Monthly Archives: November 2009

Wild Mushroom and Pasta Pot Pie

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 I’m too damn disorganized to make and post thanksgiving recipes for you before thanksgiving. Plus, we’re celebrating thanksgiving at my in-laws’. So I wont be posting a complete thanksgiving menu this year. These pot pies however, will make a great entree for thanksgiving. It takes just over an hour to make and you could work on your side dishes while these pot pies bake in the oven.  

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 Use any kind of vegetables you like. I like the meatiness of wild mushrooms. The creamy, mushroomy filling is really good with the flaky, golden puff pastry crust. Doesnt puff pastry just make everything better?! Another thing that will make your pot pie better is using a good wine in this recipe. I used a Gruner Veltliner, a dry, food-friendly white wine from Austria. I used this wine in the recipe and then served the rest with the meal.

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To make the leaves that go on top of the puff pastry, simply score out a leaf shape from a piece of puff pastry. Use a sharp knife to get clean edges. Then press the blunt side of the knife to make veins on the leaf. Place 2 leaves on top of the puff pastry shell.

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A note on using dried wild mushrooms: Use any kind of wild mushroom you like. This recipe requires you to use some of the mushroom soaking liquid. However, if you are using chanterelle mushrooms(which will be delicious in this recipe), I recommend that you dont use the soaking liquid. Chanterelle soaking liquid can be bitter sometimes. So if you are using chanterelles, use some mushroom stock, vegetable stock or milk instead.

Marx Foods is a great place to buy a wide variety of mushrooms online.

Wild Mushroom and Pasta Pot Pie Recipe

serves 2-3 as an entree

1/2 oz dried wild mushrooms like chanterelle, morel or porcini
2 1/2 cups boiling water
1 cup milk 
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil 
1/2 a medium onion
10 oz baby bella (crimini) mushrooms
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 sprig frsh rosemary
1/2 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup frozen mixed vegetables
1/2 cup small sized pasta like small shells, uncooked
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed

Soak dried mushrooms in boiling water for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, squeeze out the water from the mushrooms, chop the reconstituted mushrooms if they are large. Reserve the mushroom soaking liquid (see note above).

Chop the onion. Pull the leaves away from the thyme and rosemary sprigs and finely chop the leaves. Quarter the crimini mushrooms. Whisk milk, cream and flour together and set aside.

Cook the pasta in salted water. Pasta must be very al dente. It will finish cooking in the oven. If you are not using the pasta immediately, run some cold water over drained pasta to stop the cooking process.

Pre heat oven to 375f.

Heat oil/butter and add onion. Cook on medium heat till the onion is translucent. Add crimini mushrooms and  wild mushrooms. Cook for 2 minutes on medium-high. Then add garlic, thyme, rosemary and white wine. Let most the wine boil away. Add frozen vegetables, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup mushroom soaking liquid and the milk+cream+flour mixture. Let the sauce come to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer for about 4 minutes or till the sauce has thickened slightly and flour doesnt taste raw anymore. Turn off heat. Stir in cooked pasta.

Place the filling in an oven proof dish. (Use either individual sized dishes or one large dish). Cut the puff pastry sheet so that it fits over the top of the dish with a little draping over the sides. Place puff pastry sheet over the top of the filling. Brush some milk over the puff pastry. Place the pot pie on a baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes or till the puff pastry is golden brown. The filling may boil over, so make sure the dish is on a baking sheet before placing in the oven.

Bruleed Bananas and Oatmeal

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Its really weird, I’ve been craving bananas like crazy. No im not pregnant thankyou very much. Just a craving for some nice, ripe, sweet bananas in an un-pregnant sort of way. This breakfast dish of oatmeal and bruleed bananas hit all the right notes. Its easy enough to make on a busy morning; the oatmeal takes 4 minutes to make and you can brulee the bananas while the oats cook. This is also special enough to serve guests..wow them with some brulee torch action! 

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If you have a creme brulee torch, just skim the top of the sugar with the flame till sugar melts. I enjoy my creme brulee torch. Its theraputic in a pyromanic kinda way. But dont get carried away with the creme brulee torch, be careful not to burn the sugar!  If you dont have a brulee torch, just stick the sugar topped banana pieces under the broiler.

bruleed bananas oatmeal

Oatmeal with Bruleed Bananas Recipe


serves 1

1/2 cup oats
1 cup milk
1 small banana
2 tbsp brown sugar, more if you like it sweeter. You could also use regular white sugar.
1 tbsp butter, optional. I didnt use.
a tiny pinch of salt
1/8th scant tsp allspice or cinnamon or pumpkin spice

Bring milk to boil, add oats and cook on medium heat for about 4 minutes (or cook the oats according to package instructions).  Add sugar to oatmeal if desired.

Cut the banana into about 1/2 inch thick discs. Mix sugar, butter if using, salt and allspice/cinnamon/pumpkin spice. Place equal amounts of this mixture on top of cut banana discs. Gently pat the sugar mixture down so that it covers most of the banana disc. Using a creme brulee torch on low heat, brulee the sugar mixture just till it melts (see picture above). Take care not to burn the sugar.

To brulee without a creme brulee torch – Place banana slices topped with brown sugar mixture on a baking sheet. Place in the oven and broil on low just till the sugar melts and becomes golden. Be careful not to burn the sugar.

Spinach and Shitake Mushroom Soup with Crispy Baked Tofu Croutons

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I love soups and make versions of this recipe often in the cold months. Sometimes I add rice noodles to this soup to make it more filling but this time I didnt. The tofu croutons are wonderfully crunchy and make this otherwise thin soup rather satisfying. We had a huge bowl for dinner and I’m looking forward to eating the left over for lunch :)

tofu-croutons

I love these tofu croutons in the soup, they are crispy on the outside, meaty inside absorb flavors fabulously. I also love snacking on them with some hot sauce or sriracha to dip. Toss tofu cubes in some corn starch before baking, this makes the croutons extra crisp. You could add any kind of seasoning you like to the tofu cubes; I stuck with salt and pepper. Garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, paprika will all be great; add these to the tofu about 10 minutes before the end of baking to prevent the spices from burning.
 
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Spinach and Shitake Mushroom Soup with Crispy Baked Tofu Croutons Recipe

serves 4-6

2 oz dried shitake mushrooms
1/2 tbsp canola oil
2 leeks, chopped thinly and washed
3 tbsp garlic paste
3 tbsp ginger paste
8 cups water, vegetable stock or mushroom stock
3-4 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar or lemon juice
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp sriracha or chili paste
1 large bunch of fresh spinach, washed
Salt (keep in mind soy sauce and stock are already salty)

Soak dried shitake mushrooms in 3 cups of boiling water for about 10 minutes. Heat oil in a soup pot. Add leeks and saute on high heat till leeks are soft. Then add ginger and garlic pastes and cook for about 2 minutes. Removed shitake mushroooms from the boiling water, reserve the soaking liquid. Squeze out some of the water and cut the larger mushrooms into half. Add the mushrooms to the leeks, ginger and garlic and saute on medium-high heat for about 1 minute.

Add 3 cups of the mushroom soaking liquid and 8 cups stock to the soup pot. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer for about 6 minutes. Add the soy sauce, vinegar or lemon juice, sesame oil, spinach, salt and immediately turn off heat. The fresh spinach will wilt into the soup and doent need any more cooking. Taste and adjust soy sauce, vinegar or lemon juice and sriracha. Serve with tofu croutons on top. For a more filling meal, add some cooked rice noodles or vemicelli to the soup. If you like thicker soup, mix 3 tbsp of corn starch with a little water and add this to the soup at the end, but before adding spinach. Bring the soup with the corn starch slurry to a boil and then turn off heat. This will thicken the soup.

Tofu Croutons Recipe

1 block (19 oz) firm tofu
1 tbsp canola oil
1 1/2 tbsp corn startch
salt and pepper
other optional seasonings – garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, paprika

Heat oven to 375 f. Drain tofu and pat dry. Cut tofu into 1/2 inch cubes. Toss tofu cubes with corn startch, salt and pepper. Drizzle oil over the tofu cubes. Place on a non-stick baking sheet (or a baking sheet lined with silpat or parchment). Bake for 45 minutes or untill the tofu croutons are golden. If using any of the optional sesaoning listed above, remove tofu from oven 10 minutes before end of baking time and toss the croutons with sesaonings, return to oven. Let tofu croutons cool a little before removing them from the baking sheet. Serve with soup.

Indian Apple Pickle

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This is my grandmothers recipe. The granny smith apples in this pickle make a tart, sweet, spicy condiment that is perfect with rotis and breads. Make sure you use the roasted fenugreek powder, it makes a big difference! Also make sure you use tart cooking apples (I love granny smiths!); the mealy sweet apples wont work.

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Indian Apple Pickle
makes about 1 1/2 cups

2 large granny smith apples or other tart, cooking apples
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1/8 tsp fenugreek powder (lightly roast fenugreek seeds in a dry pan over low heat and then grind to a powder)
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1-2 green chillies
3/4 tsp urad dal
a few curry leaves
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chili powder
salt
4 tbsp vegetable oil

Core the apples and dice them into tiny cubes. Toss with lemon juice and set aside. Heat the oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add fenugreek powder, asafoetida, green chilies, urad dal and curry leaves. Stir on medium high heat for about 1 minute. Then add diced apples. Cook, stirring occassionally till the apples are slightly soft, about 10 minutes. Add turmeric, chili powder, and salt to the apples and cook another 5 minutes. Taste and adjust for salt and lemon juice. Once cool, store the pickle in an air-tight container in the fridge. Pickle will last about a week.

The World’s Best Caramel Corn Recipe

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Did you get a lot of trick or treaters for Halloween? We got about 95 kids! There are a lot of kids where we live. And I think we are the only ones who havent added to the population of this neighborhood.

S & I decided we wont hand out the same old, commercial nutter butters and peanut butter cups this year. We wanted to give trick or treaters something home made. But because we dont have kids, I wasnt quite sure what to make. Then I came across this Amish recipe online. I trippled the recipe and put the caramel corn into clear treat bags with a twistie tie. I’m SO glad I made it! It was a great hit. The kids LOVED it. It tasted amazing.

Before I give you the recipe to the worlds best caramel corn, here is something that happened on halloween night:

A bunch of kids rang our door bell on Halloween night and then peeped through the glass door panels. S was approaching the door to open it..

“loooook! hes wearing an eskimo costume!”
“Sssshhhh! its not a costume!”
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.
.
no, S is not an eskimo, neither does he look like one.

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I know that giving you this recipe after halloween is not exactly helpful. But this will make a great snack at any holiday party. And since popcorn hardly weighs anything, it would be wonderful to make this caramel corn and ship it to friends and family for the holidays.

This recipe on allrecipes.com has 452 positive reviews and 15,442 people have saved it; I can see why! It is super yummy and addictingly good.

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Caramel Corn Recipe on allrecipes.com posted by Anita Louise
about 28 servings

7 quarts plain popped popcorn
2 cups dry roasted peanuts (optional)
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup margarine (I used butter)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place the popped popcorn into two shallow greased baking pans. You may use roasting pans, jelly roll pans, or disposable roasting pans. Add the peanuts to the popped corn if using. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, margarine and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring enough to blend. Once the mixture begins to boil, boil for 5 minutes while stirring constantly.

Remove from the heat, and stir in the baking soda and vanilla. The mixture will be light and foamy. Immediately pour over the popcorn in the pans, and stir to coat. Don’t worry too much at this point about getting all of the corn coated.

Bake for 1 hour, removing the pans, and giving them each a good stir every 15 minutes. Line the counter top with waxed paper. Dump the corn out onto the waxed paper and separate the pieces. Allow to cool completely, then store in airtight containers or resealable bags.

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