Beefy Mushroom Sloppy Joes

Adding more veggies to a meaty meal... I've seen a few different recipes that replace some ground beef with finely chopped mushrooms (burgers, meatballs, meatloaf, etc). Here's a spin on Sloppy Joes:

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef

1 lb cremini mushrooms, very finely chopped

1 C choppedonion

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 T minced fresh (or 1 tsp dried) oregano

2/3 C tomoato paste

2 T each red wine vinegar, Worcestershire, molasses

salt & pepper to taste

hot sauce, to taste

Directions

Brown the ground beef in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic and mushrooms; cook until onions are tender and excess liquid is reduced. Add remaining ingredients - seasoning with salt & pepper, and hot sauce as desired.

Serve on toaste Kaiser rolls -- top bun optional.

Asian Asparagus & Mushrooms

 Anything with ginger & garlic instantly takes on a bit of an 'Asian' flavor profile. It's one I like. Sesame oil and shitake mushrooms continue building an Asian dish, though a different oil could be used, and other mushrooms could work here too. In fact, if you really don't like asparagus, this Food Network original recipe would work with broccoli, too...

Ingredients
2 C broccoli, cut into 3" lengths
2 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp minced ginger*

1 C shitake mushroom caps, sliced

1 clove garlic*

1 T butter

1-2 tsp soy sauce

s&p to taste

* Fresh is ideal, but I keep purchased squeeze bottles of minced ginger and garlic on hand. I like cooking Asian flavors enough that I use them frequently -- and garlic is also in Italian and a lot of other dishes as well.   ...and my fingers don't smell of garlic, even if I don't wear gloves!

Directions

Heat sesame oil in a skillet; add ginger and garlic, cooking just until fragrant (1 minute). Add shitake mushroom caps (the stems can be quite woody & tough); cook, stirring occasionally, until they start to brown. Add asparagus and a few tablespoons of water; cover to steam-cook asparagus until crisp-tender (3-4 minutes depending on thickness of asparagus stalks). Finish with soy sauce and butter, tossing or stirring to coat evenly. Season with salt and pepper.

I had a few crispy fried shallots to top off my asparagus and mushrooms, which added great flavor and texture to the dish!

Mushrooms in Lemon-Wine Sauce

Ingredients
4  T butter
2 T olive oil
1 lb mixed wild mushrooms
1 tsp flour
½ C white wine
1 T lemon juice
1 T chopped parsley*
s&p

* other herbs could be substituted

Directions
Melt butter in large frying pan; add olive oil. Stir in mushrooms; sauté over high heat until liquid is gone and mushrooms brown. Sprinkle mushrooms with flour; add wine and lemon juice while stirring. Add chopped parsley (reserving a pinch for fresh garnish) and remaining butter, stirring; remove from heat once butter is melted. Serve, garnished with remaining fresh parsley.

Downton Abbey Cookbook: Crawley Sisters' Stuffed Mushrooms

This is another recipe from the Downton Abbey cookbook I got for Christmas...

Cheesy Mushroom Pasta

The original recipe called for pappardelle pasta, which I love -- wide noodles that catch and stand up to a good deal of sauce. But I had some mixed veggie noodles which were wide and rippled enough to do the same. Either, I believe would do very well; it was a hearty meal, very balanced flavor; great with a side salad. Would probably be fine even without the ham steak if you needed a vegetarian meal (not vegan, with the milk & cheese); the mushrooms give it a meatiness. Might need a little extra salt.

Ingredients
2 T butter
4 ounces ham steak, small diced
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
s&p to taste
12 oz buttom mushrooms, sliced
2 T flour
3 C whole milk
8-10 oz pappardelle pasta
2 oz (½ C) grated havarti cheese
3 oz (6 T) grated parmesan
2 T chopped fresh parsley

Directions
Begin bringing large pot of salted water to boil (for pasta).
Melt butter in large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add ham, onion, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent (3-5 minutes). Add mushrooms, cook another 3-5 minutes until tender.

Sprinkle in flour, stirring to coat ingredients. Gradually add milk, stirring; bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer, stirring gently, until thick and creamy. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat broiler. Add pasta to boiling water; cook until al dente. Reserve ½ C pasta water; drain pasta. Add pasta to skillet with mushroom sauce. Also add havarti, parsley and half of the parmesan. Fold together pasta, sauce, cheeses and parsley until well coated. Use reserved pasta water to thin sauce if/as needed. Sprinkle with remaining parmesan. Broil until bubbly and lightly browned.

Hoisin-Garlic Mushrooms & Pepper

Easy and tasty!

Ingredients
½ C hoisin sauce
2 T minced garlic*
¼ t crushed red pepper (or more if you like it hot)
24 oz whole fresh button or baby bella mushrooms
1 sweet red bell pepper

* That's about 6 cloves; or...I buy a jar of preminced garlic - saves time (and smelly fingers!) and still has very good flavor.

Directions
Trim dry ends off mushrooms; I cut the largest ones in half, but you can leave them all whole if you like. Cut bell pepper into large chunks; discard stem and seeds.

In crock pot/slow cooker, stir together hoison sauce, garlic and crushed red pepper. Add mushrooms and bell pepper chunks, stirring to coat with sauce.

Cover. Cook 2½-3 hours on high (or 5-6 hours on low). Use a slotted spoon to remove mushrooms and pepper chunks.

Serve...
...with decorative toothpicks as an appetizer
...over rice, polenta, quinoa, etc as a side dish

Ground Beef (or Elk) Stroganoff

Beef is, obviously, traditional. However, thanks to Dad's hunting success and generosity, I have ground elk on hand. :)

Ingredients
2 T butter
8 oz sliced baby portabella mushrooms
1 C chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 lb lean ground beef, elk or other meat
1½ C beef broth
1½ T Worchesershire
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ C flour
1½ C sour cream (+ more to garnish at serving)
Italian parsley, finely chopped for garnish

noodles or rice

Directions
Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat; cook mushrooms, onion and garlic until tender (6-8 minutes). Transfer to small bowl; set aside.

Brown ground beef (or elk...) in skillet over medium high heat. While meat is cooking, whisk flour into ½ cup beef broth; set aside. Add remaining broth, Worcestershire, salt, pepper and nutmeg to browned meat; bring to boil. Add flour and broth mixture, stirring as it thickens. Stir in mushroom and onion mixture; cool slightly. Stir in sour cream.

Serve over noodles or rice, garnished with a dollop of sour cream and chopped parsley.

Smoky Mushroom Stroganoff

This doesn't satisfy my craving for a traditional stroganoff; the sour cream flavor is less pronounced. But the smoky, mushroom combo is a nice switch. I'd love it with pappardelle, I'm sure, but I had spinach linguine on hand...delicious and nice colorful presentation too!

Ingredients
1 8-10 oz pkg dried pappardelle (or other pasta noodles)
1½ lb mushrooms, sliced (button, cremini, shitake, etc)
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbls olive oil
1 8-oz carton sour cream
2 Tbls flour
1½ tsp smoked paprika
1 C vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste
chopped parsley to garnish, if desired

Directions
Cook noodles according to pkg directions; drain and keep warm.

In large skillet, cook mushrooms and garlic in olive oil 6-8 minutes over medium heat, until tender. Remove from skillet; keep warm.

In skillet, combine sour cream, flour, and paprika. Slowly add broth, stirring until smooth and creamy. Cook over medium-low heat until thickened and bubbly. 

Serve mushroom mixture and sauce over noodles; garnish with parsley if desired.

Smoky Roasted Mushrooms

Ingredients:
2 lbs whole, mixed mushrooms
2 Tbls olive oil 
¼ tsp each, salt & pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced 
½ tsp smoked paprika
2 Tbls butter
2 Tbls fresh chopped parsley

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°. Toss mushrooms in olive oil, salt and pepper; spread in single layer on baking sheet. Roast 30 minutes, stirring at least twice during roasting. Meanwhile, cook minced garlic and paprika in butter just until soft. Toss mushrooms with garlic-paprika butter. Sprinkle with parsley. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Chicken Cutlets with Tarragon-Mushroom Sauce

Tarragon is not usually my favorite (too much like anise, and I'm not a licorice fan). But for variety, this was worth a try -- and better than I expected.

Ingredients:
2 C chicken stock 
½ carrot, cut into 1" pieces 
½ celery stalk, cut into 1" pieces 
¼ onion, halved
1 bay leaf
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 (6 oz) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
3 Tbls flour
2 Tbls olive oil
2 tsp butter
1 C mushrooms, quartered
½ C pearl onions
1 Tbls cornstarch
1 Tbls chopped fresh tarragon

Directions:
Combine chicken stock, carrot, celery, ¼ onion (not pearls), bay leaf, and garlic clove in a saucepan. Bring to boil; cook 6 minutes, until reduced to 1¼ cups. Remove and discard solids.

Cut chicken breasts in half (to make 8 cutlets). Season with ¼ tsp each salt and pepper. Place flour in shallow dish; dredge cutlets in flour. Heat a large skilled over medium=high heat. Add 1 Tbls oil and 1 tsp butter; swirl to melt. Place 4 cutlets in the pan; cook about 2 minutes per side, until golden. Remove from pan; keep warm. Repeat with remaining cutlets.

Return skillet to medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and pearl onions, cooking until browned (about 5 minutes) stirring occasionally. I didn't have pearl onions, so I just used a large sweet onion, cutting about a ½ cup in a large dice; tasted fine, though my photo doesn't look as 'fancy' as the one in the magazine with the cute little pearls! :) Add stock mixture; deglaze pan and bring to boil. Combine cornstarch with about 1 Tbls cold water; add to stock and cook 1 minute or until sauce thickens. Add chopped tarragon; season to taste with remaining salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over cutlets to serve.

Breaded & Fried Vegetables

The original recipe was for fried zucchini & mozzarella, with marinara sauce for dipping. Although I love fried mozzarella, I was asked to bring a vegetable dish to Easter dinner, and -- knowing that mac and cheese was also on the menu -- I opted to skip the mozzarella and include zucchini, mushrooms, baby corn, asparagus and broccoli instead. In addition to the marinara sauce, I still had some sweet & spicy Asian sauce from another recipe that was a sapid alternative, but they were also delicious just plain and seemed to be a hit with kids and adults alike.

Ingredients: (10-12 servings)
1 C flour
4 eggs
1½ C bread crumbs
4 Tbls finely chopped parsley
½ tsp each, salt and pepper
oil, for frying (1-2 cups)
zucchini, broccoli, baby corn, mushrooms...(some vegetables will obviously work better than others)

Directions:
Beat the eggs in a bowl with ½ cup water. In another bowl, combine bread crumbs, parsley, salt and pepper. Slice zucchini into sticks; slice mushrooms, broccoli into bite sized portions. Dredge vegetables in flour (tapping off excess), then dip in egg, then in bread crumbs. In a large skillet, heat ½" oil over medium-high heat to 350°.  Working in batches, fry vegetables until golden, turning once (about 2-3 minutes). Transfer to paper towel lined plate to drain any excess oil, then to serving platter. Season with salt. Serve with marinara or your choice of dipping sauce(s).

Shitake Mushrooms

A while ago I went to a one evening, Japanese 'Izakaya' cooking class -- a local food-coop/community college sponsored event. A spontaneous (no recipe included) addition to the menu was marinated shitake mushrooms. The chef, Robert Fong, listed ingredients he used to marinate them...

sake
mirin
soy
chile
sesame oil
salt and pepper

He started them marinating at the beginning of class, and cooked (simmered them for maybe 5 minutes in some broth) and served them about two hours later. My at home re-creation wasn't exactly like his (I have no sake so used a little sherry, and I had a couple scallions I threw in as well), but very good. This post is more of a reminder than an actual recipe. :)

Cream of Mushroom Soup

6 C chicken stock
2 oz dried porcini mushrooms
4 Tbls butter
3 Tbls minced shallot
1½ lb. white button mushrooms
¼ C Madeira wine (optional; or chicken stock)
2 Tbls flour
½ C heavy cream
salt
pepper
optional garnish: sage leaves

Coarsely chop white button mushrooms.

In a small saucepan, warm 2 cups stock. Add dried porcini; let stand about 20 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove porcini; chop and set aside. Strain using cheese-cloth or a fine-mesh strainer; save liquid for later.

In a stockpot over medium heat, melt butter. Sauté shallot until soft (5 minutes). Add mushrooms; cook, stirring, until most of the liquid has evaporated (5-7 minutes). Add Madeira; cook until liquid has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle with flour and stir to coat. Stir in 4 cups stock and liquid strained off porcini. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Purée soup in blender, working in batches (or use a hand-held immersion blender) until smooth. Stir in cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Obviously, you could have fun using different varieties of mushrooms and create different blends of mushroom soup.

Meat & Vegetable Pie

MHS: This recipe was part of the Culinary Arts course (Spring 2012)

 INGREDIENTS:

1 onion, diced

2 Tbls fat

2 C cubed, cooked meat

1½  Tbls flour

1 C milk

1 Tbls Worcestershire sauce

1 C cooked peas

1 C sliced, cooked carrots

1 C sautéed mushrooms

salt & pepper

2  9” pastry crusts

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 425°. Line a 9” pie pan with bottom crust.

Cook peas and carrots.  Sauté mushrooms. Layer cooked vegetables into pie crust.

Melt fat in skillet or sauté pan and add meat; brown well. Remove meat and onion from skillet, layering over cooked vegetables in pie crust (leave fat and any browned bits in the pan).

Add flour, milk and Worcestershire sauce to remaining fat. Blend well. Reheat slightly if needed to thicken into a gravy-like sauce. Pour sauce over meat and vegetables; season with salt and pepper.

Cover with top pastry crust, sealing edges. Prick with fork or slit with knife to create steam vents. Bake until crust is brown, 30-35 minutes.

Obviously, lots of variations are possible with this recipe. In addition to using different meats, other vegetables could be added or substituted for endless flavor combinations. Herbs and/or spices added to the meat, vegetables or sauce could also alter and enhance this pie. Have fun with it!

Asian Stir Fry

MHS: This recipe was part of the Culinary Arts course (Spring 2012)

Stir Fry Ingredients

A variety of vegetables, meats, or tofu (or other soy protein) can be used in a stir fry. Beef, pork and chicken are all common, as are seafood and tofu.

Almost any vegetable can be prepared using a stir-fry method, but common vegetables in Asian stir fry include: onion, carrot, broccoli, peppers, various mushrooms, green beans, corn, bean sprouts, celery, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, eggplant, bok choy, varieties of squash, snow peas, and sugar snap peas.

Stir Fry Directions

1)      Start by preparing and cutting all the vegetables and measuring your ingredients so that they are ready to go. Once you begin stir-frying, it goes very quickly.

2)     If you are cooking meat, it should be pre-cooked.

3)     Determine which of your ingredients (meat and vegetables) need the most time to cook and should be added to the stir fry first. Stir fry vegetables should be cooked until crisp-tender, somewhere between 2-5 minutes. Tougher, denser vegetables (like carrots) will take longer than more delicate and tender ones (like snow peas).

4)     In a wok or large skillet, heat about 2 Tbls oil (vegetable oil or sesame oil) over high heat until almost smoking.

5)     Add the vegetables that need the longest to cook first followed, sequentially, by those that require less time. Continually stir or agitate the wok or skillet so vegetables cook evenly and don’t scorch, stopping only for a few seconds to add the next ingredient.

6)     If serving stir fry alone, a thin sauce can be added during the final minute or two of cooking; if desired, a lid can be placed on the wok or skillet to briefly steam the vegetables with the sauce.

If serving stir fry over rice or noodles, a thicker sauce may be desired to coat and add flavor the rice or noodles as well. Sauce can be thickened with a little extra corn starch.

7)     Serve immediately.

Sauce Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

 Sauce Directions

1. Stir corn starch, brown sugar and crushed red pepper together in a small saucepan OR 1-quart microwaveable dish. Add remaining ingredients; stir well.
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Heat until mixture boils for 1 full minute. Cook and stir an additional 1 to 2 minutes, or until thickened to a syrup-like consistency.
3. Drizzle over your favorite stir-fry just before serving.

Also delicious as a glaze for grilled meats. Store covered in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.