NYE: Stuffed Mushrooms

Alright everybody, I know it's been awhile since I've posted and I'm sorry for that. I have not really been around enough to do proper cooking worthy of a new post. That and I was out of town for Christmas, so I did not get to cook there! Here's some NYE goodness!

Ingredients:
1 lb White Button Mushrooms
Couscous(2 cups Couscous, 3 cups Water)
1 Green Bell Pepper, diced
1/3 cup Scallions, diced
Teriyaki Sauce
Brandy*
1800 Silver Tequila*
Dry Sherry*
Port*
Ancho Chili Powder
Garlic Salt
Sesame Seeds
Shredded Asiago Cheese

*ALCOHOL

Tonight I'm going to a shindig at a friends place where I get to bring food! Well, I didn't list the Hummus I am bringing on here because it's the same recipe as I have posted about already! This Stuffed Mushrooms recipe is very involved and should be wonderful.

I began by utilizing my Rice Cooker. 2 cups of Couscous and 3 cups of Water. Plug in, hit the tab to COOK, red light comes on. Let it be.

Now to the ingredients. I was going to use tomatoes too, but that did not occur.

Now take the stems out of the Mushrooms. Place stems to the side.

Now get your alcohol.

Using a large skillet, add in your alcohol. I'd list them, but all the alcohol goes in this part! I used about a 1/4 cup of each with maybe a little more of the Brandy.

Turn the heat to MEDIUM. Once it begins to boil, add in a dusting of Ancho Chili Powder. Then in go the Mushroom caps, gill side down. Cover and reduce heat a little bit. Make sure to flip them in about 2 minutes.

Now there are those pesky mushroom stems. Slice them up and put them in a sauce pot. Add in your diced Scallions and diced Bell Pepper. To this, I added a dash of Tequila and Brandy, along with some Teriyaki Sauce.

Make sure to unplug your Rice Cooker when the Couscous is done so it doesn't get dried out. It should be about 2 minutes after you flipped the Mushroom Caps now, so turn off the heat and remove from that burner. Leave covered so they keep the heat while you tend to other things.

Let the Mushroom Stems, Scallions, and Bell Pepper cook for about 2 minutes. Turn off heat and turn to your Food Processor. Take them out and put them in. Add a sprinkling of Sesame Seeds. Puree.

Now comes the plating part. I have them in an oven ready dish in case we need to heat them up later on. I first spooned in some Couscous.

Then I added the puree mixture. Topped it with a sprinkling of Shredded Asiago Cheese. Enjoy!

Eggs in a Boat 2.0

Alright, so I have made this once before and decided a second attempt at it was warranted. This time I changed up the recipe a little bit as to include what I had on hand.

Ingredients:
1 loaf French Bread
Shredded Asiago, Gruyere, Quatro Fromaggio Cheese
Parmesan/Romano Cheese
7 Eggs
1/2 cup Scallions, sliced
1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
1 Orange Bell Pepper, diced
Italian Herb Mix
Ground Black Pepper
Sea Salt

I'll skip the normal get your ingredients together picture since we always do that. I'll just get to the good part...the ingredients ready to go pictures! Here's the egg mixture and diced up Bell Peppers and Scallions. Turn your oven to 400 degrees BAKE.

And the loaf of French Bread, where I have the center scooped out somewhat. Make sure not to breach the sides, as the egg mixture will drain out and cause trouble. I accidentally did this on one part so I wrapped it in tin foil. I think I'll do this every time from here on out.

Now I poured the eggs in first.

I added most of the diced Bell Peppers and Scallions. They sink in quite readily.

I topped that with a solid dusting of each cheese. I also added a pinch or two of the Sea Salt and Ground Black Pepper.

Topped with whatever is left over of the diced Bell Peppers and Scallions. Also, add in a few pinches of the Italian Herb Mix.

Now put it in the oven for about 10 minutes. I checked at 10 minutes and then decided to let it bake some more so the eggs were not as runny as the first time I made this. So another 15 minutes. Then I took it out and this is what it looked like.

After giving it a little bit to cool down, I took it out of the tin foil and cut it up to serve. Enjoy.

Chef's Original: Mixed up Breakfast

As some of you may know, I like to have my lunch and or breakfast for work cooked up the day before. This is generally done because I hate actually cooking right after I wake up since I know I'll probably burn and or cut myself. So I do it the night before. Tomorrow I needed a breakfast and this is the delicious result.

Ingredients:
1 lb White Button Mushrooms
7 XL Eggs
2 Green Bell Peppers
3 Anaheim Peppers
1 cup diced Scallions
Couscous (2 cups Couscous, 3 cups Water)
1.5 cup Pearl Barley
Salt
Ground Black Pepper
1/4 stick Butter
Lime Juice
Teriyaki Sauce
Soy Sauce
Olive Oil
Archer Farms Asian-Inspired Sweet Chile "wing sauce"
Italian Herb Mix
Shredded Asiago Cheese
Shredded Gruyere Cheese

Alright, I did do this kind of in stages. I began with starting my Couscous in my Rice Cooker. If you do not have one of these, I highly suggest picking one up! Once I got the Couscous going, I put the Pearl Barley in a small sauce pot with 4 cups of Water. I turned the heat to MEDIUM. I also diced up the Peppers and Mushrooms.

In a large saucepan I put in about 2/3 cup of Archer Farms Asian-Inspired Sweet Chile "wing sauce". To this I added 2 decent squeezes of the Lime Juice bottle, a good 1/4 cup or so worth of the Soy and Teriyaki Sauces. Turn the heat to MEDIUM.

Once this begins to boil, I threw in the diced Mushrooms. I moved them around to get some of the mixture on each one.

Now about 3 minutes later, I added in a dusting of Black Pepper and Sea Salt. Mix some more.

After about 2 more minutes, the Mushrooms should be done. Check by taste testing and make sure it's cooled when tasting. When done, place in a mixing bowl and put to the side.

I cleaned out the large saucepan and put it back on the stovetop where I left the burner at MEDIUM. It will sizzle with the water on the bottom. I threw in the diced Peppers and a good dollop of Olive Oil. Mix.

I then added some Sea Salt and Ground Black Pepper to the mix. I want to say a good dusting, maybe a dash less. Mix.

Once that's done, which should be about 3 minutes total, put in a mixing bowl.

Eggs time. I whisked the 7 Eggs together first. Using the same saucepan, cleaned out again, I put in the Butter. Once that was mostly melted, I added in the whisked Eggs.

Right away I added in the Scallions. I put in about a 1/4 cup's worth. I also added a good amount of both Cheeses listed above.

You should know how to cook eggs, so follow that plan. Look, they're done!

Now just plate how you want. I plated them differently. One way was with the Mushrooms and served on a Tortilla with a dash of Italian Herb Mix. The second way was on the Couscous.

Chef's Original: Spiced Okra Onion Soup

This was just sort of thrown together after work today when I got home. I heard some amazing news about an issue in my life and decided that I would cook to celebrate. Well this is the result.

Ingredients:
12 Okra
4 Scallions
9 Boiler Onions
1/2 stick Butter
1 cup Sherry
1/2 cup Lime Juice
1/4 cup Teriyaki Sauce
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Olive Oil
Ground Black Pepper
Ground Turmeric
Sea Salt
Fennel Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Paprika
Italian Herb Mix
Shredded Asiago Cheese

Alright, I began by gathering some of my ingredients. I don't say all because some just happened to be in arms reach and found their way into this recipe.

Next I threw the Butter into the large saucepan I use for almost everything.

I chopped up the white portions of the Scallions. I then chopped the Boiler Onions in half. Now, this is where I turned the heat to MEDIUM for the Butter.

Once the Butter was mostly melted, I added in the spices. Just a heavy pinch or two of each and maybe a little more Ground Black Pepper than that. Then I tossed in the Scallions and Boiler Onions.

Mix them up!

Once they were going strong, I sliced up the Okra and threw that into the saucepan. Stir.

Once the Boiler Onions are noticeably soft and caramelized everything should be done so turn the heat off.

I chose to plate this dish in a new bowl I picked up the other day and decorate the edging on it with some hot sauce making a pattern. I topped it off with a sprinkle of Italian Herb Mix and Shredded Asiago Cheese. Enjoy.

Veggie Surprise!

I decided to have this last night as a healthy-ish dinner alternative to eating meat. I know it sounds weird, however too much meat isn't really the best idea ever.

Ingredients:
1 cup Frozen Corn
1 cup Frozen Peas
1 box Ditalini Pasta
1/4 cup diced Scallions
1/2 lb Green Beans
Ground Black Pepper
Italian Herb Mix
Parmesan Cheese
Sea Salt
1/4 stick Butter

I began this by gathering my ingredients.

I then started the water boiling for my Pasta. Once that began to boil, I added in my pasta. I also added a pot of water with the 2 cups of frozen vegetables as well. Heat on MEDIUM once boiling.

Now, I turned to the Green Beans. I put a saucepan on the stovetop with the Butter in it. Heat to MEDIUM. Once the Butter is mostly melted, add in your Green Beans. Mix to coat. Lightly dust with 2 pinches of Sea Salt and 3 of Ground Black Pepper. Mix again.

Now that you have everything going, step back and enjoy the satisfaction of cooking your own meal. Yes, it's nice.

Ok back to business! Make sure to mix your Green Beans up until they are done cooking. Taste test to determine. You could also tell that about the time your Pasta is done, everything else is as well.

Now I strained out the Pasta first and put it in a large mixing bowl. I then added in the Peas/Corn that I strained. I mixed this all together.

I plated that mixture and topped with the Green Beans and Scallions. A light dusting of Italian Herb Mix and Parmesan Cheese to top it all off. Enjoy.

Beef Irish Stew

So the other day I threw together a vegetable irish style soup stew thing and that got me thinking about trying the real deal. So today that is just what I did. I really wanted to get lamb meat for the stew, however I could not find any worth getting this week so I chose beef as a replacement. I think it turned out quite well and was a delicious lunch for me today.

Ingredients:
1 lb Beef Stew Meat
1/3 cup Shallots, diced
6 Garlic Cloves, diced
6 Scallions, diced
3 Leeks, sliced
6 Celery Stalks, sliced
10 Carrots, sliced
15 sm Potatoes, halved and quartered
1 can Guinness beer
3 cups Beef Broth
1 can Tomato Paste
Italian Herb Mix
Ground Black Pepper
Sea Salt
Fennel Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Sweet Paprika
1/4 stick Butter
Lowry's Seasoning

I began this recipe by gathering my ingredients.

I then proceeded to slice up the Carrots first. They got the first mixing bowl, which I then added the sliced Celery Stalks and Leeks while topping off with the sliced Scallions.

In another bowl, I put the diced up Shallots and Garlic Cloves.

The third bowl got the halved and quartered Potatoes.

I put a pot on the stove and that is where I put the 3 cups or so of water and a beef bullion cube to make the beef broth. Put the heat on high and mostly cover. It should be ready in a few minutes.

Now, I put this to the side for a second while I threw the meat into the large saucepot with the Butter and a healthy dash of Lowry's. Once the meat was done browing, I took it out into a bowl on the side. Using the liquid still in there, I put in the Garlic Cloves and Shallots. Mix together quite well.

Once the Shallots have begun to caramalize and turn translucent, put the meat back in there.

I let this go for about a minute. Then the vegetable medly bowl had it's contents put into the mix. Then of course mixed together.

Next were the Potatoes. Mix together.

I put in about 1/2 the beef broth. At this point I added the can of Tomato Paste.

Mix it together and add the rest of the beef broth.

Now add the can of delicious Guinness beer. Any stout would do, but Guinness is great so why not that one!

Now let the stew come to a boil, reduce heat to just above simmering and let cook for about an hour.

Taste test at the end to make sure it's done, if not let cook more. Enjoy.