Mushroom & Leek Gratin

How can anything with the title "Gratin" be a bad thing?  I have been devouring Portobello mushrooms lately and decided I needed a switch from roasting or barbecuing them with garlic and balsamic vinegar, so I came across this delicious-looking recipe for "Mushroom and Leek Gratin" in my December 2011 edition of Food Everyday magazine.

Ingredients:
6-8 Portobello mushrooms (stemmed and sliced 1/2 inch thick)
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 leeks (white and light green parts sliced in 1/4 inch thick half-moons)
1/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup heavy cream *
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1/4 finely grated Parmesan cheese
* I can't stomach heavy cream too well, but instead substituted 1/2 cup of soy milk and 1/4 cup of light cream cheese.

Preheat the oven to 375.  Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a large skillet and toss in mushrooms.  Cook until they're softened (about 10 mins) and transfer them to a paper towel lined dish.  In the same skillet, add another 2 tbps oil and toss the leeks about with salt and pepper for about 8 mins.  To the leeks, add the wine until it is almost evaporated.  Next, add the cream (or my substituted mixture), the lemon juice and thyme leaves.  Mix together and transfer this mixture into a baking dish.  Top the mixture with the cooked mushroom slices, overlapping them a little.  Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top and bake the dish for about 20 minutes (or until it begins bubbling).

I made this as a main dish served with baguette, as we were only two eating it, but it could easily be a side dish for more guests.  It yields about 8 small servings (or 3-4 dinner sized servings).  I re-heated some the next day and served some to my brother and it was just as delicious as the previous night.

Looking forward to making this one again!

Mmmmmuffins!!!

Wow - mom we've really dropped the ball on posting anything since the summer!  Can you tell we were both working from home at that point?!  I know we've both been busy trying lots of new recipes, so let's get back to posting as many as possible.  I'm still waiting for your steel oats recipe and butternut squash soup too.

Today, I was craving mixed nuts and was browsing around Kardish Foods in their bulk bins.  After filling about ten bags of different nuts (and some chocolate-covered cranberries) I came across a new-to-me line of pre-made mixes.  I decided to give this one a shot, since I am out of GF flour mixes at home.  The brand is called "Judy's Magic Mixes" and comes from our East-end in Cumberland, Ontario (which makes me happy to know I'm supporting local, home-based business).
                                  
This particular mix is called "Add Your Own Magic Muffin Mix."  Looking at what was needed on the back of the bag, I knew I could go home and make them right away.

The recipe calls for you to add:
1/2 cup of oil
3/4 cup of mashed banana
1/2 cup of hot water
to their bag of mix, which is a blend of gluten-free (GF) flours, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, sea salt and ground vanilla beans.

Instead of oil, I used applesauce and the results were still fantastic.  You could easily add other dried fruit or chocolate chips (as I did...come on I'm days away from giving birth here!)  These muffins even got the seal of approval from Rob too, even after I told him they were "gluten-free," which normally scares him away.

I would definitely make these again.  It yielded about 16 muffins (although the package says 12, they're quite large even at 16).  A great mid-afternoon snack.

Enjoy!

Dill Pickes

Renée has these cravings lately for dill pickles. Timing is great as I planted pickling cucumbers in the garden this year with fresh dill and so I have made a few jars to keep her satisfied. This is a family recipe and can be divided and multiplied depending on the number of cucumbers you have.

4 lbs of small cucumbers
sprays of fresh dill or dill seed(1 tbsp per quart)
4 cloves of garlic (I put in two per jar)
4 cups water
2 cups white vinegar
4 tbsp course pickling salt

Scrub cucumbers well. Soak in cold water overnight. Drain. If cucumbers are big, halve or quater them. Otherwise put in whole. Pack cucumbes in hot sterilized jars (see below) with sprays of dill plus garlic on top and bottom.
Combine water, vinegar and salt. Heat to boiling. Pour hot vinegar mixture over cucumbers in jars. Seal. I usually process the jars for 20 minutes. I am not sure this is necessary because of the vinegar mixture. Store 4 to 6 weeks before using.

Hint: To sterilize the jars, after you have washed and dried them. Put them in an over at 250 degrees F. for about 15 minutes. This is much easier than boiling them.

Basil and parsley pesto

Fresh basil is very plentiful in August and so making pesto helps us to enjoy it throughout the winter. Although this recipe originally called for only basil, I have added the parsley to soften the taste. You will need a food processor for this. I freeze it in ice cube trays and use the amount you need as a thick paste on fish or chicken. You can also spread it over baguette slices. When I look at Renée's pita chips below, I am wondering if I might use it as a base with the oil for making pitat chips. I will let you know if it works.

Fresh Basil Pesto Recipe


2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 Combine the basil with the pine nuts in food processor and pulse a few times.
Add the garlic and pulse a few times more.

2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.


Yield: Makes a little more than 1 cup.

Enjoy

Tasty Baked Pita Crisps

Tasty Pita Crisps: A great little snack on their own, with soups or as a cracker substitute for dipping in hummus and tatziki!  I have seen these made before, but didn't follow a recipe for this one...so bear with me as I try to remember what I did!

round pita bread
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp of rosemary
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 300. I had only one medium pita round left in the bag, so I divided it in order to have two think rounds.  I took some kitchen scissors and cut them into triangles and placed them on parchment paper on a baking sheet.  In a small prep bowl, I mixed the olive oil, dry mustard and half of the rosemary.  Using a silicone basting brush, I brushed the mixture on top of each triangle.  Then I sprinkled the remaining rosemary and salt and pepper on top before baking for 4 minutes.  After 4 minutes, I changed the oven to broil and broiled the tops for another minute only.  This method produced crisps that were still a little chewy and not overdone.

Variations would be to add garlic powder or parmesan cheese to the mixture.  Forget buying the overpriced flavoured ones in the store, these are so fast and easy to make - there's no excuse! I can't wait to make them again - and neither can Rob!!!  

Gazpacho - with Corn

Mmmmm...that avocado tomato dish looks amazing (a little blurry mom, but still yummy!)!!  Just because I haven't posted in a while doesn't mean I haven't been cooking.  I've got so many pictures saved up and no time to post them...so we'll see what I can do this week!

I found a page that I had ripped out of a mini magazine a while back (I can't quote the source because it doesn't say anywhere...sorry!) for Corn Gazpacho.  Here goes:

6 tomatoes (peeled, seeded and cut in chunks) - I didn't seed mine because I like them!
1 small onion (cut in chunks)
4 cloves of garlic (chopped)
2 sweet peppers (cut in chunks) - I used a yellow and a green for colour
1 field cucumber (sedded and cut in chunks) - I did seed this one and ate the seeds on the side!!!
1 1/2 cups of cooked corn kernels - It's corn season, no need for a can
1/4 of red wine vinegar
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 to 1 1/2 cups of tomato juice or veggie cocktail - I used low-sodium tomato juice
salt and cayenne pepper to taste

In your food processor (or blender if you don't have one) purée the tomatoes, onion and garlic altogether and pour it into a large bowl.  The recipe then says to pulse your peppers and cucumber until finely chopped, however, my blender would turn them into mush.  So I got out my trusty Pampered Chef chopper (think "slap-chop") and chopped them up fine that way.  Add these and the corn to the bowl of puréed ingrediants.

Now add your vinegar and olive oil as well as enough tomato juice to give it a soup-like consistency.  Add some salt and cayenne pepper until it reaches your desired taste.  I put about a tsp of cayenne because I'm a little wimpy with hot spice!

Refrigerate and enjoy topped with croutons.

Since it's only Rob and I at home (for another 5 months anyways) I had enough soup for two dinner and a lunch.  So on the second night of serving it, I added cooked cold baby shrimp so a little something different.  Rob loved this.  I also made homemade pita crisps which he loved even more (see next recipe!)

I love tomatoes too!!

I agree with Renée. Let's celebrate fresh tomato season here in the Ottawa area with some creative cooking, especially with the variety of local fresh herbs that are available at this time of year. I have just picked my first ripe tomato today and made up an interesting concoction with fresh cilantro and avocado. I am not sure what to call it so I will say it is a

Tomato Avocado Dish
Place the following in a large serving dish:
2 ripe avocadoes - peeled and sliced
1 large tomoato - sliced
1 or 2 green onion - chopped
Top with about 1 or 2 tbsp of chopped fresh cilantro. If you like cilantro you will want to put 2. you can also use other fresh herbs, such as basil or oregano to give a different experience of the tomoto

Dressing:
Whisk together:
Juice of one-half lime
about 1/4 cup olive oil

Pour dressing over tomato avacado mixture. Sprinkle with freshly ground salt and pepper to taste.

This would be a great accompaniment to most main courses or serve as an appetizer with crusty or pita bread. I served it with a lamb loin that was marinated in an oregano spinach pesto and cooked on the barbecue grill. Great meal!