mushrooms - - Page 2

by tvff

Mock Bolognese So Good, Your Friends Won’t…Err…Make Fun of You

In a family with two working parents and a rambunctious two-year-old, I only have a few priorities when it comes to weeknight cooking. I need something relatively simple, something relatively nutritious and something relatively delicious. All three are probably a step down from how things were in the past, but I’m OK with that.

How simple? I’d really like it if my knife prep was the most time-consuming aspect of the meal. We’ve been doing a better job with nutrition by cutting out a bit of meat from our diet and focusing on more vegetables. And I don’t think it’s too much to ask that my pasta sauce taste better than Prego. So when I thought about how I could bring some of the slow-cooked goodness of bolognese to a Tuesday night, I decided to swap out the meat for mushrooms and see how I can amp up the flavor a bit.

The keys were to get a good caramelization using vegetables that didn’t take too long to break down (mushrooms, shallots, garlic), liberal use of tomato paste and a good dash of Worcestershire sauce for some sweetness and anchovy flavor. The result was a richly flavorful sauce that nicely coated the noodles but didn’t weigh it down.

Your diners might not accuse you of spending all day in the kitchen, but if I can get something this good and still have time to watch some Pajanimals with my kid, I’ll take it.

Mock Bolognese (Mushroom Ragù)

in Recipe 5 comments

by Emily

Don’t Mess with the Classics: Beef Stroganoff

Certain chilly winter days call for rich, comforting dinners. Usually I try to mix it up and make funky new recipes, but sometimes resorting to the classics just feels right. This is where one of my personal home cookin’ favorites, stroganoff, comes in.

I don’t have any grand introduction for this dish. Really, what more can you say about beef cooked in a rich, creamy mushroom gravy?

Just a few pointers: Don’t skip the addition of the peas. I guess it’s an individual preference, but I LOVE the sweet pop they add to this dish. Also, I know you can serve this over any type of noodle or even rice, I guess, but I can’t imagine my stroganoff smothering anything other than egg noodles. Like I said, this is a classic, and that’s how my family has always made it! Finally—this is a no-brainer—don’t skimp on the sour cream. Nobody said you were cooking this to be especially healthy. Adding a splash of skim milk is not gonna cut it here. I always end up adding way more sour cream than other recipes recommend, and I’m okay with that.

(My) Classic Beef Stroganoff

by Emily

White Winter Truffled Mac & Cheese

My very good friend and longtime roommate, Dayna, and I have a special wintertime tradition. Every single year, the first time it snows, we set aside the evening to drink a bunch of wine and make homemade truffled macaroni and cheese. It all started five years ago when I found this recipe online and we decided to whip it up on an especially chilly Seattle night—coincidentally, the first night it ended up dumping snow all over the city. It was such a perfect comfort dinner, we vowed that we would cook it together at the first snow of every winter. And we’ve kept our promise every single year!

We ran into an issue this winter, though. I moved to Austin in March 2012, and Dayna ended up moving down here (into my house! Roomies again!) Around a month ago, we realized we had made a grave mistake: there’s almost never any snow in central Texas! Well, obviously we decided that we would have to break the vow and make the mac any damn time we pleased down here. Our First Snow Mac & Cheese became White Winter Mac & Cheese (white because it refers to the snow of years past, and also because this recipe uses all white cheeses : chèvre, white cheddar, gruyere, and parmigiano reggiano).

I can’t emphasize this enough: this macaroni and cheese is amazing. It’s the best homemade mac & cheese recipe we have ever used. I originally found it on the lovely What We’re Eating, but over the years Dayna and I have tweaked it to our preferences. Feel free to do the same —amount of truffle oil, spice, types of mushrooms, and type of pasta can all be modified to your liking.

White Winter Truffled Mac & Cheese

in Cheese / Recipe / Veggie 1 comments

by hungry monster

Comfort Food Time: Creamy Veggie & Bean Soup with Homemade Rustic Rosemary Bread

Ok, y”all. Halloween is over. The election is over. It”s time to really delve into comfort foods like soup and bread. Or better yet, both. My house recently smelled like garlic and freshly baked bread for two days. Let”s face it–those are the best smells on earth.

I adore soup and just had to share this recipe; it”s soooo good, and healthy to boot. This is probably my favorite soup I”ve made so far! Make it, for realz.

Plus, a bonus bread recipe! I spoil you, so.

Creamy Veggie & Bean Soup

in Recipe / Veggie 0 comments

by hungry monster

Cooking with Love: Carla Hall's Rustic Mushroom Tart

Hey, guess what? I got an opportunity to review Carla Hall”s brand new cookbook, Cooking with Love: Comfort Food that Hugs You. I was obviously very excited. Thanks, ES!

I have been a fan of Carla Hall since her first season on Top Chef, Season 5. When she came back for All-Stars, I also enjoyed rooting her on. She has a southern style of cooking that focuses on comfort food and fine dining spins on classics. Plus, she has a super perky and positive personality, but not in an annoying sort of way. Like in a contagiously sunny kind of way.

This book has so many great recipes that I”ve bookmarked to try, like goat cheese grits and buffalo wing burgers (yum!) It also has some little anecdotes and tips from Carla. Carla was a caterer before she made it big and has some great tips about serving large groups, if you are into that kind of thing. If I had to give a constructive criticism about the book, it would be that I would like a picture for every recipe. That”s probably not doable to have so many photographs, but that”s what I like. Although the pictures that are already in the book are quite stunning.

All in all, I”d say everyone should definitely have this cookbook on their shelves. It”s pretty rockin”.

So, I decided to make the mushroom nbso tart recipe and it was pretty boss. Super easy and oh so tasty. I didn”t use a paddle attachment on a food processor , so my dough was a little more crumbly than hers appears. It was still really good, though.

You should make this and pop over to Amazon to preorder her book, which comes out November 6th.

Rustic Mushroom Tart from Cooking with Love

in Cheese / Rants & Raves / Recipe / Veggie 0 comments

by Emily

Top 10 New Foods at the 2012 State Fairs

Well, in regards to ridiculous overloads of novelty foods, it’s all downhill from here—state fair season is over for the year. We’ll have to wait for months before a stream of deep-fried, chocolate-covered, bacon-wrapped indulgences can once again make their appearance in our diets. In the meantime, let’s take a look at some of the most shocking new creations that made their debut onto the state fair food scene in 2012. Steel your arteries…

10. BIG Beef Rib – California State Fair

You’d think that a normal beef rib would contain enough animal flesh, but you would be wrong, and the California State Fair is here to prove it. They’ve jammed a giant 24-oz. steak ONTO a 17-inch beef rib bone. Why?! Because they can. (Photo: Cavegrrl.com)

9. Deep Fried Cotton Candy – Texas State Fair

We saw deep fried Kool-Aid and deep fried salsa at last year’s state fairs, so we should have known that cotton candy couldn’t be that far off. Pretty crazy, because it seems like the spun sugar would melt in the deep fryer. Life is full of mysteries. Not enough sweets for you? Don’t worry, this treat is served by a frozen yogurt purveyor, so feel free to use these giant balls of fried sugar as a topping on your froyo. (Photo: Cassie’s Frozen Yogurt)

8. Outlaw Stacker – Eastern Idaho State Fair

We all know that french fries are a great base for all kinds of toppings, and the Eastern Idaho State Fair really took that idea and ran with it. The Outlaw Stacker is a huge pile of fries smothered in gravy, bacon, and a fried egg. The name rings true—health and nutrition are truly outlawed in this dish. And we’re okay with that. (Photo: Eastern Idaho State Fair)

in Bacon / Cheese / Eggs / Featured / Food Travel / Lists / Photos / Pig / Red Meat / Top 10 Lists / Trends 0 comments

by BS

Pom Pom Party

I don’t know about ya’ll, but I am abostlutely incapable of spying something like this in the grocery store and not taking it home. I saw these fuzzy little guys at the food co-op and had to have ’em. What the hell is a pom pom mushroom, anyway? I had no idea, but that was completely beside the point. “$4 each — I hope they’re worth it,” the check-out girl said skeptically.

According to the Internet, these fluffy little buns have a hearty, slightly sweet taste and an almost meaty texture that makes them of good use as a veggie replacement for veal or lobster. They’re fragile and shouldn’t be washed or handled much; just sliced up and sautéed in butter for about five minutes.

Not wanting to get too crazy in my first go-around with pom poms, I followed directions and just cooked them up in butter for a few minutes, then added them to some leftover udon as such:

They are actually quite delicious, and certainly hearty, although a replacement for lobster is a pit of a stretch. I’d call the texture less meaty and more spongey — kind of like a tastier fried tofu, with a sweet, somewhat nutty flavor.

I’m curious — anyone else played with pom poms? What do you do with ’em?

in Veggie 1 comments

« Previous