Better Brunch

I love frittatas.  I normally server them for dinner since I am not usually hosting brunches on a regular basis.  But I think this is the perfect brunch dish served with something else sweet like a breakfast muffin or a fruit salad. I love brunch.  I went to brunch on Mother's Day and it was so much fun.  They didn't serve a frittata.  It was yummy anyway.  Maybe I just like to drink champagne in the early afternoon.  Either way, brunch is my idea of a good time. 

Mushroom Frittata
Adapted from Cooking Light January 2013

 

Ingredients

• 2 ounces finely grated fresh pecorino Romano cheese (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8 large eggs 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided 
• 1 (8-ounce) package sliced cremini mushrooms
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 2 cups baby arugula
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Combine first 3 ingredients; add 1/4 teaspoon salt, stirring with a whisk.



Heat a 10-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoons oil; swirl to coat. Add mushrooms and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt; sauté 6 minutes or until mushrooms brown and most of liquid evaporates.



Stir in onions; sauté 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium.



Add egg mixture and basil to pan,



 stirring gently to evenly distribute vegetable mixture;



cook 5 minutes or until eggs are partially set. Place pan in oven. Bake at 350° for 7 minutes or until eggs are cooked through and top is lightly browned. Remove pan from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Run a spatula around edge and under frittata to loosen from pan; cut fritatta into slices while still in pan.

3. Combine the remaining 1 teaspoon oil, arugula, and lemon juice. Top the fritatta with arugula mixture and serve.



Click Here for My Adapted Printable Recipe

Across the Pond, and Back

I was fortunate to travel to the UK when I was fourteen and it happened to be the one and only time I had ever eaten Beef Stroganoff.  I actually remember it being a pretty pitiful experience.  I think I recall adjectives like gross, inedible and yucky.  As bad food experiences tend to do, it turned me off of the dish for the last 15 or so years.  I never desired to give Beef Stroganoff another try until I saw this recipe in the latest edition of my favorite magazine.  I considered that I was a picky 14 year old, it was a hotel banquet type dinner and I was in another country (one that isn't typically known for its cuisine).  And not to say that the dish wasn't actually bad, but all of these factors certainly could have contributed to my opinion at the time.  I love beef and mushrooms and sour cream, so I had high hopes that my first impression of this dish would be wrong.  And it was!  I really liked this; it was flavorful, hearty and comforting. 

Beef Stroganoff
Adapted from Cooking Light January 2013

Ingredients

• 6 1/2 cups water, divided
• 6 ounces uncooked egg noodles
• 1 pound sirloin steak, trimmed
• Cooking spray
• 1 cup chopped onion 
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon hot paprika
• 1 (6-ounce) package presliced cremini mushrooms
• 1 cup lower-sodium beef broth, divided
• 5 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup fat-free sour cream 
• 3 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions 
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

 

Preparation

1. Bring 6 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add noodles; cook 7 minutes or until al dente. Drain.

2. Cut beef across the grain into 1/4-inch-wide strips; cut strips into 2-inch pieces.



3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add beef to pan; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper; sauté 4 minutes or until browned.



Remove beef from pan leaving juices in the pan. Add 1 cup onion, remaining 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt, paprika, and mushrooms to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Reduce heat to medium.




4. Combine 1/4 cup beef broth and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add broth mixture,



beef, remaining 3/4 cup broth, green onions and remaining 1/2 cup water to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.



Cover and cook 8 minutes or until sauce thickens. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream and butter.



Serve beef mixture over egg noodles; sprinkle with parsley.


Click Here for My Printable Adapted Recipe.

"Make Me" Mushrooms

I know it seems a little late to be posting Thanksgiving recipe ideas, but this one is so easy it won't take much effort to pull off at the 11th hour.  And trust me, this is an amazing recipe.  Four ingredients and about four minutes of prep time to get this sensationally savory side dish (or appetizer, your choice) in the oven.  But if I am in fact too late to get this added to your menu for tomorrow, keep this recipe around - it is huge crowd pleaser!

Feta and Rosemary Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup of Feta Cheese, crumbled
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Rosemary, chopped fine
• 4 medium Portabella mushrooms, sometimes called stuffing caps
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
• Non-Stick cooking spray

Preparation:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

2.  Mix the Feta and Rosemary in a small bowl.



3.  Wipe mushrooms clean with a clean dry dish cloth.  Pull stem from each mushroom and use a spoon to scrape away the mushroom gills. Discard the caps and gills.

4.  Brush the inside and the outside of the caps with Worcestershire sauce using a pastry brush.



Sprinkle the inside of the caps with cracked black pepper.

5.  Divide the Feta and Rosemary mixture evenly among the mushrooms.  Packing the cheese tight inside the mushroom cavity.  Place the stuffed mushrooms on a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

6.  Bake the mushrooms for 20 minutes or until the cheese melts and begins to lightly brown.  Serve immediately.



Click Here for My Printable Recipe

Strategic Strata

I think this is technically a breakfast dish, but I served it for dinner. I would definitely suggest putting it in the lunch/dinner category as it is very rich, but equally delicious. It is a great meal to serve to a crowd on a busy day because not only can it be a day ahead, it actually needs to be prepared at least 9 hours prior to serving. I am always looking for dishes that I can prepare ahead and heat/cook just before serving when I have a large crowd or a particularly over-scheduled time in my life, like the holidays!

Asiago, Mushroom, and Sausage Strata
Adapted from Southern Living Christmas Cookbook

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground pork sausage
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 (8oz) package sliced baby portobello mushrooms
• 1 medium shallot, minced
• 1 tsp minced dried thyme
• 1 (16oz) loaf sourdough bread, cubed
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Asiago cheese, divided
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 1/2 cups half and half
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Brown sausage in a large skillet over medium high heat, stirring often, 6 to 7 minutes or until; meat crumbles and is no longer pink; drain.

Melt butter in pan over medium heat; add mushrooms and shallot, and saute until tender.

Stir in sausage and thyme.

2. Place bread in a lightly greased 13'x9' baking dish.

Sprinkle mushroom mixture

and 1/2 cup cheese over bread.

Whisk together eggs and remaining 3 ingredients;

pour over mushrooms and bread.

Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover and chill at least 8 hours (I chilled over night).

3. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake 30 more minutes or until set and lightly browned. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Click Here for My Adapted Printable Recipe

Salami Skepticism

Forrest is a big fan of Salami and I have never been crazy about it, but always willing to eat it if it is buried in a a dish with other ingredients of my liking. I went into making this super easy calzone thinking I would be turned off by the fact that the salami was the sole meat. And boy was I ever wrong. This calzone was delicious. All of the ingredients worked wonderfully together and it even left me questioning my salami disdain...

Salami Mozzarella Calzone
Adapted from the Food Network

Ingredients

• 1 large green bell pepper, diced and sauteed in cooking spray
  
• 4 oz of white button mushrooms, sliced and sauteed in cooking spray
  
• 1 large eggs
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 pound shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing
• 1 13.8-ounce tube refrigerated pizza dough
• 1/4 pound deli-sliced salami, cut into thin strips
• 1/4 pound sliced provolone cheese

Directions

Place a baking sheet upside down in the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Beat the eggs and parsley in a small bowl.

Pour half of the egg mixture into a medium bowl and stir in the mozzarella.

Reserve the remaining egg mixture for brushing on the crust.

Turn another baking sheet upside down; line with parchment paper and brush with olive oil. Unroll the dough on the parchment paper and pat into a 9-by-12-inch rectangle. Spread the mozzarella mixture over one half of the dough, leaving a 1-inch border along the edge.

Top with the salami,

followed by vegetables

and provolone.

Fold the other half of the dough over to cover the filling. Crimp and roll the edges to seal,

then pierce the top of the dough in a few places with a knife.

Slide the calzone with the parchment paper onto the hot baking sheet; bake 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with the remaining egg mixture,

then continue to bake until the crust is golden, 5 to 10 more minutes. Let rest 5 minutes, then cut into wedges.

Click Here for My Adapted Printable Recipe

Special Salt Selection

It isn't very often that the ingredient I most want to showcase in a dish is salt. However, that was the case when I set out to make these pita pizzas. I wanted the salt to be the star. I had these aspirations for the spice because it was special. Not just any salt. Certianly not something poured out of a metal spout from that blue cylindrical container. This salt was "Fumee de Sel", fleur de sel crystals which are hand harvested on the coast of France, then gently smoked over wood chips from aged oak Chardonnay wine barrels. Fancy right?

I purchased this Fumee de Sel when we traveled to Seattle over a year ago. There is a lovely shop in Pike's Place Market called Market Spice. I procured a bag of this unique salt and used it here and there in recipes, but never found the right recipe with simple enough ingredients to really give the salt the attention it deserves. This grilled "pizza" recipe was perfect! The specialty salt added a smokey flavor to the veggies and the pita that complimented the grilling perfectly.

Grilled Portobello Goat Cheese Pizzas
Adapted from Cooking Light August 2004

Ingredients

• 2 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 (6-inch) pita rounds
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided
• 1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  
• 1 (6-ounce) package portobello mushrooms
• 2 medium Roma tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 1/3 cup (3 ounces) goat cheese
• 1/4 tsp of crushed red pepper
  
• 1 teaspoon dried basil

Preparation

• Preheat an outdoor grill over medium heat.
• Combine garlic and 1 tsp of olive oil; brush evenly over pitas.

• Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper evenly over pitas.

• Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper evenly over mushrooms and tomatoes. Brush mushrooms and tomatoes with remaining oil and balsamic vinegar.

• Grill pita for 1 minute each side; mushrooms for 6 minutes or until tender, turning once. Grill tomatoes for 1 minute.

• Combine goat cheese with crushed red pepper. Spread goat cheese evenly over warm pitas. Arrange the mushrooms and tomatoes evenly over pitas.
  

• Sprinkle with basil and Serve.

Click Here for My Adapted Printable Recipe

** Disclaimer: I was not compensated in any way by Market Spice. I just wanted to mention the shop since it left such a great impression on me.

Kitchen Kaos

I have done A LOT of cooking, I think I am somewhere in the 350 range of recipes just on this blog and that only counts the cooking I have done in the last three years. That isn't even taking into account the time I spent in the kitchen before this blog; nor does it consider all the recipes I have made and haven't blogged or things I have made more than once after blogging them. What I am trying to get at is that I have done a whole ton of cooking in my day and I have been relatively lucky to avoid any serious kitchen mishaps or accidents.

I can only remember two times I had a problem and for one of them I wasn't even cooking, I was just testing out my new knives and I nicked my fingertip. The other time I was making my brother eggs when I was in high school and I sprayed PAM directly into the pan on the open gas flame (that was scary).

I consider myself fortunate to have escaped anything serious up until this point. That is, until these seemingly benign Asian Lettuce Cups. This recipe didn't even include all that much cooking so it was surprising that this is where I slipped up. I still am not sure what exactly happened, but I know I had a close call. After I sauteed the mushrooms, I left the pan on the fire and added more oil. Then I went to the fridge, got the shrink wrapped pork package and poked a whole in it to open the top and drop the pork into the pan. Well I am guessing that a small piece of the plastic fell into the hot oil and we had a tower of fire burning in the pan as high as the kitchen cabinets. Forrest was playing with the Baby in his nursery and I screamed his name as I stepped back and all I could think was, "Do not come to my rescue with our Son in your arms." As I turned around in shock to watch for my help emerge from the hallway, I was petrified to see my husband standing there with our 9 month old in his arms. As I thought through my fire safety skills and what I should do next, I noticed a strange look on my husbands face. He looked surprisingly calm and a little confused. At that point I realized that the fire had burned off and there was no emergency to be had. Thankfully this little kitchen accident had a happy ending and it served the purpose of putting me back on my toes in the kitchen in regards to safety.

Asian Lettuce Cups
Adapted from Cooking Light August 2010

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon canola oil, divided
• 2 cups coarsely chopped shiitake mushroom caps (about 5 ounces)
• 16 ounces ground pork
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 2/3 cup thinly sliced green onions (about 4)
• 1 (8-ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained and coarsely chopped
• 8 Boston lettuce leaves
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 4 teaspoons lower-sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons Sriracha
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms;

sauté 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Place mushrooms in a large bowl. Heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add pork, garlic, and ginger to pan;

cook 6 minutes or until turkey is browned, stirring to crumble. Add pork mixture, onions, and water chestnuts to mushrooms in bowl;

stir well.

2. Spoon 1/2 cup turkey mixture into each lettuce leaf. Combine hoisin, soy sauce, rice vinegar, Sriracha, and salt in a small bowl,

stirring with a whisk. Serve sauce with lettuce cups.

Click Here for My Adapted Printable Recipe