Believe it or not, I actually have a few blogs up my sleeve that I have yet to post. Looking through other blogs, however, I realized that most of what I post here is either a baked good of some sort, or its vegetarian. While we are not at all vegetarians, we do only eat meat 3 or so times per week - I read an article recently that called this type of diet "flexitarian" - not totally willing to give up meat, but making an effort to eat less of it. I think there are a few reasons why people are trying to cut meat out of their diets: 1) Its cheaper to eat vegetarian (while this is definintely true, it may be hard to convince some folks that this is reason enough to eat a black bean burger), 2) It is healthier to eat vegetarian (as long as you get your protein from elsewhere, I suppose), or 3) Its more sustainable and eco-friendly to eat vegetarian (having to do with the amount of our agriculture goes towards growing corn to feed livestock. I don't think this is the top reason people eat vegetarian, but it yields a good result in addition to 1 & 2). So, usually half of our meals are vegetarian, as long as you don't count chicken stock, and the other half have a regular protein on the plate.
All that being said, this is a recipe for chicken and potatoes! Usually, when we do eat meat, I don't do anything inspiring to it - some seasonings, olive oil, and lemon juice suffice, if even all that. But, I decided to try a few recipes that feature a meat and really make it the centerpiece. I wouldn't call the chicken here the "centerpiece", but the whole thing together makes for a good meal. And as long as you use cremini/baby bella mushrooms, that flavor won't be too strong. So don't let that scare you or any folks in your family from this meal!
Portobello Chicken with Red Potatoes
Adapted from Simple & Delicious, Jan/Feb 2010
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds red potatoes, cubed
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6oz each)
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon butter
3/4 pound sliced baby portobello mushrooms
1 package (8oz) softened cream cheese, divided
1 1/4 cups chicken broth, divided
Directions
Place potatoes in a large saucepan and fill with cold water until just covered. Salt the water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook for 10-15 minutes until fork-tender.
While potatoes cook, in a large resealable plastic bag, combine flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Add chicken, one piece at a time, and shake to coat.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat, and add chicken to skillet. Cook for 5-8 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 170. Remove and keep warm. (I had a hard time getting the meat up to temperature, so I heated the oven to 350, popped the chicken in a baking dish, and let it finish in the oven while I made the sauce.)
In the same skillet, add butter and mushrooms - saute until tender and reduce heat. Add 4 ounces cream cheese, 1 cup broth, and remaining salt and pepper. Cook and stir until cheese is melted.
Drain potatoes; mash with remaining cream cheese and brot. Serve with chicken and mushroom sauce.
Serves 4
Showing posts with label mushrooms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mushrooms. Show all posts
3.24.2011
7.19.2010
Welcome, Summer!
Summer is completely here - bugs, humidity, and fireworks. And GRILLING!
Steve and I decided that July would be a good month to concentrate on eating food that's better for us. (This decision following our fantastic trip to St. Louis in which we each ate something called a Concrete. Its not called a Concrete for nothin'...) The last day of our trip was July 1. Do you know how hard it is to eat healthily in a roadside diner?!?
Sometimes this "eating healthy" thing means avoiding sweets, pop, fried foods, and junk food, but I still will use butter, oil, and other "whole ingredients." Personally, I'd rather eat food that is as natural as possible, rather than something that has a few less calories but a whole lot of fake ingredients. Personal choice, yours may be different!
So back home, we kicked it into full gear. Fresh fruits and veggies are overflowing on our countertop. The best part about having so many of these on hand is that you never have to think about what to have with supper. Corn, asparagus, green beans, watermelon, tangerines, blueberries, tomatoes, potatoes... they all work. These are short recipes, but really, during the summertime, isn't that what we're looking for anyway?
Note: Whenever you're marinating meat, it works so well to do so in a Ziploc bag and put that bag in a bowl, giving it a squeeze now and then. It keeps the marinade all over the meat, rather than the meat just sitting in the marinade in a dish.
Note II: We didn't serve the bruschetta on toast... we had it on grilled portobello mushrooms. Wow, that was good!
Roasted Country Ribs
Adapted from Epicurious.com
Ingredients
1.5-2 pounds country pork ribs (4-6, figure about 2 or 3 ribs per person)
2 Tablespoons coarse grain mustard (you can use dijon, but I like the tang of coarse grain)
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon Montreal steak seasoning (substitute your favorite seasoning mix here. Jane's Crazy Mixed-Up Salt would work too)
1 Tablespoon water
Directions
Preheat oven to 350.
In a bowl, whisk together mustard, vinegar, oil, seasoning, and water. Put ribs into a large Ziploc bag and pour the dressing on top and seal. Squeeze to cover ribs, and let sit for at least 15 minutes, but not more than 1 hour.
Put the ribs in a shallow glass baking dish and pour out all of the marinade on the top. Roast in the oven for about 45 minutes, until meat is between 160 and 170 degrees. Remove from oven, loosely cover with foil, and let rest for about 10 minutes longer (they're still cooking, but rather than getting over-cooked, this allows them to raise their temp and become more tender too).
Green Bean Bundles
From Paula Deen & Friends: Living it Up, Southern Style
Ingredients
Green beans, washed and trimmed (about 1 cup per person)
Butter (1 Tablespoon per person)
Salt & Pepper
Directions
Preheat grill for medium-high heat.
For each person, tear off a square of tin foil (12"x12" should do it). Put the green beans in the middle, and top with the butter (cut into small cubes), and salt and pepper to taste. Make each square of foil into a tightly-sealed bundle.
Place each bundle on the grill (direct heat) for 15 minutes.
Bruschetta
Adapted from "The Maroon Spoon" (Holland Christian Cookbook)
Ingredients
For Bruschetta:
6 chopped Roma (plum) tomatoes
1 cup fresh basil, chopped
1-14 ounce can artichoke hearts, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. vinegar (balsamic or white wine)
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. olive oil
For Toasts:
1 large french baguette, thinly sliced on diagonal
3 Tbsp. olive oil
Directions
For bruschetta, mix all ingredients together and let sit for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator. (Doesn't keep well for more than 48 hours if you use fresh basil. If you choose to use dried basil, you'll need less and it might keep a bit longer.)
For toasts, brush slices with olive oil and toast under broiler until golden brown, flipping once.
To serve, top toast with a spoonful of tomato mixture. Top with shredded parmesan if desired.
Steve and I decided that July would be a good month to concentrate on eating food that's better for us. (This decision following our fantastic trip to St. Louis in which we each ate something called a Concrete. Its not called a Concrete for nothin'...) The last day of our trip was July 1. Do you know how hard it is to eat healthily in a roadside diner?!?
Sometimes this "eating healthy" thing means avoiding sweets, pop, fried foods, and junk food, but I still will use butter, oil, and other "whole ingredients." Personally, I'd rather eat food that is as natural as possible, rather than something that has a few less calories but a whole lot of fake ingredients. Personal choice, yours may be different!
So back home, we kicked it into full gear. Fresh fruits and veggies are overflowing on our countertop. The best part about having so many of these on hand is that you never have to think about what to have with supper. Corn, asparagus, green beans, watermelon, tangerines, blueberries, tomatoes, potatoes... they all work. These are short recipes, but really, during the summertime, isn't that what we're looking for anyway?
Note: Whenever you're marinating meat, it works so well to do so in a Ziploc bag and put that bag in a bowl, giving it a squeeze now and then. It keeps the marinade all over the meat, rather than the meat just sitting in the marinade in a dish.
Note II: We didn't serve the bruschetta on toast... we had it on grilled portobello mushrooms. Wow, that was good!
Roasted Country Ribs
Adapted from Epicurious.com
Ingredients
1.5-2 pounds country pork ribs (4-6, figure about 2 or 3 ribs per person)
2 Tablespoons coarse grain mustard (you can use dijon, but I like the tang of coarse grain)
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon Montreal steak seasoning (substitute your favorite seasoning mix here. Jane's Crazy Mixed-Up Salt would work too)
1 Tablespoon water
Directions
Preheat oven to 350.
In a bowl, whisk together mustard, vinegar, oil, seasoning, and water. Put ribs into a large Ziploc bag and pour the dressing on top and seal. Squeeze to cover ribs, and let sit for at least 15 minutes, but not more than 1 hour.
Put the ribs in a shallow glass baking dish and pour out all of the marinade on the top. Roast in the oven for about 45 minutes, until meat is between 160 and 170 degrees. Remove from oven, loosely cover with foil, and let rest for about 10 minutes longer (they're still cooking, but rather than getting over-cooked, this allows them to raise their temp and become more tender too).
Green Bean Bundles
From Paula Deen & Friends: Living it Up, Southern Style
Ingredients
Green beans, washed and trimmed (about 1 cup per person)
Butter (1 Tablespoon per person)
Salt & Pepper
Directions
Preheat grill for medium-high heat.
For each person, tear off a square of tin foil (12"x12" should do it). Put the green beans in the middle, and top with the butter (cut into small cubes), and salt and pepper to taste. Make each square of foil into a tightly-sealed bundle.
Place each bundle on the grill (direct heat) for 15 minutes.
Bruschetta
Adapted from "The Maroon Spoon" (Holland Christian Cookbook)
Ingredients
For Bruschetta:
6 chopped Roma (plum) tomatoes
1 cup fresh basil, chopped
1-14 ounce can artichoke hearts, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. vinegar (balsamic or white wine)
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. olive oil
For Toasts:
1 large french baguette, thinly sliced on diagonal
3 Tbsp. olive oil
Directions
For bruschetta, mix all ingredients together and let sit for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator. (Doesn't keep well for more than 48 hours if you use fresh basil. If you choose to use dried basil, you'll need less and it might keep a bit longer.)
For toasts, brush slices with olive oil and toast under broiler until golden brown, flipping once.
To serve, top toast with a spoonful of tomato mixture. Top with shredded parmesan if desired.
3.05.2010
Oh, Canada...
The last few meals we've had have been good, but nothing to write home about (and in the case of this blog, that's to be taken quite literally). But, when I used mushrooms last night, it reminded me of some pretty good pasta I had a few weeks ago to celebrate the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. I usually try to make food that reflects the culture of the host city/country. I did a lot of research, found Nanaimo Bars (fantastic... see second recipe), and also kept reading about wild mushrooms. So, I made this!
Linguini with Mushroom Cream Sauce
Adapted from Food Network
Ingredients
Salt
1 pound whole-wheat or whole-grain linguini
1 1/2 pounds mixed mushrooms - shiitake, crimini, any that catch your eye at market
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball it
2 leeks
3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup cream
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano, for topping
Directions
Heat water to a boil for the pasta, salt water, drop in pasta and cook to al dente.
Wipe mushrooms clean with damp towel. Remove woody stems. Thinly slice the mushrooms.
Heat a large deep skillet with extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until deeply golden and tender, 10 minutes.
While mushrooms cook, halve the leeks lengthwise. Cut off a couple of inches from tough tops. Trim off root end. Thinly slice the leek then vigorously wash in a large bowl of cold water, separating all the layers to free of grit. Let leeks sit a few minutes then lift out of the water and dry on kitchen towel.
Add leeks to mushrooms along with garlic and season with salt, pepper and fresh thyme. Cook 3 to 4 minutes more then add wine, reduce half a minute then stir in cream and heat through. Toss pasta with mushrooms and adjust seasoning. Top with grated cheese at the table.
Serves 4
Nanaimo Bars
From The Joy of Baking
Ingredients
Bottom Layer
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa (I use Dutch-processed)
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup coconut (either sweetened or unsweetened)
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped (opt)
Filling
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 - 3 tablespoons milk or cream
2 tablespoons vanilla pudding powder
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar (confectioners or icing) sugar
Topping
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Directions
Butter (or use a cooking spray) a 9 x 9 inch (23 x 23 cm) pan.
BOTTOM LAYER: In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Stir in the sugar and cocoa powder and then gradually whisk in the beaten egg. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens (1 - 2 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract, graham cracker crumbs, coconut, and chopped nuts. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Cover and refrigerate until firm (about an hour).
FILLING: In your electric mixer cream the butter. Beat in the remaining ingredients. If the mixture is too thick to spread, add a little more milk. Spread the filling over the bottom layer, cover, and refrigerate until firm (about 30 minutes).
TOP LAYER: In a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter. Spread over the filling and refrigerate.
TO SERVE: To prevent the chocolate from cracking, using a sharp knife, bring the squares to room temperature before cutting.
Makes about 24 squares
Linguini with Mushroom Cream Sauce
Adapted from Food Network
Ingredients
Salt
1 pound whole-wheat or whole-grain linguini
1 1/2 pounds mixed mushrooms - shiitake, crimini, any that catch your eye at market
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball it
2 leeks
3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup cream
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano, for topping
Directions
Heat water to a boil for the pasta, salt water, drop in pasta and cook to al dente.
Wipe mushrooms clean with damp towel. Remove woody stems. Thinly slice the mushrooms.
Heat a large deep skillet with extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until deeply golden and tender, 10 minutes.
While mushrooms cook, halve the leeks lengthwise. Cut off a couple of inches from tough tops. Trim off root end. Thinly slice the leek then vigorously wash in a large bowl of cold water, separating all the layers to free of grit. Let leeks sit a few minutes then lift out of the water and dry on kitchen towel.
Add leeks to mushrooms along with garlic and season with salt, pepper and fresh thyme. Cook 3 to 4 minutes more then add wine, reduce half a minute then stir in cream and heat through. Toss pasta with mushrooms and adjust seasoning. Top with grated cheese at the table.
Serves 4
Nanaimo Bars
From The Joy of Baking
Ingredients
Bottom Layer
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa (I use Dutch-processed)
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup coconut (either sweetened or unsweetened)
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped (opt)
Filling
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 - 3 tablespoons milk or cream
2 tablespoons vanilla pudding powder
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar (confectioners or icing) sugar
Topping
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Directions
Butter (or use a cooking spray) a 9 x 9 inch (23 x 23 cm) pan.
BOTTOM LAYER: In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Stir in the sugar and cocoa powder and then gradually whisk in the beaten egg. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens (1 - 2 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract, graham cracker crumbs, coconut, and chopped nuts. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Cover and refrigerate until firm (about an hour).
FILLING: In your electric mixer cream the butter. Beat in the remaining ingredients. If the mixture is too thick to spread, add a little more milk. Spread the filling over the bottom layer, cover, and refrigerate until firm (about 30 minutes).
TOP LAYER: In a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter. Spread over the filling and refrigerate.
TO SERVE: To prevent the chocolate from cracking, using a sharp knife, bring the squares to room temperature before cutting.
Makes about 24 squares
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