From The Muse Kitchen: Stuffed Mushrooms

Yes, Please

Any other mushroom lovers out there?  They are one of my absolute favorites. They are always on the grocery list. They're a given.

In consideration of this fact, stuffed mushrooms are on of my go-to appetizers for gatherings.  Last week, I made them for my night out with the bookclub/champagne ladies. 

Now, it's hard to hold me down to one recipe. I don't even really 'have a recipe' because it's the kind of thing you can wing every time, using whatever you might have on hand, but there are a few things that I do like to put in them if I've got them: scallions and carrots for color, garlic for flavor, and non-fat yogurt to keep them moist.

Dry doesn't make for a very good stuffed mushroom. At least not in my book. I hate it when all the stuffing is falling apart when you're trying to eat them.

This time, I made them gluten free, which really is no big deal.  If you want to go the super easy route, just use an all veg stuffing- if you still want something to replace breadcrumbs you can use gluten free corn crumbs, or gluten free bread broken up and crumbled.  For this recipe though, I went with brown rice.

They were delicious.  Of course, as I said, I am rather partial to them though.

'This Time Around' Stuffed Mushrooms

2  8oz packages or 1  16 oz package of button  mushrooms
(with mostly medium to large mushrooms in package)

stems from mushrooms, chopped

1 medium carrot, chopped very small
(I do this with a knife so they are still a bit rough, but it can be done with a food processor)

4 scallions chopped small (including the greens for color)

1 cup of cooked brown rice (cooked according to directions, but using 2 1/4 cup of vegetable broth instead of water)

3- 4 oz of diced feta cheese

2 cloves of garlic, pressed or diced very small

1 tsp of fresh or dried rosemary
  

2 cloves of garlic, pressed or diced very small

1 tbs of melted butter

2 - 3 tbs of non-fat yogurt

preheat oven 350F

Clean mushrooms with a dry kitchen towel or paper towel, brushing away any dirt and gently breaking off stems.  Do not wash as it will make them soggy.  Set mushrooms aside. Cook rice in vegetable broth and set aside. Chop mushroom stems, carrots and scallions and place in mixing bowl. Add pressed garlic, rosemary, melted butter, yogurt and cooked rice.  Mix well.  Add feta and mix again.  Using teaspoon, press into cavity of each mushroom and place on baking sheet or in roasting pan with sides to keep them from moving around when putting in oven.  Place in oven and bake at 350F for 25-35 minutes.  Let cool 3 minutes, transfer to serving dish and serve hot.

 

As I said, I made these with what I happened to have on hand.  You can use whatever vegetable you have whether it's peppers, onions, or celery, etc. You can also change out the rosemary for a different herb or spice. Stuffed mushroom are as versatile as you want them to be.

Enjoy!


Snowed In

The snow is now literally over the top. We got even more snow starting yesterday afternoon into night.  We were supposed to get maybe 4 inches.

Try 12.

It was dumping for a few hours at about 2 inches an hour.  Dumping is what we call it around here, when the heavens open up and all you can see is snow.

So I thought I'd give you a peek at why cabin fever is starting to get the best of us in these parts.

In case you don't recognize them, that's our pool to the left, my patio table (which never made it to the basement) in the center, and our grill to the right.

Yeah. I know. We haven't been grilling too much this winter.

This is our cozy cottage looking west from one side of our driveway, after I finally dug the car out and moved it so our neighborfriend Tom could push some snow with his tractor.  That was after I had to climb through the passenger side of the car to push the driver's side door open because it was frozen shut.  The snow keeps coming so quick - storm upon storm, that we haven't even had time to rake the roof.

Thank God for neighborhoodlum Tom and his tractor. Truly. Thank you. This is out our side door this morning. I still haven't shoveled a path to the door yet. Poor Tom is starting to have a hard time lifting the snow any higher than it already is.

Tom plowed a path for Lucan, but he can't really go anywhere else at the moment.  The snow in the yard is up mid thigh on me, (and I know because I had to make my way through it this morning) so it's just too high for the old boy to climb through. Even Lucan looks like he has had enough.

Looking across to Tom and Joanie's pine trees toward sunset meadows.  That's how high the road embankments are at the moment.

Looking back across the street at our cozy cottage...................well, sort of.....since you can barely see it.

Our weathermen are getting ready to go on their own comedy tour.  They gently broke the news to us that we may get a couple more inches this evening.

We'll have to see about that. 

Reporting from The Bates Estate at Sunset Meadows...........I'm Pamela Bates. 

Make it a great day my friends, because it is indeed a great day to have.

Ciao for now,

No-Turkey-Overload Prosciutto Roll Ups

Happy Thanksgiving

If you're like our family, and somehow I suspect this is true the nation over, there is more than enough turkey for every one at the table.

There is no need for turkey before the main event, so instead, an easy little appetizer with no turkey in sight..........prosciutto roll ups.  They're a take on an old family favorite, ham rolls up, and brings the 70s appetizer right up to 2013.

1/2 pound of thinly sliced prosciutto
capers (approx 1/3 of a 3.5 oz jar)
whipped cream cheese (approx. half of a 12.5 oz container)

Cut slices of prosciutto in half lengthways. Put generous dollop of whipped cream cheese at one end and roll. Dip one end into capers. Put a toothpick in it for easy eating.



It doesn't get easier than that.  Easy to remember and easy to put together. All around, a great recipe for the holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving!  Enjoy your holiday.

Ciao for now,

Ooey Gooey Yumminess

Bread & Cheese. Does It Get Better?

Friday night I put my apron on. Don't ask me what possessed me to bake homemade bread. On second thought, go ahead and ask. It's pretty simple really, a melted mozzarella and mushroom recipe I found on pinterest, that's what.  I mean, sure, I could have bought some bread, but I'd been wanting to give Jamie Oliver's bread recipe another try. I figure, I'm not going to get any better at this baking thing without practicing, right? Please note, I baked bread, not cake. That my dears, will take loads more practice to go beyond the boundaries of my one successful cake recipe.  Back to the bread. I've baked Jamie's recipe a few times now. The first time, I forgot to split it into loaves and it baked the biggest loaf of bread you have ever seen.  Seriously. It was a big as a Thanksgiving Turkey. It still tasted divine.

Jamie's recipe is straightforward. In fact the whole cookbook, 'Happy Days with the Naked Chef' is.

Here's the basic recipe for the bread:

just over 2lb (6-8cups) of white bread flour

just over 2 cups tepid water

1 oz fresh yeast OR three 1/4oz packets active dry yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

2 lever tsp salt

extra flour for dusting

Step One: Make a well.

Pile flour on clean surface and make a large well in center. Pour half of your water into the well, then add your yeast, sugar, salt and stir (the stuff in the well) with a fork.

Step Two: Getting it together.

"Slowly, but confidently, bring in the flour from the inside of the well (don't break the walls of the well or water will go everywhere).  Continue to bring to center until you have a stodgy, porridgy consistency. Then add remaining water. Continue to mix until it's thick again and then you can get more 'aggressive' bringing in flour, and making less sticky. Flour your hands and pat and push the dough together with remaining flour.

Stage Three: Kneading

As Jamie says, "this is where you get 'stuck in'." Use elbow grease and knead the ball- pushing, folding, slapping and rolling for about 4-5 minutes until you have a silky elastic dough.

Stage 4: First Rise

Flour top of dough and put in bowl (I lightly dusted my bowl with flour), cover with plastic wrap (I used a tea towel) and allow to rise for half an hour- preferably in a warm, draft free spot.

Stage 5: Second Rise

Once dough has doubled in size, knock the air out of it by 'bashing and squashing' it. Now you can shape it or flavor it (if adding herbs, etc....there are several recipes Jamie uses the basic bread mix for....focaccia, french loaves, calzones, etc.). I shaped mine into two long french loaves, and two round loaves.  Then place in warm spot again and let rise - 30 minutes to an hour, until they double in size again. This will give it the air the bread needs so it's light and soft. Note from Jamie: don't fiddle with it, just let it do it's thing.

When done rising, place on floured cookie sheet and bake in preheated 350f degree oven for 30 minutes.

Ah yes, the smell of baking bread. Heavenly.

Viola.

At this point, every good baker knows you must try a piece to make sure it is done sufficiently. The aforementioned piece must be lathered with butter.  It's written in the law. What? Are you questioning me?

Yup. It's good. We can move onto the next part of this recipe.

What you will need for this recipe from donna hay (and tweaked by me) is the following:

Olive oil

rosemary sprigs & sage sprigs

sliced bread (good thing I just baked some)- 8+ slices of baguette

mozzarella (buffalo if you can get- not always so easy for me to find, so we had used regular mozz)

2 cloves of garlic

2 tbs butter

8 oz of mushrooms (original recipe called for Pine mushrooms, which I've never heard of let alone see) I went with Baby Bellas because that's what my store had, though I think a mix of bellas and some earth porcini would be divine

see salt, cracked pepper

dash of wine

*oven safe saute/fry pan

In sauteed pan heat olive oil, add pats of butter.  Lay sliced bread in pan in one layer and toast, flipping to brown both sides.  Set bread aside on some paper towel to remove some of the oil. 

Once bread is removed, add to pan, sprigs of rosemary and sage. Let it do it's thing for a minute.

Then add the sliced mushrooms.

Let mushrooms saute for a couple of minutes.

Top mixture with slices of mozzarella.

Cook on stove top for a minute or two until cheese begins to melt.  I also added a dash of white wine at this point just for a little pizazz.  Then pop under broiler for a couple of minutes until it starts to bubble and brown.

Oh yeah. You know what's coming. Take out of oven, and serve with slices bread.  Lordy, lordy, lordy. That's all I have to say.

OK, maybe not. I have something else to say. Mmmmm,mmmmm, mmmmmm, mmmmmm, mmmmmm.

And one more thing.

YUM.

Take a piece of bread, drag some melty mozzarella and mushrooms on top and dive in.

It's a keeper. It's easy and delicious. Of course, you can forgo the home baked bread, get some at the store and it will be all-the-sooner that you'll be enjoying some of the ooey gooey yumminess.

Four thumbs up, because that's all we've got. What can I say, three of my very favorite things, cheese....mushrooms......home baked bread.....Heavenly. 

CyberMonday

So, did you do any shopping this weekend? I can't say I'm a huge shopper to begin with, at least not in the traditional sense of the phrase. You will never find me out on Black Friday beating my way through crowds to get the best deal on an iPad. Just not going to happen. Ever. That said, I know many people are all over Black Friday, Small Business Saturday (Yay!!!) and Cyber Monday, so we've had a sale going on all weekend. It's still running so stop by Bates Mercantile Co. while you can save. Enter thankyou20 coupon code at checkout and receive 20% off any print, photograph, calendar or stationery through the end of today. 

via Bates Mercantile Co.

If you're a shop owner and you're also running a sale, stop by our facebook page, join the other shops linking up and spread the word. Share your sale and a link to your shop in Cyber Monday Meet Up!

Just had my order of inks deliver, which means I can run some prints that need to go out. Check that off the list.

Ciao for now,