Stuffed Mushrooms are one of my wife’s favourite dishes to order when we go out for Italian food.
With her having the stomach flu, I figured this might be the best way to will herself back to good health.
Here’s to feeling better love!
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Stuffed Mushrooms
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
Paprika, to coat
12 large mushrooms
1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced
2 ounces extra virgin olive oil
10 ounces fresh spinach
1/2 lb whole unsalted butter, softened
1 cup Fontina cheese, grated*
1 1/2 cups Japanese-style bread crumbs
* Substitutes: Gruyère, Edam, Gouda or Provolone
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Remove stems from mushrooms and place in a mixing bowl. Coat with 1 oz of extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper, to taste.
- Place mushrooms on a baking tray with gills up and roast in oven for 15 minutes. Remove, allow to cool slightly then turn over onto paper towel to allow liquid to drain.
- Heat 1 oz of olive oil in a sauté pan over Medium heat. Add fresh minced garlic and allow to brown slightly. Add fresh spinach and salt and pepper, to taste.
- Stir spinach until it reduces in volume, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and cool. Lay spinach out on cutting board and lightly chop.
- In a large mixing bowl add half pound of softened butter, salt, pepper, oregano, granulated garlic, basil, parsley and the Japanese bread crumbs. Mix by hand, then form into 1 oz discs.
- Using a separate mixing bowl, mix together cooked spinach and fontina cheese. Place 1 to 2 oz of the spinach fontina mixture into each mushroom cap. Top with the butter mix, sprinkle with paprika . Bake until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Filed under: Recipe on February 26th, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Another week, another challenge… My friend Jeff, the butcher/fellow food enthusiast got in a new line of spice mix grinders at his store. However, the So!Go company website is really lacking in terms of any recipes or direction on what to do with their product. I grabbed a bottle of the Greek spice mix to give it a try.
The recipe below is kind of a Greek hybrid recipe, combining a couple of different ideas.
Overall, I’m pretty pleased with the way the spice mix gave the dish an authentic Greek taste & I’d be tempted to try some of their other mixes.
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Greek Kebab Wraps featuring So!Go Greek Spice Mix
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1 cup minced onion
2 clove garlic, minced
1 pound ground beef or lamb
1 teaspoon So!Go Greek Spice Mix
1/2 cup cucumber, diced
1/4 cup non-fat yogurt (non-dairy, optional)
1 tablespoon fresh spearmint, chopped OR 1/2 teaspoon dried mint leaves
4 greek pitas
1 cup shredded lettuce
1 cup diced tomato
1 tablespoon vegetable oil for cooking
Preparation:
- Preheat oven broiler.
- Heat oil in a skillet over Medium-High heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook until softened, about 2 minutes.
- In a mixing bowl combine meat, grilled onions & garlic, spices, and mix thoroughly. Shape into 4 patties.
- Place patties on broiling pan and place on middle rack of oven. Broil until desired doneness, turning once, about 3 to 5 minutes on each side.
- Combine cucumber, yogurt and spearmint in small bowl and mix.
- To serve, spread topping on pita bread, then top with lettuce and tomato, and sliced kebab patties. Wrap with wax paper and enjoy!
* for those of you in Toronto you can find So!Go Spice Grinders at Hartman’s Fine Foods(5988 Bathurst Street)
Filed under: Recipe, Review on February 23rd, 2010 | Comments Off on Greek Kebab Wraps
My half-sister (well, sorta half-sister, it’s complicated) Michelle asked for my help in her search for a pumpkin infused Crème Brûlée.
I did a lot of research on this one as I wanted it to be tasty, but at the same time stay fairly easy to prepare. Brûlée can be a lot of work.
The recipe below is fairly simple. Sure you’ll need some ramekins (we used 16 mini ones) and a butane torch, but otherwise, this is a small sacrifice for this impressive dessert.
The brûlée came out with the perfect consistency and I loved the addition of the pumpkin to the mix.
Thanks for letting me mess up your kitchen Michelle!
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Pumpkin Crème Brûlée
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
2 cups pumpkin puree
2 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 vanilla bean
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
10 large egg yolks
1/2 + 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon brandy
8 tablespoons turbinado sugar, for brûlée
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 325 F and place 8 5-ounce ramekins in a baking tray with a lip.
- Heat whipping cream with scraped out seeds of vanilla bean until just below a simmer.
- In food processor, purée sugars, egg yolks, ½ tsp cinnamon, ginger, allspice and brandy with pumpkin. Pour hot cream into pumpkin mixture until all has been added.
- Pour custard into ramekins and fill baking pan with boiling water. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until custards are set, but jiggle just slightly in the centre. Remove custards from pan, cool for 20 minutes, then chill for at least 4 hours.
- To brûlée custards, toss remaining ½ tsp cinnamon with turbinado sugar. Sprinkle onto custards, and caramelize with a butane torch (available at kitchen supply stores). Chill for up to 2 hours or serve immediately.
Filed under: Recipe on February 21st, 2010 | 2 Comments »
