25 posts tagged “mushrooms”
I have been absolutely exhausted lately. I've been busy at home and on the weekends, and I've been working at a different office (that takes longer to get to/from) during the week. I've been neglecting blogs (including my own!) and emails, and I apologize.
Normally I have some sort of rambling at the beginning of my posts but today you're getting just the food! No rambling (for those of you who bother to even read my rambling, that is).
We had these chops last week so I can only hope that I got the measurements right because it's been a while. But, if I were to make these from scratch today this is how I would make them so I assume this is how I made them last week :) As you know, I am a smoked gouda fanatic and while it lends itself to many dishes and flavors, I think smoked gouda pairs best with pork. And when you add caramelized onions, mushrooms and thyme, the complementary flavors only enhance. Enjoy!
Pork Chops with Smoked Gouda, Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms
Serves 2
2 pork chops
1 oz. shredded or sliced smoked gouda
1 tsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. butter
1 yellow or vidalia onion, cut in half and sliced
2 sprigs thyme
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp. dry sherry or marsala
1/3 cup beef broth
salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 350. Slice a pocket into each pork chop and fill it with the gouda. Season the chops with salt and pepper. Heat an ovenproof skillet over medium heat and add the oil. Sear the pork chops for about a minute per side, just to brown them. Move the chops to a baking dish and cook in the oven until just slightly underdone.
Meanwhile, melt the butter to the skillet in which you pan-fried the chops, over low heat. Stir in the onions and thyme and cook over low heat until golden brown, stirring occasionally--about 15 minutes. Add the garlic and the mushrooms and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.
Increase the heat to medium high and add the sherry. Scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan and cook until the sherry is almost completely evaporated, a couple minutes. Stir in the broth and cook it for another couple minutes to reduce it, slightly, too. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the pork chops back into the skillet, spooning the onions and sauce over them. Place the skillet in the oven for about 5 minutes or until the pork chops have cooked and the sauce has thickened slightly.
I'm a bit of a Kashi fanatic. At about 10:50 nearly every weekday morning, I eat a Kashi granola bar. I love the TLC crackers and I especially love the party crackers. Go Lean Crunch with fruit and Greek yogurt is a fantasic snack. Even the frozen dinners are good, and I hate most frozen dinners (though it's rare for me to buy a Kashi dinner because they are really expensive). The only thing I haven't really been enamored with are the cookies, but then, who wants a healthy cookie? If I am going to eat a packaged cookie, sign me up for Oreos or Girl Scout cookies.
I'm sure you already know, but Kashi products all contain their 7 whole grain blend, plus sesame seeds. One of my favorite Kashi products is the pilaf--the 7 grains in their simplest form. "Pilaf" is a little misleading because you'd think it had some sort of flavoring in it, but it doesn't. It's just the grains. I love it but for some reason, I have a really hard time finding it. It's been ages since we've had it and when I finally saw it in the store the other day, I knew I had to pick up a box.
Like rice or any other grain, you can jazz Kashi pilaf up any way you want, of course. I will say that I increase both the cooking time and the amount of liquid slightly from the box instructions. I don't think brown rice can cook in 25 minutes. At any rate, this application of the pilaf was basically just to use up some swiss chard and mushrooms that were on the verge of going bad. Combined with the sage and the nuttiness of the pilaf, this is a really earthy, yummy side.
Kashi Pilaf
Serves 4
1 Tbsp. butter
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 envelope (1 cup) Kashi pilaf
2.5 cups (scant) chicken broth or vegetable broth
2 cups swiss chard, coarsely chopped
3 Tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Stir in the garlic and mushrooms and cook an aditional 2 minutes or so, so they mushrooms begin to lose their moisture. Stir in the pilaf and coat it with the butter.
Add the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes or until the grains are just about cooked. Stir in the swiss chard and finish cooking, uncovered, an additional couple minutes until the grains are tender and the chard has wilted. Stir in the sage and salt & pepper to taste, if necessary.
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Ruth over at Once Upon a Feast has been hosting Presto Pasta Nights for a whole year now. Thanks, Ruth! I really wanted to participate in this week's roundup--the big PPN birthday--so hopefully I am not too late!
Speaking of events, for those of you who have posted your entry to Eat to the Beat, thanks for participating! I have seen some really delicious and really creative things. If you haven't emailed me your info, please do that. I am using my emails to do the round-up so I don't want to accidentally forget anyone. If you emailed me your info and you didn't hear back from me that either means I didn't get your email or I did, but you didn't get mine. The interwebs is crazy like that! So either way, please email me again. Thanks!
Anywho, like any "presto" kind of dish, this meal came together with ingredients I always manage to have on hand (OK, I did have a minor panic attack on Monday when I made pizzas and realized, to my horror, that I was out of goat cheese but I have since remedied that situation). It's a dish that's easy to prepare but definitely not lacking in flavor. The goat cheese gives this pasta a creamy consistency (and makes it a pretty color!) and is a *little* better for you than heavy cream. Plus, it just gives that little tang of extra flavor. I'm really glad I made enough to take leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
Penne with Goat Cheese-Tomato Sauce (and peas, mushrooms, and chicken sausage...)
Serves 4
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 (4-5 oz) hot Italian sausages, casings removed (I use chicken sausage)
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1/4 tsp. (or to taste) crushed red pepper flakes
a few tbsp of wine or broth (not necessary but it's good for deglazing)
1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup frozen peas
3 Tbsp. fresh basil (more for garnish if desired)
1 small (4oz) log goat cheese
salt and pepper
10-12 oz. penne, cooked
Heat a large skillet or saute pan over medium heat, and add the olive oil. When shimmering, crumble in the sausage and saute until browned. Add the onion and saute for about 2 minutes before adding the mushrooms and garlic. Once the mushrooms and onions are tender, add the tomato paste and red pepper flakes. Cook for about a minute before adding a few splashes of broth/wine to deglaze the pan and scrape up all the browned bits.
Add the crushed tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer to combine the flavors, 10 or 15 minutes. Add the peas and heat through for a minute or two. Stir in the basil and the goat cheese. Remove from the heat and continue stirring until the goat cheese has melted into the sauce. Season to taste if necessary and combine with the cooked pasta.
I had every intention of making lasagna rolls yesterday. Aren't these supposed to be the "easier" alternative to lasagna? Me thinks not. I boiled my noodles to al dente (with some oil so that they wouldn't stick together), stirred them around as they cooked. Guess what? Half the noodles stuck together. When I tried to pry them apart from one another, I ended up with some interesting noodle shapes, definitely not suitable for the pretty lasagna rolls I had envisioned.
So, onto Plan B. A regular ol' lasagna (with the torn pieces hidden in the middle layer, of course). I decided to make a healthier-than-usual lasagna, and it turned out really well, even if it wasn't as pretty to photograph as rolls would have been. I wanted to make a vodka sauce with this, but I was out of cream, and after the noodle fiasco, I just decided to use some jarred sauce. I'm just going to say this is pretty healthful and leave it at that (without posting nutritional information), since so many things can vary that based on what you use. I personally used 9 whole wheat lasagna noodles, 2% mozzarella (full fat goat & romano cheeses) and about half a jar of jarred pasta sauce. I cut my lasagna into 6 servings, at 370 calories a piece.
Whole Wheat Chicken Lasagna
1/2 box whole wheat lasagna noodles; cooked al dente (this could vary based on size of the noodles; mine were shorter than regular)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. chicken, cooked and shredded or diced
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
oregano and basil, to taste
8 oz. cremini mushrooms, chopped
2 cups fresh spinach, coarsley chopped
4 oz. (1 small log) goat cheese
1 egg, beaten
1.5 cups pasta sauce
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded or grated romano cheese
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 375.
Heat a large pan over medium heat and add olive oil until shimmering. Add the onions and mushrooms and cook until tender. Stir in the cooked chicken, garlic, oregano, basil and salt and pepper to taste. Add the spinach and saute for a few minutes to develop the flavors and wilt the spinach. Put the mixture into a bowl and cool slightly. Stir in the goat cheese and then the beaten egg.
Spray a baking dish with some cooking oil and then pour about 1/2 cup of pasta sauce over the bottom. Layer 1/3 of the noodles over the sauce, and then pour half the chicken mixture over the noodles. Repeat layering (sauce, noodles, chicken). Add a final layer of noodles, followed by the last 1/2 cup of sauce. Top with the shredded mozzarella and parmesan. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, until bubbly.
On Saturday, Tom and I ventured outside in the freezing cold. It turns out this was not the best idea for me since I tend to fall when there is even a tiny bit of ice out, and there was more than a tiny bit on Saturday. Ah, it was a sight to see; me clinging for dear life to the fences along the sidewalk. But I still fell. Sigh. Luckily, it was for a good cause because we were headed to the meat market to buy something for dinner. I debated between lamb and veal and eventually landed on veal stew meat because it sounded good and it was much more cost effective (not that this mattered, of course, because we bought other things and ended up spending too much, anyway).
I debated between a veal stew or some sort of veal pasta sauce and landed somewhere in between, with what I guess I could (and will) call a veal ragout. The meat stewed for an hour so it was extremely tender and stew-like, and then I added some small pasta (ditalini) in at the end, so it was a great one-pot meal and extremely comforting on a blistering cold Saturday.
Ragout of Veal with Ditalini
Serves about 4
3-4 slices bacon, chopped
1 lb. veal, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz. mushrooms, quartered
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1/3 cup marsala wine
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried marjoram
1 bay leaf
2 cups ditalini pasta
3 cups fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper
Heat a pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the chopped bacon and cook until it begins to crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Pour off all but 1 Tbsp. of the bacon fat.
Season the veal with salt and pepper. Add to the dutch oven and brown on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and saute until the garlic is fragrant, about one minute.
Add the marsala to the dutch oven and cook until it's reduced by half. Stir in the mushrooms, chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, thyme, marjoam, bay leaf, and salt and pepper. Bring to a light boil and then add the veal back in. Cover and simmer for an hour (or as long as you want).
Stir in the ditalini and cook, uncovered, until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the pasta is cooked. During the last 2 or 3 minutes of cooking, stir in the spinach so that it wilts. Add the bacon back in to warm through.
I love risotto but I don't make it too often because I try to limit my intake of "whites" and, well, I'm pretty sure that whole wheat risotto doesn't exist. Even if it did, it would be an abomination! I've been wanting to try Giada's dirty risotto for a while now because it's a very hearty risotto, fit for a main course serving. Since it has a protein, veggies and a starch it's pretty much a meal in itself...but I did pair our dinner tonight with a baby spinach salad.
I did adapt the recipe (of course). I bulked up the veggies and the sausage a little bit, but used chicken sausage to lighten it up. I'm pretty certain you can find leaner chicken sausage but the spicy Italian from Trader Joe's I had on hand (which is SO good) was 190 calories a link. I added garlic, too (a Giada recipe without garlic? Almost as preposterous as an Elly recipe without it!). I was a little nervous about adding this into SparkPeople. Even with my modifications I thought it was going to be a calorie bomb. But, it's really not that bad at around 450 calories. It is slightly high in fat, but you can modify that by using leaner sausage, something in place of the pancetta, etc.
Tom and I both really liked this dish. I mean, what's not to like about a creamy, comforting meal like this? Definitely one to make again.
Dirty Risotto
adapted from Giada De Laurentiis
Serves 2
2 cups chicken broth
2 tsp. butter
1 link (4 oz.) spicy Italian chicken sausage, casing removed
1 oz. pancetta, chopped
1 small onion, diced
1 red pepper, chopped
4 oz. mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup arborio rice
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup pecorino romano
Add the chicken broth to a small saucepan and bring to a light simmer. Keep it on the stove, simmering, as you prepare the risotto.
Over medium heat, melt the butter in a large pan. Add the chicken sausage, crumbling it as you stir it in, and the pancetta and cook for a few minutes until browned. Add the onions, red pepper and mushrooms. Saute for a few minutes before adding the minced garlic. Continue cooking until the vegetables are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add the rice and stir to coat, "toasting" it a little. Add the wine and cook it off until it's almost completely evaporated.
Add a ladel of the simmering chicken broth to the pan and stir continiously until almost absorbed. Continue adding chicken broth by the ladel, every time the rice has nearly absorbed it, until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite. Remove from heat and stir in the romano.
Nutritional Information, Per Serving, using Trader Joe's Spicy Italian Chicken Sausage: Calories: 451.5 / Fat: 19.5g / Carbs: 39.5g / Dietary Fiber: 2g / Protein: 24.8g
Jenn, The Leftover Queen, started hosting the Royal Foodie Joust back in July. I participated in the first event, but I haven't really gotten my act together to participate in a second :) Every month, three ingredients are chosen by the previous joust's winner and you must create a dish using those three ingredients.
Last month's winner was the pie lady, with her absolutely delicious looking white chocolate lavender ice cream with merlot poached pears. Mmmm. Brittany has chosen three ingredients that are pretty easily accessible to everyone, as well as staples in a majority of my dinners :) Those ingredients are mushrooms, cheese, and herbs.
As you may have gathered by now, Sundays are my soup/stew days when the weather gets cool. So, what better way to use these ingredients than in a chowder?
Mushroom, Potato and Smoked Gouda Chowder
1/4 lb. bacon, diced
1 onion, diced
1 lb. mushrooms (your choice, I like to use a variety), sliced
a few sprigs of fresh thyme or a good pinch of dried
1/4 cup dry sherry or white wine
1 bay leaf
3-4 cups yukon gold potatoes, cubed
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups chicken broth
1.5 cups half and half (or milk, or cream)
2 oz. smoked gouda, shredded
In a stockpot or dutch oven, cook the bacon until it has rendered its fat. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside.
In the bacon fat, cook the diced onion over low heat for about 2 minutes before adding the mushrooms. Add a little salt and pepper and continue cooking over low or medium-low heat until the mushrooms have released their moisture, about 10-15 minutes. Increase the heat and add the sherry or wine. Cook until almost all of the alcohol has cooked off.
Add the potatoes and the garlic, stirring to combine. Add the bay leaf and broth. Bring to a light boil and simmer until potatoes are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Remove the bay leaf. Put as much or as little of the mixture as you want into a food processor and pulse it. This isn't necessary but it creates both texture and thickness to the soup. Return the pureed soup to the dutch oven. Add the half and half and gouda. Simmer until the soup has heated through and the cheese has melted.
Garnish bowls with diced bacons and more cheese, if desired.
A while back, I made Ina Garten's filet of beef bourguignon. I sent Tom to the butcher to get some filet of beef. When he came back, he told me he had spent over $60 at the butcher...all on what the butcher had called "the cadillac of meats." While the bouguignon was delicious, that is when I vowed to never use filet IN something again. I would rather season it simply with some salt and pepper and throw it on a grill or sear it on the stovetop. Filet doesn't need to be covered is sauce and stewed with vegetables to be delicious. Nor does a delicious meal have to cost a small fortune.
And so is the deal with stroganoff. Most recipes call for beef tenderloin. I'm sure these recipes are delicious...but I'm also sure they could be just as delicious with a less expensive cut of meat. In fact, after making it tonight...I know it can be! If you do make this with tenderloin, you don't need to simmer the beef to tenderize, as I have done below.
Beef Stroganoff
1 lb. beef round or chuck, cut into 2" cubes
a little olive oil
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup red wine or sherry
1 3/4 cup beef broth (this could vary, depending on the size of the pan you are using; just be sure to cover the beef with liquid)
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 onion, finely diced
1/2 lb. sliced or quartered mushrooms
1 sprig thyme or a pinch dried
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. flour
1/3 cup sour cream
salt and pepper
Heat a dutch oven, stockpot, small casserole, etc. over medium heat. Add olive oil. Sprinkle the beef with salt and pepper, and then brown it in the olive oil, in batches. Remove the beef.
Increase the heat slightly and add the wine to deglaze. Be sure to scrape up what Nigella would call "those glorious brown bits." Reduce the liquid slightly, and then add the beef broth, bay leaf, and browned meat. Decrease the heat to low and simmer, covered, for about 1-2 hours. Skim the fat and reserve 3/4 cup of the liquid (and the beef, of course).
In a skillet, melt the butter. Add the onions, mushrooms, thyme and a pinch of salt. Cook until the onions are tender and the mushrooms have released all or most of their moisture, about 6 minutes.
Stir in the garlic clove and cook until fragrant. Add the flour and stir for a minute or two, to cook off the raw flour taste. Add the 3/4 cup reserved cooking liquid. Stir and cook until thickened.
Off the heat, stir in the sour cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
As I mentioned in a previous post, we are pretty low on groceries. But, I always have pasta and canned tomatoes at home so that is always an option--albeit, usually a last resort :)
I was actually planning on making a vodka sauce but, to my great surprise, we are out of vodka! So, I did a basic tomato cream sauce instead, but added in some peas and mushrooms.
This is a really simple but healthy and flavorful pasta dish. I served it over whole wheat rotini.
Tomato Cream Sauce
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 (15 oz) can crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper
1/3 cup frozen peas, thawed
3 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1/2 cup half and half or cream
1 lb. chicken, cooked and shredded or cut into bite sized pieces
In a large skillet or dutch oven, heat oil. Add onion and cook until translucent. Stir in garlic, mushrooms and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant.
Add tomatoes, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmering while pasta is cooked, until flavors have married and mushrooms are tender.
Stir in chicken, peas, half and half and basil and cook until just heated through.
Nutrition info per serving (2 oz. dry pasta, cooked and 1/6 of the sauce with chicken): Calories: 352 / Fat: 2.1g / Carbs: 50g / Fiber: 7g / Sugars: 4.3g / Protein: 21.6g
When I first started a blog, I didn't really understand the importance of tags or making each dish its own entry (and thus making it easy to find via a tag). I used to not tag my entries at all, or I would not update the blog for a week and suddenly have an entry with about 30 tags. In an effort to make my tags (and blog) a little more user-friendly, when I make something from "the olden days" that is combined with another old entry, I am going to just add it anew and delete it from the old entry.
So if you couldn't guess by that long introduction, this soup has definitely made an appearance in the blog before. If you've already seen it, feel free to move along :)
Unfortunately, after blogging nearly a year, I have still not gotten the hang of photographing soup.
Tom and I both really enjoy this soup. It's flavorful and really filling. One of my favorites!
Beef Mushroom Barley Soup
1 lb. beef, cut into bite sized pieces (I typically use stew meat or top round, as lean as possible)
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1 cup water
1 cup red wine
2 tbsp butter
1 small-medium onion, diced
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 cup celery, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups beef broth
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp basil
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
1/2 cup barley
8 oz. fresh sliced mushrooms
Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large pan. Add meat and brown.
Pour in water and red wine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer while you are cutting up the vegetables or longer (usually, I let it simmer about an hour).
Remove beef and cut into small bite sized chunks or shred if desired. Skim fat and reserve 1/2 cup of cooking liquid.
In a large stockpot, melt butter. Add celery, carrots, onion, and saute until tender. Stir in garlic until fragrant.
Pour in beef broth and add thyme, basil, bay leaf, beef, and reserved cooking liquid. Simmer 20-30 minutes. Season to taste.
Add barley and mushrooms and simmer until done, about 40 minutes.
