Mushroom Pie!

This is a fungus-lover's ultimate meal. Just a few ingredients and it tastes FANTASTIC!
For this recipe you will need:

10z package of Baby Bella mushrooms, diced fine
Medium onion, diced fine
2 TBSP chopped fresh dill
Salt and pepper to taste
1 c shredded Swiss cheese
1/2 c half & half
3 shots of cooking sherry
1 tbsp butter
One package of puff pastry, thawed
1 egg white

Preheat oven to 350

Heat butter in a skillet and saute onions until they start to turn clear, add diced mushrooms and dill... cook over med/high heat for another 3 minutes.



Add sherry and half & half, turn heat to medium and simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cheese.

Prepare the dough by placing one of the two sheets in a 6x6 (or 8x8) baking pan. Alternatively you can lay one sheet on a lightly oiled, foil-lined baking sheet.

Spoon filling into the dish or onto the flat sheet of pastry dough. Place the remaining sheet on top and pinch around the edges to seal the pie. Vent the top of the pie to allow steam to escape. I used a small star-shaped cookie cutter.

Beat 1 egg white and use to to liberally baste the top of the pie. This will give the pie a nice finished sheen and fabulous flaky texture.

Bake for 1 hour, and let cool for at least 30 minutes to allow the pie to set up a bit before serving.


Recipe tips:

• You could probably use a pie crust too, but I love the puff pastry!

• Omitting the sherry would be fine, but I like the flavor it added.

• Don't omit the dill!! In fact, next time I will probably add more. It really make this dish what it was!

• The longer you let it cool after cooking the nicer it will set when you go to serve it.

• This was tasty as a meal/pie, but this would be a KILLER filling for appetizer tartlets as well.

• A chopped up slice of bacon or two would be a welcome flavor in this dish.

• A different type of cheese, say cheddar, would probably be good too.

Crispy Potato Stacks

If I had to chose one thing to eat for the rest of my life that would be an easy choice: POTATO!
Oh, how I love potatoes. Mashed, fried, boiled, roasted, Frenched, stuffed, baked, or soupified.

So imagine my glee when I came across a delicious looking idea for a new way of roasting potatoes!

This recipe is simple and relatively quick. It's ultra quick if you have a mandoline. If you don't have one of those, then a bit more time and a steady hand can accomplish the same thing. These are fun to eat: dig in with a knife and fork or, like my kids, peel each delicious layer off one at a time!



Crispy Potato Stacks

3 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. Russets potatoes
Salt and pepper
Fresh herbs of your choice

1. Preheat the oven to 350F
2. Wash and dry potatoes (peel if desired, I like the skins on) and thinly slice potatoes with a mandoline or a steady hand, the thinner the better.
3. With potato slices in a big bowl, lightly coat with more evoo (about 2 TBSP) and toss with 2-3 minced garlic cloves and/fresh herbs, kosher salt, pepper to taste.
4. Brush 8 muffin tins with olive oil with a pastry brush (or your finger). Lay a potato slice in the bottom of a muffin tin. Repeat until it stacks up to the top of the muffin tin. Repeat until you run out of potatoes.
5. Bake the potato stacks in the preheated oven for 35-45 minutes or until the potatoes are golden brown and cook through.

Variations: Omit garlic and sprinkle in a packet of dry Ranch Dressing mix
Nom Nom Nom

Home Sweet Comfort Food

My mom is a great cook. She always tries new things, but she has her "signature dishes" too. Growing up, there were always meals my brother, father, or I would consistently beg for.

One of my all time favorite dishes of my mom's is Stuffed Zucchini. Now you, too, can enjoy this delicious meal! Thanks mom!... I hope I made it "right"!!


STUFFED ZUCCHINI

5 good sized zucchini
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 eggs
Kosher salt
Black pepper
1 lb lean ground beef
1/4 bread crumbs
Italian seasoning
Parmesan/mozzarella cheese blend
Your favorite red pasta sauce

Preheat your over to 350. Slice the zucchini length-wise. Use a spoon to scrape out the centers of the zucchini to make a nice deep well in each one. (SAVE THESE SCRAPINGS) Pierce each piece of zucchini 3 or 4 times with a fork and place cut-side down on a lined cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes to soften.

While the zucchini bakes, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of kosher salt over the zucchini scrapings and let them sit for about 10-20 minutes. The salt will help draw out the extra moisture.

Brown the ground beef. Let cool slightly.

Drain the liquid from the Zucchini innards, give them a good squeeze and get out most of that extra liquid. We don't want a soggy meal!!
Add 2 eggs, bread crumbs, a bit more salt and pepper to taste, Italian seasoning to taste (I use about a tablespoon), diced onion, and beef. Mix it up real good.

Spray the bottom of a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and place the open zucchini in it to fit. Generously spoon filling into each one, top with another zucchini half. If you end up with extra mixture (and you probably will!!) just sprinkle it around the pan. Top with red sauce to your liking. I typically use half a jar/can. Cover with foil and bake 40 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle with cheese blend and BROIL just until golden and delicious!

My mom ALWAYS served this meal with a side of creamy Parmesan noodles. They were usually Lipton or similar. As long as they are the thin angel hair noodles and Parm flavor, they go PERFECT with this dish!

Enjoy!!

Pretzel Bites

I'm warning you now... this is a dangerous, dangerous recipe. You will be fighting your friends and loved-ones for the very last nugget. Good thing this recipe makes a lot!

Don't be scared to work with dough. It's actually more difficult to mess up than you think. Just keep these tips in mind:

1. Follow directions.
2. Knead the dough for as long as you're supposed to. Not much longer, not shorter. Set a timer if you must! If you don't know how to knead dough, watch a Youtube demo.
3. Let it rest. Don't touch it, don't poke it, just let it alone while it rises.

Do that^ and your pretzels will be perfect!

Ingredients:

1 packet active dry yeast
4 cups of flour
2 tbsp sugar (white or brown)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
8-10 cups water
4 tbsp baking soda

Kosher salt for topping
1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tbsp water

Combine sugar, salt, and warm water in a bowl. Sprinkle yeast packet on top and lest rest for 5 minutes until it begins to foam. If it doesn't foam it means your yeast is dead and you need a new packet.

Add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes if using a stand mixer - 8 minutes if kneading by hand. Grease a bowl and place dough ball in it, then turn it over so it's greased side up. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a nice warm place, let it rest and rise for an hour.

While dough is rising:

Heat oven to 450. Line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper and grease with Crisco, veggie oil, or spray.
Bring 8 to 10 cups of water to a rolling boil, add baking soda.

When dough has rested, turn it out onto a lightly oiled surface and cut into 1 to 1 1/2 inch ropes. I use a pizza cutter to just slice up the large dough ball. Use the pizza cutter to slice the rope into 2 inch nuggets.

Drop dough balls, several at a time, into boiling water for 30 to 45 seconds. You can boil several balls at once, just don't over crowed the water... they should be able to float.
Fish them out with a slotted utensil, drain, and place onto baking sheet.

Brush the tops of each nugget with the egg yolk mixture (you can also just use the entire egg if you want, doesn't make much difference), and sprinkle with Kosher salt.

Bake at 450 for 10-13 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for about 5 minutes before serving. You can also brush them with butter before serving, but I honestly didn't think it needed it.

You can also skip the salt and coat with sugar and cinnamon after baking.
This dough also makes a great pretzel base for pretzel-dogs, pretzel wrapped Lil' Smokies, cheese stuffed pretzel logs, ham and cheese logs, or pepperoni logs. Just flatten out the dough a bit and wrap it around anything yummy and good. You can skip the boiling stage if your going to go this route, the pretzel will just be a bit less chewy.

Enjoy!

Creamy Tomato & Chorizo Soup

This is a simple, spicy, delicious soup that is a cinch to put together and ready in 20 minutes!


If you have access to a Trader Joe's:

2 large cartons of Creamy Tomato soup - 32oz each
12 oz of vegetarian chorizo
1 bag of fire roasted corn, frozen
1 can of Cuban-style black beans, undrained
Cheese for garnish

If you do not have a Trader Joe's:

Approximately 60 oz of any base-tomato soup
12 oz of chorizo, vegetarian or pork
1 bag of frozen corn, roasted if you an find it
1 can of black beans, undrained
Cheese for garnish

De-case the chorizo and put in the bottom of a stockpot. The vegetarian just needs to be heated through, the pork choizo would need to be cooked.
Add the undrained can of black beans
Add the tomato soup and bag of frozen corn.

Simmer for about 20 minutes to heat through and blend flavors.
Serve in bowls topped with a little cheese.

This recipe makes a ton, so you can cut the recipe in half ... but the leftovers of this soup are just as yummy and it freezes very well!

Enjoy!

Butter Chicken

1 lb chicken tenders, cut into chunks
2-3 medium red potatoes
(I like potato in mine, but this can be left out)
1 medium onion, diced
1 tbsp cumin powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jar Korma simmer sauce
4 oz water
1 8oz tub of whipped cream cheese
3-4 tbsp butter
Salt to taste
(fresh lime juice, optional)

Botan (sticky) rice or basmati rice, cooked per package directions.

This is a recipe I invented to give myself a quick easy butter chicken when I don't feel like going through the hassle of making the entire sauce from scratch. Using a Korma sauce as a base and tweaking it a bit will give you a very nice dinner with minimal effort!

Directions: In a pan saute the onion, diced chicken and diced potato until chicken is mostly done and potato is softening. Add minced garlic and saute a few more minutes. Add one jar of Korma simmer sauce , which can be found in the ethnic aisle of any grocery store. Add water and cumin. Simmer on medium low for 20 minutes. Stir in tub of cream cheese until melted and incorporated into the sauce. Add butter and stir until melted. Salt to taste and serve over rice. Drizzle with a bit of fresh lime juice, if desired.

Enjoy!