1. In a medium size mixing bowl, whip cream cheese with an electric mixer until soft and smooth.
2. Add yogurt, lemon zest and honey to cream cheese and whip until all ingredients are completely incorporated.
3. Add blueberries and carefully stir until evenly covered.
4. Serve immediately or store* in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

*Note:  If you choose to store your Blueberry Hill in the refrigerator, the lemon flavor will increase slightly as it sits.

What is your favorite fruit?  Comment below and let me know!

Garlic Parm Fingering Potatoes

If you have been following my blog, you, no doubt, have noticed that potatoes frequently make an appearance in my kitchen.  I often attribute my love for potatoes on my Irish ancestry.  The reason they are often in my kitchen, though, it because they are an easy vegetable to prepare.  In a matter of minutes, you can dress them up or dress them down and you end up with a delicious dish that even the pickiest of eaters will love.

Tonight, I wanted the star of the show to be my Island Spiced Chicken so I threw together a simple side of Garlic Parm Fingering Potatoes to pair with it.  These potatoes are wonderfully easy to make.  They toss together in a matter of minutes.  Since they are cooked in a covered dish, they can stand to sit in the oven a little longer than if they were uncovered.  I put mine in and took them out of the oven at the same time as my chicken and they came out perfectly.

Garlic Parm Fingering Potatoes

Serves 4 – 6

Ingredients

• 1 ½ pounds fingering potatoes (or substitute regular potatoes cut into chunks)
• 1 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese

Mixed up in minutes and ready for the oven!

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Clean potatoes and cut larger ones in half.
3. Drizzle 1 teaspoon of olive oil and toss lightly to coat all potatoes.
4. Sprinkle minced garlic and Parmesan cheese over potatoes and toss lightly to coat.
5. Cover and bake at 325°F for 60 minutes or until done.  (If you are cooking other food in your oven at the same time, you can leave these potatoes in for up to 90 minutes without burning them.  Do try to stir them once or twice during cooking time if you do this and remove if they appear to be drying out too much.)

What vegetables are staples in your kitchen?  Comment below and let me know!

Island Spiced Chicken

 Guess what?  It is chicken night again in my house!  Whole chickens were on sale when we went to the grocery store the other day so I picked one up.  At the time, I was not sure what I wanted to do with it but where I live, 99¢ a pound is a pretty good deal so I could not pass it up. 

I thought about the flavors that I was in the mood for and I decided on something with a Jamaican/island-type flavors.  What I came up with was Island Spiced Chicken.  At first, I wanted to add a little rum to the recipe but when I dug through my cupboards the only thing I came up with was a bottle of tequila that had been left at our house by a friend when we lived in Montana about 5 years ago.  It only had about 1/8^th of a cup of liquid left in it then and it only had 1/8^th of a cup of liquid left in it when I started the recipe.  I used it all and fortunately, it was the exact right amount for my recipe.

Unlike the recipe that I posted the other day, my recipe for Island Spiced Chicken does contain a small amount of salt.  I thought it might be worth mentioning that when I use salt in a recipe, I like to get the most bang for my buck so I generally use seasoning salt.  For a long time, I used a national brand of seasoning salt but a few years ago, I found out that a childhood friend of my husband manufactures and sells his own brand of seasoning salt:  Alden’s Seasonings.  I was very skeptical at first because I had been using the same brand of seasoning salt for my entire life.  I decided to give Alden’s Seasonings a try.  I immediately knew that I had stumbled upon something special – something that my kitchen would never again be without.  The quality and flavors are out of this world and the prices are comparable to what I had been paying for the national brand.  Alden’s Seasonings has multiple blends of seasoning salt but my favorite is the Pink Himalayan blend.  If you are interested in Alden’s Seasonings, contact Alden via his Facebook page for more information on pricing and ordering.

Island Spiced Chicken

Ingredients

• 1/8 cup tequila
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 (3 pound) whole chicken
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

1. Combine tequila, lime juice, brown sugar and all spices in a small bowl and mix well.  (This should be the consistency of loose mud.)
2. Clean chicken, rinse inside and out with cold water then pat dry with a paper towel and place chicken breast up in a roasting pan or dish.
3. Separate the skin from the chicken breast, leg and thigh by sliding hand between the skin and meat, being careful not to tear the skin.
4. Using your hand, spread the spice mixture between the skin and meat.  Use any remaining spice mixture to rub into skin.
5. Tuck wing tips up and over, behind the back and truss together chicken legs with a bit of kitchen twine.
6. Cover chicken and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour or up to overnight.
7. Preheat oven to 325°F.
8. Uncover chicken and drizzle with olive oil.
9. Place in oven and allow to bake for about 90 minutes, until the juices run clear or until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reaches 180°F.
10. Allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes before carving.

What is on your table tonight?  Comment below and let me know!

Sausage Pennette Rigate Florentine

Today was supposed to be a warm, sunny day so I was eager to open up the windows and let the fresh air into my house.  I tend to get chilled easily so, though the thermometer made it above 70 degrees outside today, I was cold.  It put me in the mood for a little comfort food.  I considered what I had on hand and decided to throw together a pasta dish.  What I came up with was Sausage Pennette Rigate Florentine.

Sausage Pennette Rigate Florentine sounds all kinds of fancy, doesn’t it?  If you make it for family and friends and they will think that you went to incredible lengths to make dinner.  In truth, this is another one of those dishes that is quite easy to make and it does not demand a lot of time in the kitchen.  You can easily add more vegetables according to what you have on hand or substitute your favorite pasta or pasta alternative.

You will notice that the one item not on my list of ingredients is salt.  I am a big proponent of using organic ingredients and heirloom varieties of vegetables.  Whenever possible, I try to buy local produce.  When you use these types of ingredients, you will find that your food naturally has more flavor and you will not have to add salt to “bring out the flavor.”

Sausage Pennette Rigate Florentine is like a carnival of flavors.  You get the sweetness of the tomato, the creamy distinct tang of bleu cheese, and the savory notes of the sausage and onion with the distinct hint of spinach.  The flavor will wrap you in comfort without leaving you with that heavy feeling you get after consuming a cream based sauce.

Sausage Penette Rigate Florentine

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 pound bulk sausage (I used maple sausage but any will do)
• 1 medium onion
• 3 medium tomatoes, seeds removed, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cup chicken stock
• 12 – 16-oz fresh baby spinach, chopped
• 5-oz crumbled bleu cheese
• 16-oz dry pennette rigate pasta

Directions

1. Brown sausage in a large frying pan
2. Add onion, drizzle with olive oil and cook until golden brown.
3. Add tomato and garlic, mix well and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add chicken stock, mix well and cover, stirring occasionally.
5. In a large pot, cook pasta according to package directions.
6. When pasta is almost done cooking, add spinach to meat mixture, stir to combine, cover and allow to cook for about 5 minutes or until spinach has cooked down and is limp.
7. Add crumbled bleu cheese to meat mixture, stir to combine, turn off heat and allow to sit on burner while cheese melts.
8. While the cheese is melting, drain pasta.
9. Add pasta to meat mixture and carefully stir to combine.
10. Serve hot.

What is your comfort food on a cool day?  Comment below and let me know!

Pat-A-Cake Sausage Bake

I have been having a lot of fun lately, making recipes which were printed in Better Homes & Gardens magazine in the 1950s and 1960s.  While some of them sound like very odd combinations, on the whole, they have actually been surprisingly good.  Before the weather gets too much warmer and I want to focus on lighter fare, I wanted to get in one last stick-to-your-ribs recipe.  Flipping through my collection, I found just the ticket – Pat-A-Cake Sausage Bake, which was printed in the August 1957 edition.

Over the years, I have learned that sometimes the most delicious dish is the sum of odd ingredient pairings.  Pat-A-Cake Sausage Bake is one of those dishes that solidly falls into that category.  With ingredients like sausage, cream of chicken soup green peppers and bleu cheese, I was prepared to pop a frozen pizza in the oven if the combination did not turn out well.  In the end, I did not need to worry.  In fact, it was so well received for dinner last night that my husband was happy to take leftovers for lunch today.  (Not to mention that we will both happily be eating leftovers for dinner tomorrow.)

Feeling bold about the green pepper after my success with Home Front Macaroni last week, I decided to use an entire diced green pepper instead of the instructed 2-tablespoons.  This more than made up for my omission of 2-tablespoons of pimentos (which seem to have been all the rage in the 1950s since they are called for in at least half of all recipes written during that era).  Additionally, I was in a bit of a rush when I was putting my Pat-A-Cake Sausage Bake together and I forgot to top it with buttered bread crumbs.  Honestly, we did not miss it since I served it with a side of leftover Spinach Provençale (also from last week) and that was topped with buttered bread crumbs. 

The directions for Pat-A-Cake Sausage Bake said to make the sausage into “marbles” then flatten them into tiny patties before browning.  I am sure that this would have been pretty but I am a little on the lazy side and I did not want to waste the time doing this with an entire pound of sausage.  Instead, I just tossed the sausage into the frying pan and chopped it up with a wooden spatula as it cooked.  This saved me quite a bit of time and enabled me to spend that extra few minutes with my sweetheart. 

Some sort of magic seemed to occur as I mixed together the ingredients for Pat-A-Cake Sausage Bake.  The result was a creamy, savory dinner with just the smallest nip from all of the green pepper.  It was so good, I can easily see myself making this again on a cold winter day.

Pat-A-Cake Sausage Bake

Serves 6

Ingredients

·        1 pound ground pork sausage (I used maple pork sausage because it was on sale)

·        4 ounces dried noodles

·        2 tablespoons chopped green pepper

·        2 tablespoons chopped pimento

·        1 10-ounce can cream of chicken soup

·        2 ounces crumbled bleu cheese

·        1/3 cup buttered bread crumbs

Directions

1.   Preheat oven to 350° F.

2.   Brown sausage in frying pan.  (I tossed the green pepper in with the sausage as it cooked but this isn’t necessary.)

3.   While the sausage is browning, cook 4 ounces of noodles according to package directions then drain.

4.   Grease a 1 ½ quart casserole dish.

5.   Combine sausage, green pepper (if you have not already done so), pimento, cream of chicken soup, and bleu cheese.  Stir until bleu cheese melts.

6.   Add pasta and carefully stir until all ingredients are combined then evenly spread mixture into casserole dish.

7.   Top with buttered bread crumbs.

8.   Bake at 350° F for 30 minutes or until bread crumbs are golden brown.

Would you make a recipe if the ingredients did not sound like a good combination to you?  Comment below and let me know!

It's All Greek to Me

 Sometime around St. Patrick’s Day, I started thinking about how weird it is that we celebrate the feast day of the patron saint of another country as widely as we do in the US.  In fact, I challenge anyone to think of another such holiday that is celebrated so widely in the US.  I could not think of any so I decided that I wanted to expand my knowledge of cultures and food from around the world by celebrating different holidays.

On March 25, we celebrated Greek Independence Day – the day commemorating the start of the War of Independence in 1821 which ultimately liberated the Greeks from the Ottoman Empire.  With a little digging, I learned that one food traditionally consumed on Greek Independence day is cod in Skordalia (garlic sauce).  Lucky me, I just happened to have two pieces of cod in my freezer and everything called for in the Skordalia recipe.  Could I be any luckier?

Before I say anything else, I have to say that my husband loved this sauce – LOVED IT!  I think if I had let him, he would have been willing to bathe in it, he liked it so much.  If I choose to make it again, I am sure he would happily eat it.

Skordalia is one of those magic sauces that is really easy to make and the ingredient list is not a mile long.  That is always a bonus in my book.  In order to like this sauce, though, you have to like garlic – a lot.  It calls for EIGHT cloves of garlic so it probably is not one to make if you happen to be a vampire or are making dinner for a vampire.  It was excellent on the cod and I could easily see using it on pita chips or as a dip for vegetables.  The flavor was tangy with a nice bite and I would have liked to try more of it had I not been allergic to the lemon in it. 

I know.  Odd that I would choose to make a recipe when I am allergic to one of the ingredients.  I knew that a little bit would not hurt me and I really wanted to give it a try.  Though, I generally do not recommend that people cook with ingredients to which they are allergic.

Skordalia (Greek Garlic Sauce)

Makes About 1 Cup

Ingredients

·        2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes

·        8 cloves of garlic, minced

·        Juice of 1 lemon

·        ¼ teaspoon of salt

·        ¾ cup olive oil

·        Additional salt to taste

Directions

1.    Place cleaned and diced potatoes in a pot with enough water to just cover them and boil until fork tender.

2.   Drain potatoes and allow to cool.

3.   Add garlic, lemon juice and ¼ teaspoon of salt to potatoes and mash by hand.

4.   Once potatoes have been mashed, either using a food processor of hand held immersion blender (you could probably make do with a regular hand blender), slowly drizzle in the olive oil in a steady stream until it is smooth and well blended.  You can add up to ¼ cup more olive oil using the same method for a creamier sauce.

5.   Season to taste with additional salt.

6.   Serve immediately, refrigerate any extra.

Mine separated a little as it sat.

What holidays from around the world do you celebrate?  Comment below and let me know!

Spinach Provençale

I have to admit that there are plenty of vegetables that I like much more than spinach.  In fact, given the choice, I would eat almost any other vegetable before eating spinach.  I spent my entire childhood avoiding it as best I could.  If I dislike it so much, why do I cook spinach at all? 

Fate plays funny tricks on you when you are not looking.  My husband, who normally will not touch vegetables with a ten foot pole, loves spinach.  It is the one vegetable that he will eat no matter how it is prepared.  I love him to the moon and back so, for that reason, I make spinach quite often.

While flipping through my 1956 edition of the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook, I decided to see what spinach recipes I might find.  Right there, staring me in the face, was the recipe for Spinach Provençale.  It is quick and simple and an excellent side for Chicken Breasts Baked in Cream.  As much as I prefer other vegetables, I found that the onion and garlic complemented and toned down the strong flavor of the spinach. 

The recipe for Spinach Provençale says that it only makes four servings which was incredible to me since it calls for 2-pounds of spinach.  The servings would be massive!  As a main dish, four servings may work but I found that, as a side, I could easily get six to eight servings out of it.

The recipe instructed me to top my spinach mixture with buttered bread crumbs or cracker crumbs.  I had a bit of Irish butter left over from St. Patrick’s Day last week so I decided to melt 1-tablespoon of that and mix it with 1-cup of panko bread crumbs (any dried bread crumbs would work).  The resulting mixture raised the Spinach Provençale to a level where I would quite enjoy eating it on a regular basis.

Spinach Provençale

Serves 4 as a main dish or 6 – 8 as a side

Ingredients

·        ¼ cup olive oil, salad oil or butter

·        2 pounds fresh spinach

·        1 tsp salt

·        ¼ tsp pepper

·        ½ cup chopped onion

·        1 clove garlic, minced

·        2 eggs, slightly beaten

·        1 tbsp butter + 1 cup bread crumbs OR 1 cup cracker crumbs

·        Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions

1.   Preheat oven to 350°F.

2.   In a large pan, heat oil and add spinach, salt, pepper, onion and garlic.  Cover and cook until spinach wilts and sinks down into the pan.

3.   Remove cover and cook quickly until juices evaporate.

4.   Remove from heat and stir in 2 slightly beaten eggs.

5.   Pour mixture into a 1 quart baking dish.

6.   Top with buttered bread crumbs, cracker crumbs and/or grated Parmesan cheese.

7.   Bake at 350°F for 15 – 20 minutes or until spinach mixture is firm and topping is golden brown.

8.   Serve hot.

NOTES: 

·        I used a 12-inch sauté pan and all of the spinach would not fit in the pan at one time.  I added 2/3 of the spinach and the rest of the ingredients and waited for the spinach to cook down before adding the last 1/3 of the spinach.

·        Since I was serving my Spinach Provençale with Chicken Breasts Baked in Cream, I waited to raise the temperature to 350°F until I put the spinach into the oven.  I then baked it for 25 minutes and removed it from the oven at the same time as I removed the chicken.  The spinach was cooked perfectly as did the chicken, even though it was only supposed to be baked at 300°F.

If you disliked a food, would you be willing to eat it if it was your loved one's favorite food?  Comment below and let me know!