Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

I made this at Casey and Toinette's house and I need to thank Toinette for doing all the prep and the recipe. These delicious beauties are a great supplement to any meal or can be eaten as a meal unto themselves. They take 50 minutes from start to finish, feeds 4-6 people and costs about $10.

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

2 Hot Italian sausages, uncased and chopped
1 Mild Italian sausage, uncased and chopped
1 package large baby bella mini portabello mushrooms, stemmed and scooped
1/2 cup mushroom stems, chopped
1 bunch scallions, peeled and chopped
1/4 white onion, diced
5 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 tablespoon crushed macadamia nuts (walnuts or pignoli or no nuts are options)
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/8 cup grated Parmesan cheese
5 oz creme fraiche
2 tablespoons of butter
1 handful fresh basil, chopped
4 tablespoon sherry wine vinegar

Start oven at 425.  Scoop mushrooms out with a teaspoon by holding the mushroom firmly cupped on all sides with your hand.  Once cleaned and scooped, start a large saute pan on medium heat, add olive oil and some butter.  Saute mushroom stems, onions, scallions, and garlic until softened, about 10 minutes.  Turn up heat to medium high add sausage to the pan.  Cook for about 5-7 minutes or until sausage is cooked. Remove from heat and fold in panko, nuts, creme fraische, basil and remaining butter plus salt and pepper.  Let stand 5 minutes.

Put mushroom caps in a large glass baking dish.  Sprinkle with sherry wine vinegar, salt and pepper.  Then scoop filing into the mushrooms.  Press it in and over stuff them a bit, top with a bit of bread crumbs and some extra virgin olive oil.  Place in oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden.  Remove and let stand 5 minutes. Buon apetito!

Black Cod, Chinese Eggplant, Shitake, Soy Basil Sauce

The earthy flavors of Chinese vegetables go great with the meaty textured Cod. Quality fish is the key making this dish a success. The feeds two, costs $20 and takes about 1 hour.

Soy Basil Sauce
2 cup Kitchen Basics vegetable stock
2 tablespoons organic soy sauce
2 tablespoons ponzu
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1 tablespoons chopped ginger
1/4 piece fresh lemongrass
1 handful fresh basil

Start all ingredients except basil in a small sauce pan and let reduce over medium low heat until about 1/4 cup remains. Strain and reserve 1/8 cup for glazing veggies and meat.  Reduce remaining 1/8 cup to a few tablespoons and then add basil for a finishing sauce.

Roasted Chinese Eggplant and Shitake Mushrooms
Preheat the oven to 375. Slice medium eggplant in half.  Brush with marinade and roast in the oven for about 45 minutes.  After the eggplant has been in for 20 minutes, brush the mushrooms with the marinade and place in the oven for the remaining 25 minutes.

Black Cod
Start a large sautee pan on medium high with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.  Once very hot, add the two Cod filets slowly and let cook for about 4-5 minutes or until golden.  Flip fish and let cook 3 minutes.  Pour remaining marinade in to the pan,with some fresh lemongrass and then place the whole pan in the oven.  Let cook for 7 minutes and remove. Serve over eggplant and mushrooms, top with the finishing sauce.

Buon Apetito!

Prime Filet Tips, Pea-Basil Puree, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Crispy Leeks

Filet tips are a great way to get a discount on high quality steaks.  The tips are usually half the price of the cuter cut filet mignon and the flavor is exactly the same.  They may not be as pretty as center cut filet but, like anything in life, its all how you present it.  This feeds two, takes 45 minutes and costs $20.

Pea-Basil-Leek Puree
1 cup fresh english peas, blanched (substitute frozen is necessary)
1/2 leek, chopped and blanched
1 handful fresh basil, blanched
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons heavy cream
pinch nutmeg
sea salt
white pepper

Blanch all items starting with peas and leeks until tender.  Then add basil for a minute and chill all three in a ice water bath.  Reserve a cup of the hot blanching water. Add all items to a blender with olive oil, cream and seasonings.  Add a little of the reserved blanching water as necessary to create a smooth puree.

Chanterelle Mushrooms
Clean mushrooms with a brush.  Spray with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place in 375 oven for 25 minutes or until roasted.

Crispy Leeks
Slice half a leek in thin strips.  Saute on low in olive and butter for 25 minutes.

Roasted Filet Tip
Sear steaks in a hot saute pan and then cook in a 375 oven for 10 minutes or until medium rare.  Slice and fan out.

This is actually very simple to make and takes a little oven 30 minutes.  Buon Appetito!

Porcini Mushroom Risotto, English Peas, Black Truffles

This is the last of the truffle dishes.  Fresh Porcini mushrooms are in season and I was able to get some and a local market. This dish takes 1 hour, costs about $30 and feeds two or three.

Porcini Mushroom Risotto
1 cup organic white onions, diced
1 cup organic leek, diced
1/4 cup shallots, diced
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup white wine
2 cups Arborio rise
4 cups vegetable stock
4 cups water
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 tablespoon of butter
1/2 cup fresh English peas, blanched
1/2 lb fresh Porcini mushroom, cleaned, quartered and roasted at 375 for 20 minutes
2 teaspoons chives, chopped
salt and pepper

Combine water and stock on a medium saucepan and place on low heat.  Also place a large high sided sauce pot or very large sautee pan on medium low heat (4 of 10) and add olive oil and butter. Then add the chopped onions, leeks and shallots and cook until the onion is translucent, about 7 minutes. Now add the 2 cups of Arborio rice. Stir the rice and vegetables until it begins to toast a bit and becomes translucent, about 4 minutes. Now add the wine and stir until most of the wine has cooked off. Now add three ladles of the homemade warmed stock. Stir the rice well until all of the liquid is almost all absorbed. Then add three more ladles of stock and stir it in again until absorbed. Stir the pot every 3-4 minutes or so, don't walk away. Keep adding the three ladles of stock every time the liquid is almost absorbed. It should take about 35 to 40 minutes for the rice to stop absorbing the liquid rapidly and begin to get tender. About 5 to 6 times of adding the stock. Turn off the heat on the risotto and add the Romano and Parmesan cheeses and mix well. Add the roasted porcini mushroom into the risotto and gently fold it all together being careful not to beat up the rice. Finish it off with the chives and add salt and some pepper to taste. Shave fresh black Perigord truffles on top.


Serious...Buon Apetito!

Creamy Polenta, Maitake Mushrooms, Black Perigord Truffles, Leek-Shallot Reduction

Ok here we go into the truffle menu I made this week.  This is the first of the Black Perigord Truffles this season.  They are about $1500/pound wholesale.  This costs about $20, takes 3 hours and feeds two with a bunch of polenta left over.

Creamy Polenta
1 1/2 cup water
2 cups half and half
1/4 stick butter
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup #1 or #2 ground cornmeal or polenta
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 stick butter

Bring milk, water, salt and butter to a light boil over a double boiler.  Slowly add the corn meal while whisking, its better if there are two people.   Now bring the heat down to low and let cook for about 2.5 hours.  You MUST stir the polenta every 5-7 minutes or so!  Once the desired texture and the consistency is reached add the remaining butter and Parmesan cheese.  Stir and remove from heat.

Shallot-Leek Reduction
2 medium shallots, thin sliced
1/2 a leek, thin sliced
1 cup vegetable stock

Place all items in a small saucepan on low heat and let reduce for 45 minutes or until the liquid is reduced to 1/4 cup.

I bought some Maitake mushrooms and I roasted it in the oven for 15 minutes on 350.

I put the polenta, then the mushroom, then the reduction.  I topped it all off with some fresh shaves of the black truffle.  Wow what an amazing way to experience the black truffles earthy flavors.  Buon Apetito!

Black Perigord Truffle - 15 grams (about $45)

Broiled Chicken with Sweet Potato Mash and Roasted Crimini Mushrooms

This is another fast and easy dish that requires only use of the oven and has virtually no clean up. It takes about 45 minutes, costs $10 and feeds two people.

Sweet Potato Mash

2 medium organic sweet potatoes

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon coriander

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

Start oven a 375. Wrap sweet potatoes in foil and place on the middle oven rack. Let cook for 40 minutes or until tender to the touch. Remove skins and mix all the ingredients together.

Broiled Chicken

2 organic chicken breasts

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

salt and pepper

olive oil

Season chicken with olive oil, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Place the chicken breasts on a foil lined baking sheet and place in the oven for 15 minutes. Turn the broiler on high and place the chicken two racks down. Let it cook for about 5 minutes or until a nice char starts to occur. Watch closely as it goes from brown to black very quickly. Remove from oven and let stand for 4 minutes. Slice and shape.

Roasted Crimini Mushrooms

2 cups organic crimini mushrooms (baby portabello)

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

salt and pepper

Wash and slice mushrooms in half. toss with olive oil, red pepper, salt and pepper. Place cut side down on a foil baking sheet. Cook in the oven for about 15 minutes, put them in at the same time as the chicken.

The sauce is the leftover sauce I made for the rabbit but a simple reduction of chicken stock and onions with some sherry vinegar would be an easy substitute.

Simple, fast, easy, almost no cutting or dishes to do...Buon Apetito!!

Chicken Cordon Bleu in Mushroom Cream Sauce with Wilted Spinach

This was the first complex recipe dish I had ever made. It was all grilled cheese and bologna sandwiches before this. The reason for cooking was my first real "date" and I wanted to impress, I think I was about 16. It was a challenge for my first culinary endeavorer but I got it done with some short cuts and both the food and date worked out well. Looking back, that was an amazing day. This is my current version. Since I haven't made it in a few years I added some new techniques. This feeds 4, takes about 2 hours to make and costs about $25. The recipe normally has rosemary but I didn't have any so I substituted with thyme and marjoram.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

2 oz Vegetable Oil
4 Chicken Breasts, sliced into two thin pieces, lightly pounded
8 slices of good deli ham (I used Board's Head Maple Glazed)
8 slices aged swiss
2 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped fine
1 teaspoon fresh marjoram, chopped fine
16 toothpicks
1 cup of all purpose flour
salt and pepper

Cut the "tenderloin" off of the chicken so you have a nice even whole breast. Now cut the breast into two by laying you knife on the cutting board and running it back and forth evenly and slowly creating two thin chicken cutlets. OR you can by thin cut chicken breast and make it easier. Lightly pound out the chicken between two sheet of plastic wrap, make sure you don't pound it to thin, there should be no holes.

Mix the mustard, honey and herbs in a small dish. Coat one side of the breast with mustard mix and place one piece of ham and one piece of cheese toward the thinner end. Starting at the thinner edge, roll the chicken up and secure the roll by sticking in the toothpicks. Pull the roll tight before inserting the toothpicks. Season the rolled chicken with salt and pepper then coat with flour.



Start a deep large frying pan or large pot on medium heat and add the vegetable oil. Add the chicken in batches, turn a few times to get a golden crust on each side. This take about 2 to 3 minutes per side. We do not have the cook the chicken all the was through at this point. Just get the good color and set them aside on a plate, we will cook them thorough later.



Mushroom Cream Sauce

1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
1 package of button or crimini mushrooms, washed and sliced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of all purpose flour
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon fresh marjoram
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock
salt and pepper

In the same pot that you cooked the chicken, add the onions, garlic and mushrooms and let cook for about 5 minutes or until softened. Now add the butter and mix, then add the flour and mix well, let that cook for 3 minutes or until flour is incorporated. Now add the white wine and let that cook down, about 3 minutes. Add the heavy cream, herbs and stock then salt and pepper to taste. Let that cook down for 10 minutes.

Now add the chicken back to the mushroom sauce and let that cook for 20 minutes on low heat. Remove the chicken and then take out the toothpicks, they should come out easy now.

I cooked some onions in a sautee pan then I turn it up to high. I threw in my spinach and turned off the heat. I let the spinach cook for about 3 of four minutes and constantly stirred. Lay down two chicken rolls and then spoon some of the sauce over the top. Serve the spinach on the side and you have a love making meal. Buon Apetito!