Stuffed mushrooms

Seven mushrooms may seem like a strange amount to base a recipe on, but that's all the fungi I had in my fridge. You can modify this recipe for however many mushrooms are in your fridge.

Stuffed mushrooms

7 large cremini mushrooms
olive oil for drizzling
1 shallot, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 sprig fresh thyme leaves, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp white wine
2/3 cup breadcrumbs (I use Panko)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 egg
1 Tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 400.

Wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp paper towel. Gently pop out the mushroom stems, chop them into a fine dice and set aside. Rub the tops of the caps in olive oil and place the caps bowl-side up in a square baking pan.

Heat a frying pan on medium-low heat. Add some olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the shallots and garlic and saute for a few minutes until soft. Add the chopped mushroom stems and wine and saute for another few minutes. Take the mixture off the heat and transfer to a mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, lightly beat the egg with the milk.

To the mushroom-stem mixture, add the breadcrumbs, parsley, parmesan cheese and egg-and-milk mixture. Stir to combine all of the ingredients into a stuffing.

Drizzle some olive oil into the cavity of each mushroom cap and then spoon the stuffing into the caps, mounding them up. Drizzle more olive oil (a scant 1/4 teaspoon) or better yet, place a small pat of butter over the top of each mound.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes until the tops are golden.

Thai coconut chicken soup

One rotisserie chicken goes a long way. I bought one last weekend and we had it four ways: a Friday night dinner of drumsticks and fries with Swiss Chalet sauce from a package, then chicken breast and arugula baguette sandwiches for lunches, then homemade chicken stock and the rest of the meat to make this soup!

Thai coconut chicken soup

4 cups chicken stock
1 400-ml can unsweetened coconut milk
2 small red chiles, finely sliced and no seeds
1 lemongrass stalk, cut into long pieces
3 Tbsp fish sauce (or soy sauce, but then omit the salt)
1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
pinch of salt
6 cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded 
juice of half a lime
3/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Bring the chicken stock and coconut milk to a boil in a stock pot.

Reduce heat and add the chiles, lemongrass, fish sauce, ginger and salt. Simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Add in the mushrooms, chicken and lime juice. Simmer for five minutes. Remove the lemongrass and sprinkle with cilantro before serving.

Striploin steak on croutes with sauteed onions and mushrooms

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Last night S and I made another delicious dinner. We collaborated — he made the following steak and I made the vegetable accompaniment, apple-stuffed acorn squash.

Striploin steak on croutes with sauteed onions and mushrooms
Serves two

1 striploin steak, about one-inch thick
one small onion
handful of cremini mushrooms
balsamic vinegar
quarter of a baguette
salt and pepper
olive oil/canola oil/butter

Put some canola oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat.

Season one side of the steak generously with salt and pepper.

When the oil is hot, put the steak in the pan, seasoned side down. Then season the other side of the steak. Leave the steak for three to five minutes, depending on the thickness until it is browned and caramelized. Do not check the meat too often.

Flip the steak and repeat with the other side, which will take a little less time to brown. Use the finger test to see how well done it is. Poke the steak with your finger — if it's soft then it's rare, but the firmer it feels to the touch, the more well done it is.

Take the steak off the heat and let it rest on a plate for 10 minutes under some foil.

While the meat is resting, prepare the croutes and saute the onions and mushrooms.

To prepare the croutes, slice a quarter baguette on a long diagonal, rub the top side with butter or olive oil and lay on a baking sheet. Put under the broiler for three or four minutes or until starting to brown. Remove from oven and set aside to crisp up.

To prepare the mushroom saute, heat a frying pan on medium heat and add olive oil. Chop the onions into half-moon slices and slice the mushrooms. When the oil is hot, add the onions and stir until softened but not browned, about a minute or two. Then add the mushrooms and stir for a couple of minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Once they've started browning, reduce the heat and drizzle some balsamic vinegar on top. Stir for another minute. Remove from heat.

Assemble the ingredients. Cut the steak in half and put each half on a bed of croutes and the mushroom sautee on top of the steak. Serve with apple-stuffed acorn squash.

Mushroom risotto

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I made this over the holidays with my dad. We used the turkey stock he made after Christmas instead of chicken broth. It turned out really well. I think the secret is to include the mushroom broth that comes from soaking dried mushrooms. You could also add garlic. Another secret: do not rinse the rice. Usually I wash rice four or five times or until its water runs clear, but with risotto, you don't want to wash off the starches because they are what gives this dish a creamy consistency.

Mushroom risotto
Serves six

pat of butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
handful of dried wild mushrooms
4 cups turkey stock
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1 2/3 cups arborio rice
2 1/2 cups of mushrooms, sliced
pinch of pumpkin spice
finely chopped parsley
grated parmesan

Bring the turkey broth to a boil in a stock pot and turn down to maintain at a low simmer.

Soak the dried mushrooms in 2 cups of boiling water from the kettle for about 10 minutes or until soft. Drain but keep the resulting mushroom broth and set aside. Slice the soaked mushrooms. Bring the mushroom broth to a simmer in a small saucepan.

Add the butter and olive oil to the bottom of a large, high-sided frying pan. Cook the onion until glassy (a couple of minutes). Add the rice and turn down the heat. Mix in the rice until it looks like every grain is coated with oil.

Add the fresh mushrooms and pumpkin spice (we used this because we didn't have nutmeg). Season with salt and pepper and stir for a couple of minutes. Add the sliced soaked mushrooms and their broth. Cook, stirring, until all of the liquid has been absorbed.

Add a ladleful of turkey stock and stir the rice continuously until all of the stock has been absorbed. Repeat with another ladleful. Continue until all of the stock has been added and the rice is al dente. This will take about 20 to 25 minutes. The actual amount of stock you need may vary.

Remove the risotto from the heat and garnish with parmesan and parsley. Serve.

Wild Mushroom and Spicy Sausage Pasta

Mushroom and sausage pasta, originally uploaded by beFOODled.

In my twenties, my pasta repertoire consisted of one dish, spaghetti bolognese, which I mastered well enough to make in bulk to last the whole week. Now I have a whole bunch of favourite pasta dishes, but this is the one I make most often, always with a big, crusty rip of garlic bread on the side.

It's a Jamie Oliver recipe from one of his early websites, way back in 2005, and long before Jamie's Italy or Jamie at Home. I love this pasta because it has big, woodsy flavours, like wild mushrooms and thyme, and the spiciest sausage ever made — chorizo!

Wild Mushroom and Spicy Sausage Pasta
Adapted from a recipe in Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef Takes Off
Serves three (two dinners and one lunch)

half an onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
olive oil
2 chorizo sausages, meat removed from the casings
a shaking of chilli flakes
400 grams of mixed wild mushrooms, such as oyster and shiitake, torn into pieces
short pasta, such as penne or rigatoni
as many sprigs of fresh thyme as you want, leaves picked
a couple of pats of butter
fresh parsley, chopped
fresh parmesan cheese, grated
salt and pepper

Cook the pasta until al dente. Reserve about half a cup of cooking water before draining it.

At the same time, start the pasta sauce. Slit open the sausage casings and take out the meat. Pinch off little knobs of sausage meat with your fingers straight into a frying pan with some olive oil on medium heat. Saute until cooked and set aside.

Pour off most of the sausage fat from the pan but leave behind a half a teaspoon or so for flavour. In the same pan, add more olive oil and fry the onion for a few minutes. Add garlic and fry another couple of minutes. Add the thyme, chilli flakes and the torn mushrooms, and saute until the mushrooms have given up their water and become small. Remove the pan from the heat and season. Loosen the sauce with the butter and a bit of the pasta water when you are ready to combine it with the pasta. Add half of the sauce to the pasta and mix well. Leave the other half for topping.

Ladel the pasta into bowls, top with more sauce, and add the fresh chopped parsley and grated parmesan cheese. Serve with garlic bread.