Roasted Mushrooms on Creamy Pasta

Tags

mushrooms, pasta, savory, Vegetarian

I do not have many dietary restrictions.  I am not against eating animals.  I like to try weird, or crazy sounding things.  And I love vegetarian food.  I regularly eat vegetarian meals.  I am no stranger to tofu (in fact, I make it regularly) and paneer is one of my favorite foods.  So, I’m not quite sure why I don’t post more of my vegetarian recipes.  One of my new year’s resolutions will be to get better at that, especially for all my vegetarian friends out there.

If you are not a fan of vegetarian food, you just haven’t had any good vegetarian food yet.  For all of you out there sneering at the idea of eating tofu or jeering at the thought of an entree that doesn’t bleed, lower those noses! Good vegetarian food is hearty and savory.  In fact, I challenge you to think of how many things you eat regularly that are already vegetarian.  I bet you would be surprised.  I like to tout eating vegetarian at least one day a week, mainly because Americans eat WAY more meat than we need or should.  Not only does this have implications for our own culture and way of life, but also for the rest of the world.  If you don’t believe me, just read some Michael Pollan.  But if you don’t care about that, eating vegetarian once or twice a week can also help your health.

At least, in theory.  But if that’s what you’re doing . . . Don’t start with this dish.  :)

I had bought a box of baby bella mushrooms a little while ago and they were sitting in the refrigerator just waiting to go bad.  Rather than having that happen, I decided to create something delicious with them.

I have always wanted to roast mushrooms.  I never used to like them, but I’ve become more accustomed to them now (and quite fond of wild mushrooms).  I think properly roasting anything makes it taste amazing, so I thought for sure that roasting these lovely little mushrooms would bring out the earthy goodness of them.  It did.  However, there is one simple rule to preparing good roasted mushrooms.  Make sure your mushrooms are clean.  Whatever you do, do NOT submerge your mushrooms in water.  That can damage their delicate form and make them mushy when cooked.  Simply wipe them off with a damp cloth or paper towel.

Roasted Mushrooms on Creamy Pasta

For the mushrooms, adapted from the awesome Smitten Kitchen,

1 pound of your favorite mushrooms
3 large garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle. Toss mushrooms with capers, garlic, oil, 1/8 teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper in a 1 1/2- to 2-qt shallow baking dish. Top with butter and roast, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender and golden and bubbly garlic sauce forms below, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and parsley.

For the pasta sauce, this is a classic cream sauce with cheese that you can find right here on Delectable Endeavors!  You can add any kind of cheese you would like.  I used parmesan for this and it was lovely.

Soft Pretzel Bites

Tags

appetizers, bites, pretzel, pretzel bites, savory, snacks

Ever since I moved to Wisconsin, my intake of beer, brats and cheese has skyrocketed.  I think it is inevitable in a place where sausages, cheese and microbrews are the pride of the land.  And it shows.  They are everywhere, fragrant and delicious.  And affordable.  So. . . darn . . . affordable.  It will be the death of me, surely.

And what goes better with beer, brats and cheese?  Pretzels, of course!  Salty, soft, warm pretzels.  These are a delicious snack for a party, of just pigging out at home with your favorite extra sharp cheddar and New Glarus ale.  That is usually what I do.  Did I mentioned I started running again?  :)

Whether or not you plan to share these or enjoy them all yourself, I highly advise making them.  I can’t tell you from experience because my husband made them, but he made it look super easy.

No tips for this recipe, except that it sounds totally crazy to boil the bites in 2/3 cup of baking soda and water, but it works some sort of magic, because they were soft and pillowy on the inside.  I’m sure there is some sort of science behind this, but I don’t know what it is.  (message me if you know!)  And just for your enjoyment, a picture of my hubby leisurely reading The Hunger Games while he bakes these in our minuscule kitchen.

I got these from What’s Gaby Cooking

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

2 tbsp light brown sugar

1 1/2 cups warm water

5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

2 1/2 tsp salt

4 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour

Vegetable Oil, for the bowl

10 cups water

2/3 cup baking soda

1 egg yolk

splash of water

coarse sea salt

Combine the yeast, brown sugar and warm water in a mixer bowl fitted with a dough hook attachment. Let it sit for 5 minutes until the yeast gets foamy.

Once foamy, add melted butter and salt to the mixture and combine by turning mixer on a low setting. Add flour while the dough hook is rotating and mix until the dough has formed a large mass.

If you want to make the dough ahead of time, store it in the refrigerator before you let it rest and raise.  You can remove it from the fridge when you are ready and let is raise at room temperature.  If you are ready to make the pretzel bites now, remove dough from bowl and let rest in an oiled bowl for an hour, covered with a kitchen towel.  It should nearly double in size.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Place a large pot with 10 cups water on the stove and bring to a boil. Add the baking soda. The water WILL bubble up.  This is normal.  Remove the dough from the bowl and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope about 14 inches long. Cut the rope of dough into little bite sizes pieces about 1 inch long.

Using a slotted spoon, add about 20 to the boiling water at a time. Once they rise to the top of the water, about 30 seconds, remove with your slotted spoon to a paper towel to dry. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough. Transfer the bites to parchment lined baking sheets or a silicone baking sheet.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and a splash of water. Brush the tops of each pretzel bite with the egg wash and sprinkle with coarse salt. Transfer to the oven and bake until golden brown, about 10-16 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving.

Roast Chicken with Vegetables

There are some dishes that coalesce in the perfect trifecta: comforting, simple, and delicious.  Roasted chicken is one of these dishes.  In fact, there is an article that advocated making a roast chicken for lunch and changed my mind about undertaking the cooking of an entire chicken.

Roasting a whole chicken can sound intimidating, but it is actually incredibly easy.  And I know I say that a lot, so let me clarify – roasting a chicken is mind-numbingly easy.  It is so easy, you could teach your 10 year-old how to do it.  No lie.  My husband and I have roasted a whole chicken many times and there have been many incidents (ie: forgot we had it in the oven, had heat on the wrong setting) where the chicken *could* have been ruined, and almost every time, it turned out completely fine.  The only real trick is making sure you don’t over cook the chicken so you end up with dry, tasteless meat (this is where a meat thermometer comes in handy).

Carving a whole chicken can be trickier than actually cooking it.  I recommend this video to see how it is done.  My husband has become our household carver, so I usually defer to him on this task.  The nice part about this recipe is that is it calls for a chicken that is already broken down, so you can buy whatever type of meat you like best and don’t have to worry about carving.  You can do this by buying a whole chicken from your local butcher and have them cut it up for you, or buy the pieces you prefer already cut up.

Kayotic Kay has such a wonderful way of explaining things, I won’t even try to imitate her, but you can find her recipe here.  Oh and don’t leave out the whole roasted garlic.  Oh, delicious, roasted, garlic.

Mini Chimichangas

I like Mexican food, but let met tell you I was slightly suspicious when I saw this recipe. First, I should clarify.  Tex Mex food.  Most chimichangas are lots of fried tortilla and not as much delicious filling.  Plus, they seem a little complicated to make.  Lots of frying (which I don’t love doing) – all that hot oil.  Usually when I fry, I simply try not to start my apron on fire.  (successful . . . so far)

Well, these chimichangas are exactly what to expect from one of my favorite food bloggers – Spoon Fork Bacon.  They are deliciously crispy with a wonderfully melty filling.  The filling is really the star.  And the dipping sauce is a lovely addition.  You surely won’t be missing those oily, doughy versions of chimichangas.

These are the perfect little pocket of goodness for any event.  I made these for a get together with friends and they were a hit!  My friends especially loved the dipping sauce.  They are easily made vegetarian, too.  Just substitute chicken for beans or your other favorite vegetable.

From Spoon Fork Bacon

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ red onion, diced
½ pepper, seeded and diced (Spoon, Fork, Bacon suggests poblanos.  I used green pepper and it was still great)
3/4 cup frozen corn
2 medium, cooked chicken breasts, shredded
¼ cup prepared salsa (of your choice)
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
salt and pepper to taste

16 (5 inch) flour tortillas
2 quarts vegetable oil for frying

sriracha dipping sauce:
½ cup sour cream
2 tablespoons Sriracha
1 lime, zested and juiced
¼ teaspoon salt

Preheat oil to 375°F.  Pour olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Sauté garlic, onion and pepper for 4 to 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add corn kernels and continue to sauté for 3 minutes.

Pour mixture over chicken and toss together.  Add the prepared salsa and cheese and fold together until fully incorporated.  Season with salt and pepper.

Place a small amount of the filling into the center of each tortilla and fold up like a burrito and place onto a baking sheet, seam side down.  Holding the chimichangas together with tongs, carefully place and hold in the oil, for 2 minutes. Gently release the chimichanga from the tongs and continue to fry for 3 to 5 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

For sauce: Place the ingredients into a small bowl and whisk together until fully incorporated. Serve with hot chimichangas.

Homemade Oreos

Tags

cookies, Dessert, oreos, sandwich cookies

Slightly belated for Valentine’s day, I wanted to share with all of you the most wonderful recipe that no one can resist.  Homemade Oreos.

This recipe has been in the back of my mind for a while.  It has made the rounds of food blogs, and it seems everyone is making them now.  I can tell you why now.

These. Are. Amazing.  And dare I say . . . BETTER than actual Oreos *gasp*.  I know.  Why better?  Because, they have a nice homemade crunch without all the crazy unintelligible chemical ingredients.  Soy lecithin?  What?  Why do I need that in my cookie?

Plus, they are much easier to make than I anticipated.  I know I say that a lot in this blog, but part of the reason I stared at this recipe for about a year and a half is that I kept thinking about all the work involved in making a homemade sandwich cookie.  First you have to make the cookie.  Then you have to concoct some sort of filling.  I mean, its double the dishes.  And I’m not one for a ton of work.

There are two steps to this cookie.  I made them on two different days, which was totally fine and helps save on clean up.  I got a little nervous when the cookies were in the oven, thinking they looked a little too fluffy when cooking.  But sure enough, the deflate and turn into the perfect little wafer right before you take them out of the oven. I was concerned about the (very) short time frame between cookies-too-soft-they-fall-apart and burnt with these types of wafers, but the time frame in the recipe is spot on.

The chocolate wafers are a deep, chocolaty flavor with just a hint of sweetness.  The filling nicely compliments the wafers with a sweet vanilla creaminess.  Mmmm.  This might be my new favorite cookie.

A couple of recipe notes.  I always use unsalted butter.  You can always add salt to a dish, but you can’t take it out.  I don’t like to over-salt my food.  Also, the original recipe called for 1 to 1 1/2 cups of sugar for the wafers.  I split the difference and used 1 1/4 cups, which I thought was perfect.

From Smitten Kitchen

Cookie wafers

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature
1 large egg

Filling

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Preheat oven to 375°F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. On low speed, add the butter, and then the egg until a dough forms and mixture begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

With moistened hands, form 1 inch balls and place approximately two inches apart on parchment then, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.

To make the filling, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.

To assemble the cookies, spoon or pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. I don’t have a pastry bag, so I do this by filling a plastic zip bag and cutting off the corner.