stuffed mushrooms

so we should all know by now, i hate mushrooms and eggs. an unkind fate, or at least one with a sick sense of humor gave me for the love of my life a man who loves nothing so much as mushrooms and eggs. go figure. the grocery store had a nice big box of nice big crimini mushrooms last week when we made the usual family foray to the market. what with my husband being the noble bread winner that he is, i have a general policy of letting him have whatever he wants for dinner. the only time this went seriously awry for me was when he presented me with a big, wobbly thymus gland from a steer and asked if i could use my julia child cook book for it. i did, and i may never be the same. by comparison, mushrooms now don't look nearly so bad. anyway, to the point: i made stuffed mushrooms for dinner and i'm told they were great. here's how it went: mince and saute together half of the stems from the mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, and tarragon in olive oil, i can't tell you how much because it depends on how many you're making. be brave, use your judgement, try to make equal parts stems, onion, and peppers. let them cool. combine in a food processor (or mixing bowl) the veggies, one or two italian sausage links (minus casings), one egg, some more olive oil, and either stale corn bread (don't toss the crusty leftovers in the trash, put them in the freezer!) or, about a cup of cornbread stuffing mix, moistened. mix together until evenly combined and sticky. take the stemmed caps and brush them with olive oil, inside and out, place them in a baking dish making sure they are not touching each other or the sides of the pan, fill with the stuffing so that each one is nicely rounded with meat mixture, brush the filling with olive oil and sprinkle them with bread crumbs. pre heat the oven to 350, right before you pop them in the oven pour about 1/4 to 1/2 and inch of marsala wine into the pan around the mushrooms. bake for two hours at 350 and serve with the reduced wine as the sauce. a note here: if you're only making two, an hour should do you. if you don't trust yourself to know when they're done, use a thermometer to check the internal temp after an hour, most of them have a meat loaf setting that would work fine for this recipie.

savory pork chops with orange relish

long time no type, it has already been said that life at the cottage is a whirlwind. due to this wind, as it were, last night dinner was a bit of a rush job. my husband says i should always cook under pressure, as new recipes are sure to result, i choose to take this as a compliment. so, last night i had some pork sirloin chops, one orange, one onion, and a bit of celery. the wine for the evening was to be Gewurztraminer, and the side dish steamed summer squash from the garden. a note here on pork sirloin chops: love them. my favorite way to cook them is dredged (or breaded if i feel like fussing with the egg), browned, covered and baked at 275 for about 3 hours. they fall apart under your fork and are heavenly topped with onions, fruit, or green chilies while they bake or left alone to finish. now that we have established the bliss of a well prepared sirloin chop, we return to the meal at hand. i diced 3/4s of the orange skin on (it was large), an equal amount of onion, and one stalk of celery these got to saute in canola oil with salt and a sprinkling of savory until everything was soft. i put this "relish" into the bottom of a baking dish and browned the chops in the pan with a bit of salt and pepper, then put them in on top. foil over the whole lot, then into the oven. ideally we'd go back to the bit about cooking at 275 for 3 hours but we were short on time so instead i settled for 350 for an hour and although we needed knives they were still juicy and wonderful. as leftovers i expect them to make wonderful bbq pork sanwiches.

kielbasa and rice

this is easy, peasy, fast, and tasty! chop up 2 stalks of celery, half a large onion, bell pepper (however much you want), and one kielbasa. throw it all in a large skillet that has a lid and let it brown in a few tablespoons of olive oil. once the sausage and onions have some crispy yummy brown edges add one package of mahatma saffron rice, stir. let this sizzle for a minute or two then add one can petite diced tomatoes, fill the can with water (not quite to the top) and pour into the skillet. bring everything to a low boil then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 18 minutes. viola, dinner is served! with crackers and franks hot sauce.

tabbouleh quinoa a la cottage

here's a quickie for you. juice one lemon, chop one handful of parsley, mince two raw cloves of garlic, dice one large cucumber, dice two tomatoes, slice three whole green onions, combine in a bowl and refrigerate. prepare quinoa (one cup seeds, two cups water. bring to a boil then simmer for 16 minutes on low) and cool. stir quinoa into veggies once it has cooled with enough olive oil to keep it from being dry, be generous with the olive oil. salt and pepper to taste.

tandoori meets tagine

ah, chicken. how do i love thee? in this case, skinned and baked to bits with Moroccan preserved lemons! so, i found myself thinking back to roundtree casbah, an evening of friends, food, and music, par excellence. in particular i loved the lemon chicken, if you are now picturing schilling lemon chicken sauteed on the stove: stop right there. this chicken bears as much resemblance to that as the dilapidated ponies at the county fair "cowboy ride" do to the winner at the derby. first get a whole chicken and divest it of it's skin. it's not the most pleasant task but not too difficult, actually. rinse the chicken well and let it sit and dry while you combine in a food processor (or by chopping) a handful of fresh cilantro, two cloves of garlic, and one half of a preserved lemon. the preserved lemon sounds fancy, but it's not. meyer lemons work best, simply cut into them with out going all the way through from end to end cross ways (so it looks quartered but is hanging together by the pithy bits at the pointy ends) then rub with kosher salt liberally, stuff into a jar and top with a bit more salt. let them hang out in the back of the fridge for about a week and you're set. we all know that i'm not a kitchen fiddler but these little babies are worth it. what's more, they're easy and potent, each whole chicken only takes one or two lemons. if you really don't have the time or ambition you can try fresh lemons, but it's just not the same. so, back to the chicken. ummm. add to the processor some plain yogurt (the tandoori is coming in now) so that you have a thick, creamy paste. layer the bottom of a large dutch oven with onion slices and lay the chicken on top, breast up. rub the mix all over the chicken inside and out, place one half of a preserved lemon inside the bird and tuck one quarter in the nook below each breast. add a handful of dried apricots, some in the bird, some around or under. sprinkle the bird with ras al hout (Moroccan spice mix) if you want to or just some cinnamon will do, put the lid on and put in the oven at 350 for two hours. after two hours flip the chicken breast side down and cook for another hour. you now have a delicious chicken and some lovely broth on your hands. personally i got three meals out of this. i served it for dinner carved with quinoa tabbouleh, in tortillas for lunch the next day, then i picked the bones and simmered lentils in the broth to thicken it to stew and served that over rice. it never got old, and i can't wait to make it again.

egg plant stir fry

so, i bought an egg plant the other day with the intention of making egg plant parmesan. for a variety of reasons this did not happen. i found myself today staring at said egg plant which had gone ever so slightly wrinkly in my fridge and dreading the inevitable breading-frying-baking fiasco. and then i thought of a woman that i used to work with, she loved egg plant something or other from panda express. i want to say that i in no way support panda express, i find their food intolerable in the extreme. because of this i have no idea what the egg plant in question even looks like. the idea, however, had merritt. so, out of the cupboard came a can of bamboo shoots, four cloves of garlic got minced, three quarters of a large red bell pepper got diced and the wok got put over high heat with a generous amount of vegetable oil. everything got dumped in together once the wok was hot with a splash of seasoned rice wine vinegar for good measure. once the vinegar had cooked down until it smelled better (i'm not joking about this, use your nose, it'll mellow in about three minutes) i put the lid on so it could soften up. after about five minutes with the lid on i added some lee kum kee oyster sauce, because yan can cook with it and i can too. the result: good. i'm sure it came out exactly how egg plant lovers all across the globe want their egg plant to come out. hubby and i, however, are not egg plant lovers, so this is not a new family favorite. it may hit the table again some day though. to those of you who have not tried it, i can only say you should give it a shot. you may fall in love, or at least you can check off something on your list of veggies untried.

salad dressing

has anyone else read the labels on salad dressing lately? i'm not crazy into purity in my food or anything, but does dressing really need to contain ten things that i can't pronounce? really? i have this year embarked on an adventure into home made salad dressing. why this simple condiment intimidated me for so long, i have no idea. i'm proud to say that i now can turn out a variety of dressings easily enough, most without the help of my itty bitty food processor. two of my favorites are 1: dijon mustard, lemon juice (fresh please), olive oil, raw minced garlic (again, fresh please), and what ever sort of fresh chopped herbs you like; 2: a small can of mandarin oranges with half of their juices, seasoned rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, grated ginger, pepper. the general method i employ is to mix the dressing in the salad bowl and let it sit for a bit, then right before dinner toss the lettuce in the dressing and top with nuts, veggies, croutons, etc. try it out, it's worth it! not only is it tastier, cheaper, and fresher, you'll know exactly what you're eating.