Mango & Tomato

10/12/09

Mushroom & Ricotta Filled Phyllo

Happy Monday! It's especially happy for me because I have a day off :)

Here is the 2nd to the last mushroom recipe using Marx Foods mushrooms. I had some phyllo in the freezer and decided to make phyllo filled mushroom appetizers. Of course you can eat them as a meal with a salad as well. Hope you enjoy these.

Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 large onion, finely diced
5 cups sliced mushrooms
salt & pepper
1/4 cup white wine
6 thyme sprigs
1/2 cup ricotta
1/2 c Parmesan
phyllo dough
olive oil spray

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Add onions and cook till translucent.
3. Add mushrooms, salt & pepper, thyme and wine and cook till everything is tender. Remove the thyme sprigs.
4. Let the mixture cool. Add ricotta and Parmesan. Mix. Taste for seasoning.
5. Layer 3 sheets of phyllo dough on top of one another spraying with olive oil spray in between. Then using the same technique for making spanakopita, make little triangles. Alternatively, just make cigar shaped pastry.
6. Spray the finished product with a bit more oil and bake for 15 minutes.
7. Let cool a bit before eating.

What's left? I made mushroom soup over the weekend and will be posting it later this week.

10/9/09

Spaghetti with Mushrooms, Leeks & Parmesan

This recipe is inspired by Simone, who has a gorgeous blog called Junglefrog Cooking. She recommended I make a pasta dish with all the mushrooms I won from Marx Foods. Here's my adaptation of her original recipe.

Spaghetti with Mushrooms, Leeks & Parmesan

Ingredients

8 ounces spaghetti, cooked according to the package instructions [I broke my spaghetti in half before cooking to make the eating process easier]

olive oil

2 leeks, white parts only, halved, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, sliced

4 cups sliced mushrooms (choose whichever kind you like or have available)

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 cup white wine

1/4 cup cream

1/4 cup Parmesan

garnish: toasted pecans, fresh mint, Parmesan

Directions

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add leeks and garlic and cook for 7 minutes.

2. Add mushrooms, red pepper flakes, salt & pepper and saute for 10 minutes.

3. Add white wine and let it cook out.

4. Add in cooked pasta, cream and Parmesan cheese and cook for two minutes.

5. Serve garnished with toasted pecans, fresh mint and more Parmesan.

This pasta dish was incredibly easy to prepare and had great bold flavors. I decided to use mint very last minute, but it actually went great with the cheese, cream and the mushrooms.

The dish re-heated well as leftovers, which is a big thing in my book! I hope you give this a try. I'm also going to submit it to Marx Foods recipe contest...more on this later.

10/7/09

Chanterelle Omelet

Morning.

Here's the first out of at least 3 recipes that I made using the mushrooms so kindly sent to me by Marx Foods in Seattle. I made this omelet Saturday morning using the beautiful orange chanterelles. Of course this "recipe" can be made with any mushrooms you have on hand.

Note: the white cup and the black plate you see in this post are my latest dishes purchased from World Market. I'll try to take individual photos of them, but I just loved the white/black contrast.

Chanterelle Omelet
Ingredients for 1 omelet

2 teaspoons of olive oil (or about that amount...I don't really measure the oil)
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
1 cup chanterelle caps, halved (I saved the stems to make vegetable broth)
2 eggs whisked with a bit of water or milk
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
Hawaiian pink salt (also, courtesy of Marx Foods!)

Directions

1. Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Add shallots and saute for a few minutes.

2. Add mushrooms and saute till they are golden brown.

3. Season the egg/water mixture with salt, mix in thyme and pour over the shallot/mushroom mixture. Let it set.

4. Once the eggs are set, slide the omelet on a plate. Add a bit more oil to the pan and then very carefully flip the omelet back into the pan. Let it cook for a few more minutes, and it's done.

5. I served the omelet folded, but you can do whatever you want.

Of course you can add other flavors to this breakfast dish (cheese, for example), but I really wanted the mushrooms to be the star!

10/6/09

Mushroom Bounty

When I was a little girl, my family and I often went mushroom picking. My parents would then marinate those mushrooms, dry them, make soups out of them or just saute them with onions and serve them over potatoes. What can I say? I love mushrooms.

Imagine my insane excitement, then, when I found out that I was the lucky random winner of four pounds of mushrooms from Marx Foods! Last Friday, I had a big box of mushroom goodness sitting and waiting for me by my door (I was so relieved my neighbors are honorable people and did not take possession of my box).

The box included 2 pounds of wild golden chanterelle mushrooms and a 2 pound fresh organic sampler. Let me just say that I don't think I've had chanterelle mushrooms in nearly 16 years! In Russia we call these mushrooms "little foxes" because of their beautiful orange color.

Above is a collage of the mushrooms I've received. Included: chanterelle, enoki, maitake, portabella and oyster mushrooms.

Friday night I sauteed some chanterelle mushrooms with onions and potatoes and added some garbanzo beans for a filling vegetarian meal. Over the weekend I made a mushroom omelet, mushroom pasta and mushroom filled phyllo dough. Stay tuned for these recipes, which I'll be posting later this week.

Meanwhile, here are some recipes you can make with mushrooms: polenta with mushrooms, bacon and onions; potato and mushroom potstickers and fried vegetable wontons.

Thank you again, Justin and Katy, from Marx Foods.

10/5/09

How To Make Biscotti at Home

I wrote this recipe post originally for Robyn Webb's You Can Eat That Blog, but wanted to share it with you as well. Enjoy!

How many of you have purchased already baked biscotti at your local grocery stores and specialty coffee houses? Did you know that biscotti (twice baked cookies) are actually very easy to make at home? The added bonus of making biscotti at home is that you are not only saving money, but you can also control what ingredients end up in the final product. Robyn gave me a basic recipe for biscotti, which I adapted to include crystallized ginger, pistachio nuts and orange zest.

Crystallized Ginger & Pistachio Biscotti (Cantuccini)

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups pistachio nuts, shelled, chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
zest of one orange
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions
1. Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.

2. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and orange zest and stir well to mix. Stir in the nuts and crystallized ginger.

3. In another bowl, whisk the eggs and the vanilla extract. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until a stiff dough is formed.

4. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half. Roll each half into a cylinder, just a bit shorter than the baking sheet. Place the dough onto the baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Press down gently with the palm of your hand to flatten the logs.

5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until they feel firm to the touch. Place on a rack and let cool.

6. Once the logs have cooled, slice each log into diagonally cut pieces about 1/3 inch thick.

7. Arrange the cantuccini cookies on prepared pans, cut side down. Bake the cookies for about 15-25 minutes until well toasted. Cool completely.

Variations: Don't think you'll like crystallized ginger? No problem! You can leave it out and add finely chopped dried apricots instead. Feel free to also use any kind of nut you prefer. For example, you can make biscotti with almonds and cinnamon, or hazelnuts and cocoa powder. My other favorite combination is orange zest and cranberries.

Have you made biscotti? If so, what add-ons did you use?

Buy a Pie for a Good Cause!

Hi, Everyone.
I wanted to pass this along (especially to those of you who live in DC area). This announcement comes from my fellow food blogger and friend Lisa. Please read and help if you can!

Dear Friend,
Even though we just saw the end of summer and the fall season is just beginning, I have already started to think about how to make a difference in the lives of those in need this season. This Thanksgiving, by working together, you and I have the opportunity to put nutritious meals on the tables of thousands in need just by purchasing your Holiday pies from Food & Friends.

Food & Friends is selling Harvest Apple Crumb, Picture Perfect Pumpkin and Oh So Sweet Potato for $25 each, and Southern Pecan and Creamy Chocolate Cheesecake for $35 each. Each pie you purchase will directly impact the lives of children and adults facing HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-challenging illnesses. Unfortunately, this is becoming more and more common in our daily lives.

I have committed to being a Sales Captain for Slice of Life this year and need your help to ensure that it is a success. There are multiple ways in which you can get involved:

PURCHASE PIES for yourself, or as gifts for friends, family, clients or colleagues. You can also purchase the pies which Food & Friends’ clients will receive with their Thanksgiving dinner. It's easy with an online form or you can go directly through me. I can take care of it all.

JOIN ME & HELP PROMOTE SLICE OF LIFE! Send an email to your friends and family asking them to support our team’s efforts to make a difference in the lives of our neighbors in need.

MAKE A DONATION. Every penny counts this season.

To Purchase Your Pies & Join the Team, visit
www.foodandfriends.org/pie and Select Dining in DC Unites Food Bloggers for a Cause.

Food & Friends home-delivers specialized meals and provides nutrition services to men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-challenging illnesses. Services are free of charge and offered to individuals who qualify on their health need alone. Since their beginning in 1988, thanks to the help of generous donors like you, Food & Friends has delivered more than 11 million meals to more than 18,000 individuals.

If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know. Thank you for joining me, and Food & Friends, in the fight against HIV/AIDS, cancer and the other life-challenging illnesses that grip our community.

Thank you,
Best regards,
Lisa Shapiro
Dining in DC

10/2/09

Roasted Acorn Squash Soup

Fall is here, which means it's time for squash, soups, sweaters and knee-high boots. Since this is a food blog, I'll concentrate on squash and soup.

Harris Teeter had a special on winter squash last week: 99 cents/pound. Unfortunately, when I went to the store, there was only acorn squash left. Having never cooked with this particular type of squash, I decided to give it at try. As you can see, it looks exactly like an acorn--thus, the name.

My first idea was to roast the squash. But first, I had to open it. To the rescue came my favorite chef's knife: it was sharp enough to split the acorn squash in two (from top to bottom). I must confess, I had visions of accidentally slicing off a few of my fingers, but luckily, I still have all ten digits.
What I decided to make was a Roasted Acorn Squash Soup.

Ingredients for 4 cups
1/2 acorn squash, seeds removed
1 yellow pepper, halved, seeds removed
1/2 red onion
1 pear, halved, seeds removed
2/3 cups orange juice
a few pinches cayenne, more/less depending on your tolerance
fresh thyme to garnish
salt & pepper to taste

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. On a parchment paper covered cookie sheet put face down acorn squash, pear, onion, and yellow pepper. (Although I used only 1/2 of each acorn squash and red onion, I roasted the other halves as well). Roast for about 40 minutes.
3. Once the vegetables are roasted and slightly cooled, in a food processor puree 1/2 red onion, 1 pear, the yellow pepper and 1/2 acorn squash (skin removed) with the orange juice, cayenne and salt & pepper to taste.
4. Serve in soup bowls garnished with fresh thyme.

Confession time: I did not love this soup. I think the pear made the soup too sweet. Plus, since I did not have chicken or vegetable broth (and did not want to use water), the soup came out even sweeter than I expected. I tried to remedy things by drizzling the soup with olive oil and a bit of balsamic, but it just did not do the trick for me.

However, I know many of you actually like sweeter tasting soups, and so I'd encourage you to try this recipe. Next time, I'm going to omit the pear and the orange juice and let the squash, the pepper and the red onion shine.

What fall season things have you been cooking in your kichen?

10/1/09

What is this? And a few random things

More than a month ago, I decided to be slightly adventurous and buy a prickly pear at the grocery store.

It stayed on my counter for a few days, then moved into the refrigerator. Somehow, my earlier excitement of trying this exotic fruit, has all but disappeared.

Then this weekend, I finally decided to give this fruit a taste. I carefully washed the prickly pear and then sliced it in half.

Gross! Seriously, the inside was so unappetizing. There were these big seeds and mucus-like substance, and then the green flesh.

After taking a few photographs to document the fruit, I decided to be brave and give it a taste. To me, the seeds are quite inedible. The green flesh tasted like an under ripe green melon. Needless to say, I'm not a fan of prickly pears.

Have any of you ever tried prickly pears? How did you eat them? What did you think?

In other news:

1) I finally joined Twitter! (no, Facebook is not to follow) This will be mainly for the food-related news. Would you like to follow me?

2) I've entered yet another contest. This one is for bread, and all you have to do is go to this link and click on my Tri Color Cornbread recipe: yes, it's this simple! Thanks!

3) Stay tune for an amazing way to support my friend Lisa and to help fight hunger.

9/29/09

Roasted Brunch Potatoes

Yesterday I promised to share with you my recipe for Roasted Brunch Potatoes. Of course, these potatoes are perfectly good for any meal: breakfast, lunch or dinner. In fact, they can be served hot, at room temperature of even cold!

Ingredients for 4-6 servings
8 Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed, cut into bite-size pieces (no need to peel!)
1 green pepper, cut into 3rds, seeds removed and then each piece cut into 3rds again
1 red pepper, cut into 3rds, seeds removed and then each piece cut into 3rds again
1 large red onion, peeled, cut into large chunks
olive oil
salt

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 450
2. Combine all vegetables in a large bowl, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt, mix
3. Roast the vegetables for about 55 minutes, turning them occasionally
4. Serve with a poached egg on top, or just on their own, or with ketchup, or with chicken: you get the idea!

Note: ideally, you want to roast the vegetables in one layer, but my Pyrex dish wasn't large enough. It still worked!

The red onions become caramelized and sweet after the roasting process, as do the peppers. Make sure your potatoes are perfectly cooked through and have a golden brown crust on the outside.

You can make this dish with an addition of cubed zucchini, red pepper flakes and lemon juice. Hope you will give this a try and love it as much as I did.

9/28/09

Brunch Time!

Friday was my friend Radha's birthday, and in lieu of a gift, I offered to make her a Saturday brunch. She was happy to accept! I asked our other friend, Jenn, to be my co-pilot :)

I wanted the brunch to be casual, fun and include good but not fussy food. Here's a photograph of the table prior to the food: I used different colored plates, martini glasses, bowls and tall drinking glasses. For the center piece, I bought bright pink gerber daisies and mums in white and purple.

On the menu:

1) Smoked salmon with thyme cream cheese (I simply added fresh thyme to cream cheese and mixed it all together...I was going to use dill originally, but the store didn't have it), sliced cucumbers and tomatoes on a sliced French baguette

2) Roasted brunch potatoes (I will be posting a full recipe later this week)

3) Jenn's amazing fruit salad (Jenn seriously bought pretty much every single fruit imaginable--watermelon, apples, mangoes, pineapple, strawberries, kiwis, grapes, blueberries, raspberries and bananas--we mixed everything together other than bananas and grapes)

4) Drinks courtesy of Jenn: orange/mango/peach juice mixed with one of those fuzzy Italian sodas and topped with a few raspberries and blueberries: delicious!

Roasted Brunch Potatoes

Jenn's Amazing Fruit Salad

Here is the table with all the food and drinks! I also gave Jenn and Radha a lesson on how to make poached eggs (the eggs went on top of the roasted brunch potatoes).

There was plenty of food, girl talk and fun. In fact, after drinking and eating, we all took a 2 hour nap! I'm not sure what that says about my hosting skills :)

After the nap we devoured the fruit salad topped with home-made whipping cream and also baked biscotti (I will be posting those on Robyn's blog on Thursday. For those of you who just can't wait, they were made with crystallized ginger, pistachios and orange zest).

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