Mushroom-Thyme Appy

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20TH, 2010

3 stars (out of 5 - pretty tasty, but not absolutely amazing)

I decided to make another vegetarian slow-cooker recipe, and thought that this appetizer looked good (also, I'm trying to acquire a taste for mushrooms). It was quite good and pretty tasty - I particularly liked the tangy-ness that the wine added; however, it wasn't absolutely amazing. I think I would like to try this again with another herb... perhaps rosemary?

Ingredients*:

3 green onions, chopped
2 packages of mushrooms (2x 227g), roughly chopped
1/4 cup olive oil (a little bit less)
1 tsp dry thyme
1/4 tsp salt
Pepper, to taste
1/3 cup plain cream cheese
1/4 cup dry white wine
Baguette

{*Note. This is enough for quite a few people (see pics below), so if you are making it just for two people I would make only half of this.}

1. First, I chopped the green onions and added them to the slow cooker along with the olive oil, turning the slow cooker on "High".

2. While the green onions were being cooked, I chopped up the mushrooms. I used a food processor, so they were chopped up very finely; however, with the length of time that they cook in the slow cooker, you could probably chop them up fairly coarsely.

3. I then added the mushrooms, thyme, and salt to the slow cooker, and stirred the mixture well. I switched the slow cooker onto "Low" and let the mixture cook for 6 hours.

4. After the mushrooms were very soft, I again stirred the mixture thoroughly. If there is any excess liquid, it should be drained.

5. ... and added the mushroom mixture, cream cheese, pepper, and white wine to my food processor, and mixed until smooth.

6. I placed it in a bowl, and served with baguette (you can toast these if you choose).

Overall, I thought this was a pretty good appy. It was easy enough to make, although I wasn't really sure why the slow-cooker was necessary. I felt that you could cook the mushrooms on the stove just as easily, and they would be ready in 10 minutes. I actually quite liked the flavour, even though it has a very strong mushroom taste. I just think that there might be a better herb to add to make it better. I would definitely recommend it, though!

Marinated Balsamic-Dijon Chicken (Disaster!)

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26TH, 2009

1 star (out of 5 - SB's rating: oopsies!)
3 stars (out of 5 - LX's rating)

I decided to try this recipe because the ingredients looked good (and simple!), and I loved the idea of the 24h marinating. Yummy! However, I was incredibly disappointed with the outcome. I made a note at the bottom for suggestions to improve this, but basically the sauce turned out to be extremely strong, and the chicken extremely overcooked. One good thing about this recipe was that I learned that another advantage of being a vegetarian was that simulated meat is way less prone to overcooking. Sorry SB!

Ingredients*:

Chicken pieces (thighs or breasts)*
Onions, sliced (~1 onion per piece of chicken)
~1/2 cup balsamic vinegar**
~1/3 cup dijon mustard**
Seasoning, as you prefer (I added Herbes de Provence, Laurel leaf, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper)
1.5-2 tsp lemon juice concentrate
3/4 cup wine**

{*Note. Please read through blog before attempting this recipe! There were some problems, as you will see.... I would first start with chicken thighs, as they will withstand longer cooking times. **The marinate is good with the vinegar and mustard, although I ended up almost doubling the amounts just to be able to cover the chicken. More importantly, there needs to be another liquid besides the wine in the sauce, otherwise it is extremely acidic. On this note, the white wine was something I was forced to do, mid-cooking, as the sauce without it was more like a paste. Suggestions, please!}.

1. First, I sliced the onion (keeping the pieces quite large).

2. I then spread the chicken out in a pan for marinating.

Chick'n version for me and LX:

3. To make the marinate, I simply mixed the balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, and lemon juice together...

4. ... until creamy and smooth.

5. I then added the dried herbs to the chicken, which included Herbes de Provence, Laurel leaf, and crushed red peppers (add the spices you prefer).

6. I then topped each dish (one chicken, one Chick'n) with the onions...

7. ... and poured over the marinate, mixing it to make sure everything was coated. I then placed it in the fridge, covered, for 24 hours.

Chicken:

Chick'n:

8. The next day, I baked the chicken (saving most of the marinate in the dish) in the oven at 400Funtil it was cooked and set it aside. The recipe said to bake it for 35-45 minutes (!!) but I took it out after about 20-25 minutes.

9. I added the onions to the frying pan, which the recipe assured me would create it's own liquid (so not to add water). At first it was good:

10. However, as they softened, it was clear that this was not going to suffice as a sauce:

11. I decided to add some white wine to the mixture, which looked good. I added the chicken to "simmer", like the recipe said, for 25 minutes (I cut this down to 10-15 minutes). Big mistake!

12. And served over basmati rice...

13. ...with a side of baked asparagus.

Overall, this was another lesson for me to try out recipes before attempting them for the first time with guests. This recipe smelled delicious as it was cooking, and I loved the 24 hour marinating. However, the overall flavour was SOOOOO strong. The kind that burns the back of your throat. I was so disappointed because of all the work I put into it, and because it smelled soo good. I did add the white wine to increase the liquid in the sauce, but I think it was too strong and only added to the acidity of this dish. LX really liked it, but told me that she really likes tart things (and was probably being nice!), but SB didn't eat much of it and neither did I. In addition, the chicken was cooked WAY too long. It wasn't so much a problem for the Chick'n, but for the real meat, SB told me it was pretty bad. Oopsies.

Anyways, if anyone has any suggestions about how to improve this recipe (both the sauce and how to cook the chicken), please let me know! I think there is potential here, but I am too inexperienced to think of anything else besides the wine!

Old School Falafel Pita

FRIDAY, MAY 8TH, 2009

3 stars (out of 5 - well, it's falafel! But with great sauce)

Today I decided that I would try an old school meal (with new, improved twists of course). I used to eat falafel all of the time during my early undergrad years, so I thought I would give it a try again. I was inspired by a great recipe (and accompanying pic) in a recipe book I recently discovered (okay, I've started watching too much Project Runway when I start talking about my cooking "inspirations"!). The sauce for the falafel wrap looked very appealing, so I thought I would try to "make it work".

Ingredients:

1 package falafel*
Oil (to cook)

1 medium avacodo*
1 medium tomato
1/2 cup mayo
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup red onion (to your taste)
Chopped lettuce
Large pitas*

*{Note. For two wraps worth of falafel, add 1/2 cup cold water to 1 cup of falafel. It was only me tonight, so I halved the recipe, which made enough for two wraps. I also bought medium pita pockets by accident (see adaptation below), but really recommend large pitas if you want everything to fit inside!}

1. First, I added the falafel and water (according to the package), and let it set for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, this should be about the consistency:


2. As it was setting, I "smooshed" the avacodo in a medium bowl.


3. I then added the lemon juice and mayo, and stirred everything until it was fairly smooth.


4. I then added the coursely choopped tomato, and the finely chopped red onion.


5. I stirred everything together very well.

6. As I was mixing everything up, I heated some oil in a frying pan over medium heat. It was so much oil! I basically had to coat the pan.

7. I then added the falafel balls to the hot oil. I tried to make them fairly small, as they tend to get dry in the centre.

8. After they cooked for about 3 minutes, I flipped them over and cooked them on the other side. Note, it is not recommended to flip over your falafel after you have just washed (and not dried) your hands. Apparently the oil/water combo doesn't mix so well and you end up with burns (and oil) all over. Pleasant.

9. I then placed the falafel balls on a paper towel to try to absorb some of the oil. It's kinda gross how much oil was absorbed from the pan.

10. I had bought pita pockets, and they weren't big enough, so I opened up the pocket and then used it as a giant roll. I first spread some of the avacodo/mayo mix on it (quite thick... it tastes good!).

11. I then added some chopped lettuce...


12. ... topped by the falafel (and extra sauce for good measure).


13. I rolled everything up and hoped for the best!

Overall, I enjoyed the flavour of falafel, but it's just so greasy that I felt kinda bad/gross about eating it. I guess it's nice once in a while. However, I really liked the avacodo spread and thought it was a fantastic compliment to the falafel (and am wondering what else I could pair it with...).

Slow-Simmered Curry Chicken with Bruschetta Appy

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2009

3 stars (out of 5 - okay, but could be improved (see notes below))

Today LX is coming for dinner, so I wanted to try out the slow-cooker again. I like to use it when company comes over because then I'm not running around the kitchen cooking while they are here. SB and I decided on this slow-cook curry recipe, but I'm not completely sold as its base consists of salsa. We'll see - but I'm nervous about how it will turn out.

Ingredients*:

1.5 cups coursely chopped onion
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into bite-size pieces*
1 cup medium salsa*
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup fresh cilantro* (for dry see below)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp curry powder
3/4 tsp salt
Hot cooked rice

*{note. I used chicken thighs, as it has been my experience that chicken breasts are too lean to taste good after slow-cooking (too dry). I also only had dry cilantro, so I converted my 1/4 cup fresh to approximately 4 tsp dry... we'll see how that goes! For the vegetarian version, I followed the exact same steps, but used Yves Veggie Tenders (chicken) instead.

It was also suggested to me by LX and SB that it could be way less spicy - which I agree. Therefore, I would use mild salsa. I think as it cooked, the spices really came out and it was hot hot hot. Finally, LX suggested some additional spices to add flavour, such as adding a tsp or so of cumin. I also added quite a bit of curry powder in the end.}

1. First I chopped the onion and peppers and placed them at the bottom of my 4.5 qt slow-cooker.

2. I then placed the chopped chicken on top (I also have to thank SB for preparing the chicken yesterday - I just can't bring myself to cut off the fat and snip the meat up. Blaah).

3. I then combined the salsa, ginger, and garlic powder in a small bowl. By the way, does anyone actually know how to grate ginger? Impossible! I just turned to a juicy mush, and I was left with this weird stringy ginger in my hand. For my pot (my second prep of the dish), I ended up just "peeling" the ginger in with a potato peeler.

4. I spooned this combo over top of the chicken, and spread it out evenly. I added about 1/2 of the cilantro at this point- I think that dry herbs taste better cooked for a while, but I didn't want to add to much. I hope this is okay!

5. I placed the slow-cooker on high for 30 minutes, then on low for 5-6 hours, or until chicken was tender.

6. I then combined the remaining cilantro (2 tsp), sugar, curry powder, and salt in a small bowl and set it aside. I will add this to the slow-cooker for the final 30 minutes of cooking.

7. During the last 30 minutes of cooking, I added the remaining spices and started the rice. I ended up adding a lot more curry powder for flavour, and you could also add some cumin. When I opened the lid, it was very very liquidy inside, so I stirred it and let it cook with the lid off for a while. However, note that when you stir it, the meat is so tender that it falls apart a bit. I had to be careful!

8. When the rice was ready (I used Basmati), I served it onto the plates and spooned the curried chicken over top. I served a lot of rice, since it was so spicy!

Here is the meat one:

And here is the vegetarian one:


Overall, it was good, but could use less spice and more flavour. In the end my worries about the salsa were unfounded - surprisingly it mixed well with the curry flavours and had enough liquid in it to make the meat very tender. My veggy meat also held up very well in the slow-cooker, and was nice and tender.

Bruschetta

I also wanted to do a quick appetizer for when LX was here. I needed something sans dairy, and also something I didn't have to run to the store for! I decided on bruschetta, as I had two tomatoes in my fridge. This recipe is a bit of a cheat, as I use a mix, but I love this mix and it's easy! My mom buys them for me, and I'll post a picture in case anyone ever wants to look for it.

Ingredients:

4 ripe Italian tomatoes
1 tbsp bruschetta mix
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh basil (or more... I love it!)
Fresh garlic (optional)

We actually had 1/2 a baguette left from yesterday, so it worked out almost perfectly (the baguette does not need to be super fresh, as you toast it before serving). The only thing I was missing was the fresh basil... so it should be good, but always better with the basil. As you can see below, I also halved the recipe, as it was only for LX and I.

1. I chopped the tomatoes coarsely, and placed it in a small bowl. It's okay if some of the liquids get in the bowl, as it helps dissolve the dry mix. I then added the mix and lemon juice (you would also add the basil here), and stirred well.

2. I covered and placed it in the fridge until tonight (the longer the better). DO NOT add any garlic to this mix- it gets very very garlicky on its own.

3. To serve, I sliced the baguette and threw the slices in the oven until toasted. Then I served them with bruschetta on top. There is also the option of rubbing some fresh garlic on the bread before adding the bruschetta, but the last time I did this, it was so strong it basically burnt my mouth. Therefore, do so with caution.