May 16 2011

Stuffed Portobellos

I found another fabulous recipe in my June 2011 Food Network Magazine. Cheese-Stuffed Portobellos – The recipe was located in the weeknight cooking section. Weeknights are definitely more challenging for me. It’s nice to find a quick recipe that tastes great. I’ve cooked with portobellos before, I’ve even had several stuffed versions, but I really liked the blend of flavors in this particular recipe.

The Ingredients:
Cooking Spray
4 6-inch Portobello Mushroom Caps
4 Cups Spinach – Chopped
1 Cup Panko Breadcrumbs
1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 Shallot – 1 finely chopped
1 Large Tomato – I sed two medium
3 Tablespoons Grated Pecorino Romano Cheese – Plus shaved pecorino for topping – I used Parmigiano-Reggiano because I didn’t have any romano cheese
3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Plus more for drizzling
Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
1/2 Cup Ricotta Cheese

Directions:
Remove the stems from your portobello caps – I used my kitchen shears. If you just snap the stems, I find that it rips away at the gills.

Preheat the broiler on your oven. Mist a foil-lined pan with cooking spray. Put the mushrooms gill-side down on the pan

Broil for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, prep your veggies…

I chopped my spinach into short ribbons and then I took the seeds out of my tomatoes and chopped them too.

Toss the spinach, breadcrumbs, mozzarella, chopped shallot, tomato and 2 tablespoons each parmigiano-regiano and olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and pepper to taste in a large bowl.

Make sure to keep a close watch on your portobellos while they broil. I pulled mine out of the oven and set them to cool for a little bit while I continued prepping my filling.

I removed the mushrooms from the broiler and turned them gill-side up. I used paper towels to soak up the liquid on the foil before moving on to the next step.

Season with salt and pepper.

Mound the spinach filling on the mushrooms…

Top with ricotta and then sprinkle with the remaining parm and broil until the filling is heated through and the ricotta has lightly browned – about 5-6 minutes.

The recipe also included a celery side dish that consisted of 4 stalks celery, 1 sliced shallot, shaved parm, 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

I’m showing this because it was in the magazine, but I ended up adding balsamic vinegar because it was pretty bitter tasting. Not sure if I just got a hold of bitter celery… but I probably won’t be making the side dish again.

I decided that I wanted to use my wedding china in the photos for my fancy stuffed bellos. My late husband Ace and I picked out this pattern and it mostly sits in my glass front cabinets. Why is that? As of now, I’m going to make an honest effort to use my wedding china, my grandmother’s wedding china and other fancy dishes on a more regular basis.

I loved the extra added crunch of the panko breadcrumbs. The melted clouds of ricotta really blended well with the spinach and tomato flavors.

I’m so happy to have another easy veggie recipe to add into my rotation. One little note – I cut the recipe in 1/2, filled my two caps and had plenty left over for a third cap. I think it just depends on how big and how deep your portobello caps are.

Two uses for portobellos in two posts – just showin’ the big mushrooms some love.

I should probably create a category called – Not Dan’s Choice, ha! – Dan wouldn’t go anywhere near the mushrooms. He opted for cereal and I’m cool with that – more lunch time leftovers for me. 😉

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=4755

May 11 2011

The Perfect Turkey Burger

I was super excited to see that the June 2011 Food Network Magazine featured burgers in their “Pick a Patty” feature. Last year our big 4th of July party featured the first annual chili cook-off, well – this years it’s going to be a burger contest. My brother is already making space near his grill to display his 1st place medal, ha! –  I know it’s a little early to talk strategy and I’d be crazy to include my award winning burger recipe here on the blog for other guests/contestants to see… but I did find that this turkey burger could easily have scored a medal. No joke, this turkey burger was phenomenal.

The Ingredients:
1 Large Portobello Mushroom Cap
1 Tablespoon Coarsely Chopped Shallot
3 Tablespoons Lightly Packed Fresh Parsley
1 1/4 lbs. 85%-93% Lean Ground Turkey
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil – plus more for brushing the grill
1 Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
Sharp White Cheddar Cheese – the recipe suggested Manchego or White Cheddar (I only had sharp)
4 English Muffins – split
Dijon Mustard
Mayonnaise
Wholly Guacamole – the recipe suggested avocado, I thought I had one, but I didn’t.

Directions:
Use a spoon to scrape out the gills from the underside of the mushroom cap.

Cut the cap into 1-inch pieces and transfer to a food processor. Add the shallot and parsley and pulse until chopped.

I used my blender attachment because I didn’t feel like breaking out my Cuisinart. Transfer the mushroom mixture to a large bowl and add the turkey, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste.

Gently mix with your hands until just combined. The photo above is just of the mushroom mixture. I forgot to snap a photo of what the mix looked like when I added the meat.

Divide the meat mixture into 4 balls, then lightly press into 4-inch wide, 1-inch thick patties. Put patties on a large plate, cover and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. I actually put mine in the freezer for about 15 minutes. I was losing my light for evening photos. 🙂

Preheat your grill to medium. Brush the grates with olive oil. Grill the patties, undisturbed, until marked on the bottom, 4-5 minutes. Mine took 5 minutes. Give the patties a quarter turn and cook until marked again – another 4-5 minutes.

Flip the patties and grill until cooked through, 6-7 more minutes. Top each burger with cheese during the last 3 minutes of cooking and cover with a disposable aluminum pan to melt. I skipped that part because I didn’t have one.

After the 3 minutes, my cheese melted and was oozing down the sides. The burgers looked perfect!

Toast the English muffins on the grill. I brushed mine with a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil.

I combined my mustard and mayo and then spread it on the bottom English muffin piece and placed the burger on top of that. I spread my Wholly Guacamole on top of the burger and then placed the English muffin top piece on my finished burger.

Some spicy Hawaiian BBQ Chips and the meal was complete.

The mushroom was definitely the key ingredient – it added moisture and flavor to the lean turkey. I will be making these throughout the Summer for sure.

It’s “Burger Month” and many local Sacramento restaurants are featuring custom burger creations – I proved tonight that you can whip something up in your own kitchen to celebrate. That doesn’t mean I won’t go sample some of the restaurant creations… after all, there is a 4th of July contest title on the line.

Bring it!

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=4715

May 06 2011

Terra Crinkles Sweet Potato Chips

Terra chips first entered the “snack” market with their colorful veggie chips over 20 years ago. I remember reaching past the funky colored veggie chips to grab regular potato chips, pretzels or tortilla chips. I didn’t give them a try until I was out of college and actually concerned about what I was putting into my body. – Having some cash also helped.

I picked up an over-sized bag of Terra Crinkles Sweet Potato Sea Salt chips 6 months ago at Costco. I pretty much fell in love. I brought them to several events and parties, created some yogurt based dips, and knew that I would continue to purchase them.

While shopping at Henry’s last month, I saw a display of Terra Crinkles Candied Sweet Potato chips. I immediately threw a small bag into my cart to give the sweeter option a try.

I was pleasantly surprised at the cinnamon/sugar flavors – they were dusted with Indonesian cinnamon and classic brown sugar, but they were REALLY sweet. It was sweet on sweet for sure. I definitely liked the sea salt flavor better. Not to say that I wouldn’t buy them again – I absolutely will – it’s just that they satisfy a different craving – I usually crave a combo of sweet and salty things and the sea salted sweet potato chip was the perfect blend for me. I did end up dipping the candied version in vanilla Chobani and that = yum! More of a dessert option.

This was not a small bowl of chips ;).  I admit to having a distorted view when it comes to portion control and chips – the same goes for cereal. It’s a weakness.

Question: Do you like/crave sweet or salty snacks or a combo?

P.S., I noticed that Terra chips had a coupon link on their website – so head on over to grab $1.00 off coupon if you’re interested.

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=3886