Have you discovered toasted sesame oil yet? It's been a beloved favorite of mine for a few years now. With a strong flavor, you don't need much to really change the taste of a meal. It's not cheap, but a tiny bit goes a very long way. Keep it stored in the fridge - sesame oil goes rancid quickly, and keeping it cold helps to delay that. Look in the Asian section of the grocery store, near soy sauce and teriyaki.
Stir fry dinners are a regular occurrence around here, especially in the summer when all the veggies are fresh from the garden. Try some carrots and snow peas sauteed lightly in a drizzle of sesame oil, then tossed with raw sesame seeds and served over rice. Or add some sesame to an otherwise plain oil-based salad dressing and it becomes an Asian-flavored dressing: try tossing some chicken into a regular garden salad, then sprinkle on some raw cashews and your Asian dressing, and you've got a tasty main-dish salad.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Stuffed Mushrooms
I think I know more people that don't like mushrooms than any other vegetable I know.
To those people, I offer my condolences.
To the rest of you - have you ever paid eight dollars for an appetizer of stuffed mushrooms? And then the plate comes, and there are about six mushrooms on the plate, and you find yourself sad that you have to share them with everyone else at the table?
I came across this recipe in by Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and altered slightly for taste and health. It's fantastically easy, and you can have two dozen stuffed mushrooms for less than $5.
Stuffed Mushrooms:
24 large mushrooms, stems removed, caps reserved
Chop enough of the stems to equal 1 cup, compost the rest or use them for something else
2/3 c. fine dry bread crumbs (I make my breadcrumbs from leftover bits of homemade bread)
1/2 c. feta cheese (you could use cheddar or blue cheese. We had feta.)
1/4 c. green onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp butter
Saute the mushroom stems, onion and garlic in the butter until soft, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in bread crumbs and cheese until mixture is well blended. Using a 1/4 tsp. measuring spoon, stuff some of the mixture into each mushroom cap. Place stuffed shrooms into a baking dish, bake at 425 for 10 minutes, then serve.
We had these as a side dish to our common meal of salad and baked potato. Definitely worth trying!
To those people, I offer my condolences.
To the rest of you - have you ever paid eight dollars for an appetizer of stuffed mushrooms? And then the plate comes, and there are about six mushrooms on the plate, and you find yourself sad that you have to share them with everyone else at the table?
I came across this recipe in by Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and altered slightly for taste and health. It's fantastically easy, and you can have two dozen stuffed mushrooms for less than $5.
Stuffed Mushrooms:
24 large mushrooms, stems removed, caps reserved
Chop enough of the stems to equal 1 cup, compost the rest or use them for something else
2/3 c. fine dry bread crumbs (I make my breadcrumbs from leftover bits of homemade bread)
1/2 c. feta cheese (you could use cheddar or blue cheese. We had feta.)
1/4 c. green onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp butter
Saute the mushroom stems, onion and garlic in the butter until soft, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in bread crumbs and cheese until mixture is well blended. Using a 1/4 tsp. measuring spoon, stuff some of the mixture into each mushroom cap. Place stuffed shrooms into a baking dish, bake at 425 for 10 minutes, then serve.
We had these as a side dish to our common meal of salad and baked potato. Definitely worth trying!
A food blog
I've tossing around the idea of starting a second blog for awhile now, one specifically geared toward my growing obsession with food and cooking. The first thing that comes to mind when I sit down to blog is usually something related to food, but I don't want to take over my entire Little Things blog with foodie posts, so here we are. I'm not sure how this will work out, balancing two blogs, but we'll give it a shot.
I realize I have some readers that are as obsessed with food as I am, and that I have others who really could care less, so hopefully this blog will save everyone from having to read the foodie bits if they don't want to.
My Foodie Manifesto:
I pledge to feed myself and my family only natural foods, prepared in such a way as to be healthful and delicious. I will embrace the simplicity of cooking from scratch, enjoy the time I spend in the kitchen, and slowly teach Two Little Girls the things I learn.
I realize I have some readers that are as obsessed with food as I am, and that I have others who really could care less, so hopefully this blog will save everyone from having to read the foodie bits if they don't want to.
My Foodie Manifesto:
I pledge to feed myself and my family only natural foods, prepared in such a way as to be healthful and delicious. I will embrace the simplicity of cooking from scratch, enjoy the time I spend in the kitchen, and slowly teach Two Little Girls the things I learn.
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