Goat Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

So this is an extension from the last post but I didn’t want the post to drag and drag so here’s a separate one.

Goat Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms:

Ingredients:

Crimini mushrooms

Goat cheese

Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

Rosemary

1 shallot, minced

One clove garlic, minced

The filling:

1) Take off the mushroom stems and finely chop. In a saute pan, add olive oil and saute the shallot and garlic. After about 2 minutes add the stems and saute until most of the liquid evaporates. Let it cool.

2) Once the mixture cools, mix in about 1/2 cup of goat cheese. Season with s&p.

The breadcrumbs:

1) In a saute pan, add some olive oil, a sprig of rosemary and let the oil infuse with the rosemary and also heat up.  Then add the panko and quickly fry the breadcrumbs.

The mushrooms:

1) Season the mushrooms with olive oil, s&p and bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

2) Take the mushrooms out and fill with the goat cheese mixture and sprinkle the top with the rosemary breadcrumbs.

3) Bake for another 15 minutes.

Salmon & Arugula Pasta with Cream Sauce

Salmon & Arugula Pasta with Cream Sauce:

Ingredients:

2 filets of salmon

2-3 cups of heavy cream

12 tbsps of butter

half a bag of arugula

1 cup of grated pecorino romano

1 tbsp lemon zest

1 lb of pasta (your choice, better with a short pasta like penne, rigatoni, bow tie, etc)

1) Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water with salt and some oil.

2) Season the salmon on both sides with s&p and in a saute pan, heat some olive oil and when the pan is hot, sear the salmon and cook for about 4 minutes on the first side and then about 2-3 minutes on the other side. Break salmon up into pieces.

3) In a small pot on medium heat, add 2 cups of the heavy cream and butter and heat for about 3-5 minutes. Season with s&p.

4) Toss everything together, the pasta with the cream sauce, arugula, and salmon.

5) In a small pot, add the remaining 1/2 cup of cream, lemon zest, s&p and heat through about a minute. Then add to the pasta.

6) Top with the grated pecorino romano.

(stuffed mushrooms – next entry)

Heat Wave calls for BBQ!

At another bbq back in the day, my friend made these and they were so good I have been replicating her patties and again for this past weekend. It was a great weekend. My best friend was in town and the weather in SF was perfect. Trav has an amazing view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the bay from his apartment and roofdeck and the weather was just so perfect we decided to throw a rooftop bbq. Among many things on the menu was Turkey burgers with feta cheese and spinach.

Turkey Burgers with Feta Cheese & Spinach:

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground turkey (makes about 6 good size patties)

About 4-5 cups of crumbled feta cheese

1 bunch of spinach, roughly chopped

1/2 yellow onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 egg

In a large saute pan, heat some olive oil and saute the garlic and onion with some s&p for about 5 minutes.  Then add the spinach and add more s&p. Let the spinach wilt down for a bit to get some of the excess liquid out.

Let the spinach mixture cool and later squeeze out some excess water. You can just grab a little at time in your hand and squeeze so make sure when you’re sauting to season well with salt and pepper since we’ll be squeezing later.

Add the spinach mixture, feta cheese, egg, and s&p to the ground turkey and get in there with your hands and mix it up.  Make a mini pattie for taste to see if it needs anything else and then form into hamburger patties and grill them up.

Cauliflower Soup

So when I told Trav that we were having cauliflower soup for dinner he was A. thought i was joking, then B. mortified

but really it tastes good so try it!

Ingredients:

3 strips of bacon

1 small onion, diced

2 celery ribs, diced

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 head of cauliflower

about 3-4 cups of chicken broth

about 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

s&p

Chop 2 strips of bacon into big chunks and saute them in a pan until it starts to brown. Then add the onion, celery and garlic and saute until the veggies are soft maybe 5 minutes. Then lower the heat and add the cauliflower and chicken broth and cover and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

Using a blender or hand held blender, blend the soup until smooth. Bring it back to the pot with the heat on low and add the cream and s&p to taste.

With the other remaining strip of bacon, chop into chunks, saute in the pan and sprinkle on top of the soup.

Grilled Lamb Chops with Swiss Chard

i heart agneau. except for some reason i don’t like lamb shank. that cut of lamb just doesn’t do it for me.

anyway, to satisfy my lamb craving here’s what i did…

Ingredients:

chimichurri (my version based on what was available in my fridge)

lamb chops

swiss chard (red or green)

onion

garlic

s&p

Chimichurri:

I didn’t quite measure so I’m going to have to just guess so if you prefer you can look up the actual recipe or make by taste. After you make it, set aside. When the lamb is done, spoon the chimichurri over the meat.

In a small bowl:

add 2 finely diced garlic cloves

5 tbsps olive oil

1 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes

1 sprig of chopped rosemary

1 tsp of chopped capers

a few sprigs of chopped cilantro

salt & pepper to taste

Lamb Chops:

Season with salt & pepper and on a hot grill pan grill the lamb chops about 4 minutes on the first side and maybe 3 on the other for medium rare depending on how thick the chops are.

Swiss Chard:

Saute diced garlic and onion with olive oil.  Add the swiss chard and add salt to taste.

Mozzarella Fritta with Sage Butter

Trav and I went to Delfina the other night (one of our fav pizzerias) and they had this delicious fried mozzarella wonder so I decided I wanted to eat them again and added my own little twist. Some sage butter.

Ingredients:

Fresh mozzarella, diced into crouton sizes

baguette, diced into crouton sizes

butter

sage

Batter:

1 cup flour

1 cup soda water

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp baking powder

I like this batter because it’s much lighter and crispier than other kinds. The consistency should be more on the watery side and not too thick.

Sage butter:

Melt about 3 tbsps butter on low heat with a few sage leaves so that sage infuses with the butter.

Fry:

Use skewers or toothpicks and add the mozzarella and bread, alternating. Dip it in the tempura batter and deep fry until golden brown. As soon as they’re done, season with salt and drizzle the sage butter over the top and serve right away.  It’s so good when the mozzarella is all delicious and melty.

sorry the pictures are a little blurry.

i heart edward cullen