[recipe difficulty=”easy”]

WILD RICE BARLEY CASSEROLE with MUSHROOMS: 

1 medium onion, chopped

4 TBS butter

¾ cup wild rice

¾ cup barley (not quick cooking)

½cup dry sherry

1 ½ cups stock

1 ¼cups water

8 ounces sliced mushrooms

salt and pepper to taste

1.     Fry one chopped sweet onion in butter until softened and set aside. 

2.      Fry mushrooms and set aside.

3.  In Pressure Cooker add  rice and barley, sherry, broth and water and salt to taste.

4.     Cover pressure cooker, bring to pressure and cook for 20 minutes.

5.      Release pressure and check to make sure the rice and barley are cooked.  The rice should be split open and tender but not mushy.  Cook longer if necessary.

6.    Add mushrooms and onions to rice mixture.

7.    Taste for  salt and pepper.

[/recipe]

 

 

     Mushroom heaven!  It was my good fortune to be escorted by my friend Carl to a forest bursting with an abundance of fungi.  Carl was able to identify each mushroom by its Latin name and sometimes its old Latin name and by its common name.  And we came back laden with treasures to savor later that evening.  Abby made his exquisite chanterelles risotto and I put together savory wild mushroom filo turnovers. Some excellent Chianti, and salad and what a feast we had.  That night I dried several pounds of Boletes and the house was perfumed by the wonderful musty odor of dry mushrooms. I loved it but other members of the family were not as appreciative.

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Carl had gathered many times this amount but we arranged these beautiful specimans to pose for this picture. 

 

  

     We ate samples of all these:  5 varieties of  Boletes (also known as Cèpes, Porcini or Steinpilze), 2 varieties of Chanterelles, several variety of Russula (including the lobster mushroom) and an Amanita Rubescence; one of the few edible Amanitas and my first taste of any amanita.  Carl is has assured us that he has never made any “mistakes”.  I would certainly not recommend that anyone eat wild mushrooms without the accompanying wisdom of a knowledgeable guide.  Sadly this past July a 61 year old woman died after picking some Amanita Bisporigera, also known as "Destroying Angels".  By the time she got to a hospital her liver had already been destroyed. 

 

     Wegmans does carry many varieties of wild mushrooms if you want to have your own feast without taking any risks.  The other day I found some excellent morels there.  Or you can buy many varieties dried.  Morels are actually better dried and then reconstituted.  And if you want to buy mushroom powder which, is usually made from Boletes, you can find this product at Regional Access.  Mushroom powder is a great addition to rich soups and stews.

    

 

 

Many of us Ithaca old timers remember Abby’s, a restaurant in the Motor Vehicles Plaza that was run by Abby Nash from 1984 to 1990.   It was a sad day for Ithaca diners when Abby’s closed its doors because it was a consistently wonderful place to eat and we all had our favorites.  My favorite dish was Abby’s mushroom lasagna and I was lucky enough to run into Abby the other day. He was hosting a cooking demonstration of his mushroom lasagna.  This is the original recipe for his mushroom lasagna and it really is a delicacy.   It takes a lot of time to make and you need a pasta maker.  But it really is worth the effort.  Abby uses freshly grated parmesan, the highest quality he can find such as Reggiano.  If you want to truly appreciate the different grades of parmesan, set up a blind tasting.  My hands down favorite is the Reggiano. When selecting the variety of mushrooms,; the more exotic the types of mushroom, the better.  You can re-hydrate dry mushrooms such as porcini.  I also like to use porcini powder.  Morels, shitake, oyster, and chanterelles are a great mixture along with some regular brown mushrooms.     If you’ve never made homemade pasta with a pasta maker before, the important thing is not to have the dough be too wet.  Have flour on hand and when you put the sheets of dough through the pasta maker dust them first with flour if needed.  The dough should be smooth so if it gets rough or has holes or is sticky, it probably needs more flour.  Making pasta from scratch does take practice.  ABBY’S MUSHROOM LASAGNA  yield 6 med. servings  Continue Reading…

Appetizers Tapas	Desserts	Cookies Bars Cakes
Pickles Chutney Relishes	Soups	Salads
Asian	Vegetarian Dishes	Main Meat Dishes
Breakfast Brunch Lunch	Breads Muffins Crackers	Fish & Seafood
	Sides

[recipe difficulty=”easy”]
Polenta with morels:  Yesterday we found some beautiful morels and I came up with this recipe to showcase them. If you don't have morels, you can use any mushrooms or combination of mushrooms including reconstituted dry mushrooms.

Mushroom mixture: Start with finely chopped onions that have been gently browned in a combination of butter and olive oil.  Set aside when soft and beginning to brown.  Set the onions aside. Fry the morels (that have been sliced in half or if larger, sliced in quarters and cleaned).  If you need more mushrooms, add some regular baby belas or any combination of wild or domestic sliced mushrooms, enough to feed your guests or family.  Cook the morels separately and set aside with the onions. The morels need to be cooked medium high so they get a little crispy.  Fry the rest of the mushrooms until cooked and then bring back the morels and onions to the frying pan.  Cook and mix together, taste for saltiness and add ¼ cup of Marsala wine and ¼ cup chicken or vegetable broth and cook together for 4-5 minutes until most of the liquid is gone.  Set aside and make the polenta.

Creamy polenta; Put one cup water and one cup corn meal in a saucepan and stir until mixed.  Then add two cups of hot chicken or vegetable stock and cook over medium heat until it thickens into a creamy texture (like a thin mashed potato). You need to be stirring pretty constantly so it doesn’t develop lumps. Add ¼ cup of parmesan or Romano cheese or a mix of the two and another1/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese and stir until melted and incorporated into the polenta.  Add salt to taste.

To serve, use a small plate and mound about a 1/3 cup of polenta covered by a big spoonful of mushrooms.  Sprinkle with parsley for garnish if desired.

 

 APPLIANCES/GADGETS  and RECIPES:

Vita Mix:  Kale Banana Almond Smoothie

Juicer:  Fruit juice mix and Vegi mix

Actifry:  Mini potatoes with onions and sausage

Slow Cooker:  Applesauce and Multigrain cereal with fruit

Panini Maker:  Reuben sandwiches with corned beef or Susie's Seiten

Pressure Cooker:  Bean soup and Wild rice and Barley mushroom casserole

Bread Maker:  Sourdough Rye Bread

Apple Peeler and Dehydrator:  Dried apples and dried bananas

Food Processor and Madeleine mold:  Madeleines and Williamsburg Orange Cake (on next post)

 

This vacation I've busied myself cooking and baking using my great collection of cool appliances  and gadgets.  I use my  "toys" to concoct the  quickest and tastiest feasts.  Over the past week I've counted a dozen of them that have come out of the closet and into the kitchen to do their magic.  Most of them are listed below with the great foods that were prepared.

VITA MIX:  KALE/BANANA/ALMOND SMOOTHIE AND JUICER:

Each day starts with the juicer or the vitamix which are both privileged to  live on the counter.  The juicer is a Hamilton Beach, the cheapest juicer on the market and one that works very well and cleans up easily and quickly.  I'll make myself a fruit or vegi juice first thing in the morning or to bring to work for later in the morning.  The juicer gets apples, oranges, pineapple, and pears with a carrot thrown in for good measure and great color.  The vegi juice is  some combination of raw beets, carrots, celery cucumber, ginger, garlic or onion. 

Or I'll make my green slime in my  Vita Mix:  raw kale, almond milk, almond butter, banana and a touch of maple syrup. Ice is thrown in since the colder the better.   The almond milk is made by soaking almonds in water overnight and the next morning mixing it up in the Vita mix.  Slowly the rest of the family has grown to like this drink which tastes particularly good for being so healthy. I was fortunate enough to attend a juicing class iwth Joe Romano at Greenstar, our local organic food coop and also attended a raw foods class with Rebecca Robbins who introduced me to the healthy and delicious world of raw foods.

So that's two appliances. Now, it gets less healthy I'm afraid.   For breakfast I've been trying out my newest gadget:  an Actifry.  It's advertised as a low fat fryer alternative.  So this morning the little pee wee potatoes went in with some sliced onions, whole garlic cloves and a few pieces of sausage.  No more oil since the sausages provide more than enough.  They were cooked in about 20 minutes.   It really is overpriced for what it is.  But I'm still working on some menus ideas.  I tried the chicken wings and drumsticks which both came out great and tend to be more moist than when baked .

 

SLOW COOKER or CROCK POT (same thing):   APPLE SAUCE and MULTIGRAIN CEREAL WITH FRUIT

APPLESAUCE;  One of my favorite uses for the slow cooker is apple sauce.  The entire house fills up with the wonderful scent  of cooking apples, one of the homiest aroma's I can think of.  Quite simply I add cored whole organic apples or cored and peeled non-organic apples that I've cut into large pieces.  For a large apple cut it into eighths and then each piece cut in half or thirds.  And for smaller apples just quarter them and then cut each quarter in half. You really don't need liquid unless they are really old dried up apples, then add 1/2 cup water or apple cider. I add some honey and some cinnamon and then cook it on low until they are mushy and obviously cooked.  Then put them through a food mill (another indispensible gadget.) Add more honey or cinnamon if you want.

 MULTIGRAIN CEREAL WITH FRUIT  This is adapted from a recently acquired cookbook called, "The Healthy Slow Cooker".  It has plenty of health and cooking tips in the margins.  This adapted recipe was great and kept for several days in the fridge, easily reheated in the microwave.

1/2 cup brown rice

1/2 cup millet

1/2 cup wheat berries

2 medium apples, peeled cored and cubed

1 cup apple juice or cider

3 cups water

Add together into crock pot (slow cooker), add salt to taste and cook on low for 6 hours or until cooked.  Add :

Chopped pitted dates

Sprinkle with wheat germ (optional)

and serve with maple syrup.(optional)

 

 PANINI MAKER:  REUBENS:   

Rye bread, thousand island dressing, saurkraut, swiss cheese and corned beef (or turkey or Susie's portabella mushroom seiten).

PRESSURE COOKER:  BEAN SOUP and WILD RICE BARLEY CASSEROLE with MUSHROOMS

BEAN SOUP:  In preparation for the winter storm I made my obligatory soup.  The essential comfort food for cold snowy weather.  I bought the package of Hurst 15 beans, threw out the ham flavor packet and put half of the beans aside in hot water to soak for a few hours.  They then got drained and thrown into my pressure cooker (appliance 5 on this list).  I then added broth, a can of diced tomatoes with the juice and extra water if needed to amply cover the beans.  They were brought up to pressure and cooked for 10 minutes .  After depressurizing I checked  the beans and if the biggest ones were almost done,  I added  diced   onions, cabbage,  celery, carrots, parsnips, leeks, and winter squash (butternut this time) that I had quickly fried over high heat in some olive oil while stirring to lightly brown.  I added  some salt Some browned cubes of boneless beef ribs as well. I then brought it back up to pressure and cooked for 5 more minutes and  again depressurized and checked to see if everything was done.  This soup lasted several days through the snow storm and just gets more flavorful with each reheating.  I serve my bean soups drizzled with great olive oil and good grated parmesan.

WILD RICE BARLEY CASSEROLE with MUSHROOMS: 

1 medium onion, chopped

4 TBS butter

¾cup wild rice

¾cup barlely (not quick cooking)

½cup dry sherry

1 ½ cups stock

1 ¼cups water

8 ounces sliced mushrooms

salt and pepper to taste

1.     Fry one chopped sweet onion in butter until softened and set aside. 

 

2.      Fry mushrooms and set aside.

3.  In Pressure Cooker add  rice and barley, sherry, broth and water and salt to taste.

4.     Cover pressure cooker, bring to pressure and cook for 20 minutes.

5.      Release pressure and check to make sure the rice and barley are cooked.  The rice should be split open and tender but not mushy.  Cook longer if necessary.

6.    Add mushrooms and onions to rice mixture.

7.    Taste for  salt and pepper..

 

BREADMAKER:  RYE SOUR DOUGH

¾ cup sour dough starter

½ cup water

 

2 TBS molasses

1 TBS olive oil

1 ½ tsp salt

1 TBS toasted caraway seeds

2 ¼ cups Bread flour

¾ cup rye flour

1 ½tsp yeast

Combine in bread maker and check to make sure the consistency is correct.  If you poke it with your finger you should have a tiny bit of stickiness but mostly it needs to be dry and in a ball. You may need to add more flour or water to adjust.

1.      Let  the bread maker do the kneading and first rise,

2.       Remove the dough and put it into a bowl lined with parchment paper.

3.       Let it rise again until double: one to two hours.

4.       Half an hour before preheat oven to 450° .Place empty large enamel pot  with cover (Le Creuset works great) that will just hold the bread in the oven to heat as well.

5.      Slit the top of the bread and carefully place in the enamel pot.  Don't burn yourself lifting the lid (spoken from multiple experiences).  Cover the pot and cook the bread for 30 minutes.

6.      Remove the pot from the oven.  Carefully remove the bread and unless it is already evenly browned, place it as is, without parchment, in the oven and bake a few more minutes, checking regularly, until uniformly brown and crisp. Remove and cool.  Serve with butter and the bean soup!

DEHYDRATOR AND APPLES PEELER:  Dried apples and Dried bananas.

One of the least known gadgets and a really cheap and helpful one is the apple peeler.  But it doesn't just peel the apples.  It also slices and cores the apple.  So in a few seconds you have an apple ready for your pie or for the dehydrator.  Check out the video which shoes you just how it works.  And it's around $20!    APPLE PEELER VIDEO

The dehydrator I use is the cheap one made by Nesco American Harvester.  You can spend lots of money on these guys but I really don't have any problem with this one except that it is  really noisy.  So you need to put it in another room and not forget it.

 

The apples get sliced and laid out in the dehydrator and if you want, sprinkled with cinnamon.  Cook it until the apples are to your liking, chewy or crisp.  They do continue to crisp up a bit after  you turn it off.  The a bananas get sliced and same thing,  check after 12 hours and see what you think.

 TAPAS

 

Tapas is a great culinary tradition of Spain.  I love serving tapas at parties because it gives me a chance to cook lots of things that wouldn’t ordinarily go together in a traditional meal.  The way it works in Spain is that most bars serve a variety of little plates of food to accompany your beer or glass of wine or sherry.   Some of the typical tapas are tortillas (a potato and onion much like a frittata), garlic shrimp, a few slices of Spanish serrano ham, fried potatoes or potato salad with tuna fish…and the possibilities are endless. Seville is the capital of the Tapas bar and since I just came back from Seville I was quite excited to try some of the interesting tapas I tasted there.

 

The idea for a tapas party is that you have some dishes prepared ahead of time and some, like the shrimp cooked last minute.  You serve a few good wines and sherries to accompany the little platters of the tasty treats that come forth from your kitchen.

 

Here are some of the wonderful tapas I’ve served at my recent dinner parties:

 

 

Spanish tortillas:  Start with a nonstick 12 inch skillet heated up and coated with olive oil. Fry coarsely chopped sweet onions until soft and beginning to brown, remove to a large bowl.  Peel and cube 3-4 medium potatoes into ¼- 1/2    inch dice and fry them in olive oil until beginning to brown and almost cooked through.  Add to the onions.  Beat 5-6 eggs until well combined and add to the potato and onion mixture stirring well to distribute the onions and potato.  Salt to your taste.  Coat the skillet again with olive oil and add the egg mixture.  When the mixture has browned on the bottom, you are ready to turn it over to cook the other side. Carefully take the frying pan to a sink. Place a large dinner plate (12”) upside down over the frying pan. With one hand on the frying pan handle and the other on top of the plate to hold it steady, quickly turn the frying pan over and the omelet will “fall” onto the plate. Place the frying pan back on the range and put just enough oil to cover the bottom and sides of the pan – approximately 1.5 tsp. Let the pan warm for 30 seconds or so. Now slide the omelet (which is probably still a bit runny), into the frying pan, using a spatula to catch any egg mixture that runs out. Use the spatula to shape the sides of the omelet. Let the omelet cook for 3-4 minutes or until the tortilla is set and beginning to brown. Turn the heat off and let the tortilla sit in the pan for 2 minutes.

Carefully slide the omelet onto a plate! To serve as a main course, slice it into 6-8 pieces like a pie. Serve sliced French bread on the side.

 

 

 

Chickpeas and spinach: Fry a small chopped onion d in a skillet or pot that has been coated with olive oil. When the onions are beginning to brown,  Add a 15.5 ounce can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and   1 teaspoon of Spanish smoked paprika. Fry together for 1-2 minutes and  then add ½ cup of chicken or vegetable broth. Meanwhile cook a pound of spinach and drain off the water.  When the chicken broth has been reduced by about half, add the spinach and salt to your taste and cook together for 5-10 minutes.  You can serve right away or refrigerate and heat up the next day. Before serving add a dash of good olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.  Chickpeas are a very commonly served tapa in Spain

 

Shrimp with garlic and sherry:  Start with a pot or frying pan and add olive oil covering the bottom with about an inch.  Slice 3-4 peeled garlic into thin slices.  Add them to the pot of olive oil and heat.  Watch the garlic closely and wait  till it is fragrant but not brown.  Add 1 pound of peeled shrimp and let them cook together adjusting the temperature so that the garlic does not brown. Add salt to taste.  When the shrimp are just pink, add ¼ cup sherry ( I use Amontillado)  and boil together.  If you want an extra garlic kick (and I always do)  chop up or use a garlic press and add another couple cloves of garlic at the last minute.  Serve this right away, bubbling hot with some good bread to sop of every drop of the wonderful sauce.  Once you’ve tried this, you may not want to have shrimp cooked any other way.

 

 

Scallop, shrimp and asparagus terrine:  Starting with Julia Child’s fish terrine, I came up with this simpler and  show stopping version.  If you love scallops this is one of the greatest way to enjoy essence of scallop, but you need to use the best scallops you can find.

Start by heating up your oven to 350 degrees ?. Place a large oven proof dish in the oven which is big enough to hold your terrine and ½ filled with hot water. I used a lasagna pan.

Take a pound of scallops (minus 2 large scallops that you’ve set aside) and an egg and puree them together in a food processor for several minutes until very smooth.  Meanwhile chop up the scallops and 5 large shrimp into a coarse 1/4 inch dice.  Blanch ½ pound of asparagus and slice them in half if they are thick. 

Back to the food processor:  add ½ cup heavy cream, 1/4 cup 1/2 and 1/2 and  a small pinch of saffron that you’ve soaked in ¼ cup of hot cognac.  Blend this together for a couple of minutes and then add 1/3 cup of bread crumbs, and blend until the mixture is very smooth.  Stir in the scallop and shrimp pieces..  Add salt to your liking.  Use a 6 cup terrine (or loaf plan) that has been lined on the bottom with buttered parchment cut to fit.  Pour in half the scallop mousse and thump the pan a little to distribute evenly.  Then distribute the asparagus over the top, salt the asparagus and add the second batch of mousse.  Cover with another piece of parchment and either the top of the terrine or another piece of aluminum foil placed over the top.  Put your terrine carefully into the pan with water that has been heating in the oven.  Cook for 60 minutes and check for doneness.  The internal temperature should be 160 degrees?. This terrine can be served hot or cold.  It is very rich so keep the tapas servings to one slice per person.

 

Polenta with morels:  Yesterday we found some beautiful morels and I came up with this recipe to showcase them. 

Mushroom mixture: Start with finely chopped onions that have been gently browned in a combination of butter and olive oil.  Set aside when soft and beginning to brown.  Set the onions aside. Fry the morels (that have been sliced in half or if larger, sliced in quarters and cleaned).  If you need more mushrooms, add some regular baby belas or any combination of wild or domestic sliced mushrooms, enough to feed your guests or family.  Cook the morels separately and set aside with the onions. The morels need to be cooked medium high so they get a little crispy.  Fry the rest of the mushrooms until cooked and then bring back the morels and onions to the frying pan.  Cook and mix together, taste for saltiness and add ¼ cup of Marsala wine and ¼ cup chicken or vegetable broth and cook together for 4-5 minutes until most of the liquid is gone.  Set aside and make the polenta.

Creamy polenta; Put one cup water and one cup corn meal in a saucepan and stir until mixed.  Then add two cups of hot chicken or vegetable stock and cook over medium heat until it thickens into a creamy texture (like a thin mashed potato). You need to be stirring pretty constantly so it doesn’t develop lumps. Add ¼ cup of parmesan or Romano cheese or a mix of the two and another1/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese and stir until melted and incorporated into the polenta.  Add salt to taste.

To serve, use a small plate and mound about a 1/3 cup of polenta covered by a big spoonful of mushrooms.  Sprinkle with parsley for garnish if desired.

 

To round out your tapas meal you can serve nice crusty bread, lots of good olive oil for bread dipping or to drizzle over your tapas,  along with olives and salad.