Category: Recipes

Portabella and Cheese “Burgers” on focaccia

Portabella, tomato and basil focaccia burgerThese Portabella and Halloumi “Burgers” looked really good, but I wasn’t able to find Halloumi cheese, which is apparently a cheese that can be grilled on its own…Plus I had a craving for some focaccia. I made the focaccia recipe many years ago when it came out in Fine Cooking, and it is really good…though I had forgotten how long it takes. I was able to squeeze it into a day in the fridge, and one evening after work letting it warm up, rest a bit and cook, but it probably could have used more time to rest (the recipe calls for about 5hrs between taking it out of the fridge and cooking it!). But, it was still really good.

 

For the burgers we used:

  • 4 Portabella mushrooms
  • 3 1/2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
  • 2 Tbs olive oil
  • Tomato slices
  • Basil leaves
  • We topped it with either some smoked gouda or feta cheese (didn’t have enough gouda for everyone)

Bee-Bim Bop

Bee-Bim-Bop, Bip Bim Bap, Bibimbap…Maybe there is a difference, but they all seem to be a tasty mix of veggies, especially cabbage, meat and eggs. I had originally planned on using this which more a guideline than a recipe, but we also had the recipe from the Bee-Bim Bop book our youngest read in class. We also couldn’t find any safe Hoisin sauce, so we made something with soy sauce, molasses, sugar and corn starch…

As we tend to do, we made a bit of a mashup and came up with a yummy meal.

B.B.B.

  • ~1 lb Skirt steak
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 3 Tbs soy sauce
  • 2 Tbs molasses
  • 1 Tbs sugar
  • 1 Tbs corn starch
  • rice wine vinegar
  • 2 Tbs Olive oil
  • 2 eggs beaten
  • 2-3 green onions sliced
  • 1/2 cabbage sliced
  • 2 carrots sliced
  • 2 cups bean sprouts
  • Handfull or two of spinach
  • rice cooked
  • sriracha sauce

In a large bowl mix the ingredients from garlic through vinegar. Grill the steak a few minutes on each side until cooked as desired. Slice across the grain into bite sized pieces. Add the steak to the sauce in the bowl while it is still warm and set aside.

Add 1 Tbs oil to a pan and heat over medium heat. Cook the egg like an omelet. When it’s cooked through remove from the pan and slice into strips.

Add the other Tbs oil to a pan and heat over med-high heat. Add the green onions and then cabbage and stir fry. Add the carrots and cook for a bit. Add the bean sprouts and cook stirring. Add the meat with the sauce and cook until the sauce has thickened a bit.

Serve over rice with sriracha sauce.

Butternut Squash and Bacon Quiche

Oh my…Anne’s recipe for butternut squash and bacon quiche was great! I just had the last remaining piece for lunch and it is yummy goodness. It did take a while to prepare and cook, but it is worth the wait.

For future reference and those without a scale the 180g of flour was about 1 cup each. The crust was great even though I made it in the morning and left it in the fridge all day…took some work to roll out…We only used about half of the feta and parmesan that the recipe called for, it didn’t seem like the full amount would fit in the pie pan we used.

Pumpkin scones

Today is my wife’s birthday, and was looking for something a little special to make for breakfast. After visiting a certain coffee establishment yesterday I was craving pumpkin scones. While there are plenty of recipes that try to mimic theirs, I fond a few that looked even better. The one I settled on was from Bodacious Girl‘s blog. I made a few modifications, partially because I didn’t have cream cheese or buttermilk on hand. We skipped the chocolate glaze, though that does look yummy…and sugar coma inducing.We also had some truffles from a neighbor that we sliced on top of scrambled eggs and made a nice fruit salad.

Pumpkin Maple Scones (modified from Bodacious Girl)Pumpkin scone

  • 1 1/2 cups white flour (we use white whole wheat)
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 2 Tbs sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking sode
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp allspice
  • 1/4 tsp powdered ginger
  • 6 Tbs cold butter
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375˚.

Mix together the pumpkin puree, cream, lemon juice, maple syrup, and vanilla and place in freezer.

In a large bowl mix together the dry ingredients. With a pastry blender, cut in the butter until it is coarse crumbs.

Pour in the wet ingredients and mix as little as possible to blend. The last part of mixing is best done with your hands in the bowl, gathering it all into a ball. Place the ball on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Pat out into a disc 1 1/2 in thick. Cut into 8 pieces and move them around on the sheet to spread out.

Bake 15-20 minutes.

 

 

Baked bean, veggie, sausage and cornbread casserole

Baked bean, veggie, sausage cornbread casseroleI was looking around the web for something like this and found a few similar recipes, but most used hotdogs and none had any veggies in them. So I came up with this…turned out quite well.

 

  • 4 sausages sliced into rounds, I used tomato basil chicken sausages
  • 1 zucchini, diced
  • 1 green bell pepper, diced
  • 1 large can baked beans
  • 1 can corn

For the Cornbread topping:The cornbread batter

  • 1 cup corn meal
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1-2 Tbs sugar
  • 1 Tbs baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 Tbs oil
  • 1 1/4 cup milk

Ready for the cornbread toppingPreheat oven to 400F. In a large dutch oven, saute the sausage until cooked through (if not already fully cooked) and starting to brown.  Add the zucchini and green pepper and cook a few minutes longer. Add the can of baked beans and about 1/2 the can of corn. Stir everything together.

In a bowl mix the dry ingredients for the cornbread. Add the wet ingredients and the other half of the can of corn. Mix the cornbread batter and pour on top of the sausage, bean and veggie mixture. Put in the oven and bake until the cornbread topping is cooked through, about 40 minutes. Cool a bit and serve.

Cornbread salad

This cornbread salad recipe came from two of the sites I use a lot in planning menus, Pink Parsley and Smitten Kitchen. The buttermilk-lime dressing was really good, especially when soaked into a piece of cornbread! Even the cornbread recipe would be a good one to come back to–this one is all cornmeal, which I liked more than most that are usually about 1/2 regular flour.

We added 1/2lb of bacon, cooked and crumbled, to make this a main course salad.

Chicken Crepes with Asparagus and Mushrooms

Sometimes, I don’t read too carefully when I pick recipes for the week. We may miss an ingredient while shopping, or, more often, I don’t pay attention to the cooking times and we end up with a bunch of meals that need  long time to cook. That happened with this recipe for Chicken Crepes with Asparagus and Mushrooms. I completely ignored the cooking time, and when we started it, my wife looked and freaked out: 2 hours! It’s been a long time since we’ve cooked something with a 2 hours prep time…kids just don’t lend themselves well to that. But I also had a general idea of what I thought this recipe should involve, and it didn’t seem like 2 hours, so we pressed on. I had to do some quick re-figuring of the recipe, but the end result was delicious and finished in 47 minutes. So here’s the rapid version of the recipe–I think it was really good, so I’m not sure what the extra hour adds…

Chicken Crepes with Asparagus and Mushrooms

Chicken Crepes with Asparagus and Mushrooms

Cooking time: 45-60 minutes

For the filling:

  • 6 Tbs unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup Flour
  • 1 1/4 cups whole milk*
  • 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
  • 1/4 cup chopped shallot–we skipped this
  • 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms–we used 8oz, probably closer to 1 1/2  cups
  • 2 cups chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces
  • 3 tablespoons medium-dry Sherry*
  • 1 lb thin asparagus, trimmed and cut in ~2in long pieces

For the crêpes:

  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 1/4 cups whole milk
  • 1 whole large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 Tbs unsalted butter

Making the filling:

This part we kept from the original: Heat 5 tablespoons butter in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat until foam subsides. Whisk in flour and cook roux, whisking, until pale golden, about 2 minutes. Gradually add milk and broth, whisking, and bring to a boil, whisking. Reduce heat and simmer gently, whisking frequently, until velouté sauce is silky and thick, about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile cook the chicken over medium high heat in a pan with a little olive oil. I’d add the shallot here, but we didn’t have one…When almost done add the mushrooms. Cook until most of the juices have been released and cooked off. Add the sherry and asparagus and cook a few minutes longer until the asparagus is tender.

In one of the pans if they are big enough, or another bowl, mix the sauce (reserving ~1 cup) and the chicken, mushrooms and asparagus.

For the crepes:

Mix the flour, salt and nutmeg in bowl. In another bowl (or a 2c measuring cup) add the milk, egg, and egg yoke and lightly beat. Add the milk and egg mixture to the flour and whisk well.

Heat an 8in pan over medium heat. Melt a little butter and spread around. Add ~1/4 cup batter and spread. Cook crepe until golden brown on the bottom (~40-50 seconds). If you want, you can flip and cook the other side for ~10 seconds. Pile the crepes on a plate.

Assembling the crepes:

Put a crepe on a plate, add some filling, fold over and drizzle some of the reserved sauce on top. Enjoy!

*We accidentally used cream instead of milk…while I am sure that added to the deliciousness of the dish, I’d stick with the milk in future. We also forgot to add the sherry.