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!

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.

A Taste of Autumn

Today I had several cooking ingredients to use and NO IDEA what to do with them. So, I chose to throw a dish together that ended up creating a sense of Autumn. I was quite surprised since I did not follow any sort of plan with the dish, and just created it as I went along.





Ingredients:
6 sm White Sweet Onions
1 cup diced Chives
Herbed Butter
Tomato Sauce (mentioned earlier in blog)
Ground Black Pepper
Garlic Salt
Italian Herb Mix
2/3 cup of Port Vino

I began by eyeing the White Sweet Onions I had on hand, and decided to cut them in sections. I want to say 3 or 4 sections per onion. I also had my Chives on hand, and decided to dice those up like nobody's business.

Once those were ready, I put in about 1/2 a stick of the Herbed Butter I had into my large saucepan. I believe it was Tuscan Herbed Butter offhand. I set the heat to medium and let the butter melt...mostly at least. In went the Sweet Onions and I stirred them around to coat them with the delicious butter. After about 30 seconds, in went the diced Chives. Stirred again to mix it all together properly. At this point I added in the Ground Black Pepper and Garlic Salt. Both of these were a medium to light dusting over everything. Then the Italian Herb Mix, which was a healthy dosing around 1/3 of a cup. Mix everything together then add the 2/3 cup of Port Vino. Stir everything together again. I then put in about 3/4 to 1 cup of Tomato Sauce and stirred everything together again.

About a minute or so after this, the Onions appear to have caramelized and I deduced that everything was cooked properly so I dished it all out. I used a small bowl to serve it just as is and a small dish for having it over Couscous. Either way, was amazingly delicious! Enjoy!

Spoonful of Mushroom Couscous

So in a lot of my posts, I have either Mushrooms or Couscous involved. Well, looks like it's about time they met up and made an amazing meal. I decided to make this today as a lunchtime meal, and it was just so simple to make that I was hitting myself for not figuring it out sooner!



Ingredients:
1/2 lb Shiitake Mushrooms
1 lb Cremini Mushrooms
Sake
Teriyaki Sauce
Soy Sauce
Lime Juice
Ground Black Pepper
Garlic Salt
Couscous

I began with a saucepan where I poured in a liberal amount of Sake. Added to that was a light amount of Soy and Teriyaki Sauce. The same for Lime Juice. I turned the heat to medium.

I then sliced the Cremini Mushrooms and Shiitake Mushrooms into smaller portions and tossed them all into the saucepan. To that, I added the Ground Black Pepper and Garlic salt. Not too much otherwise they will overpower everything else. Mix everything together with tongs to make sure everything gets equal flavor.

At this point, I started the Couscous in my rice cooker. It finished cooking right as the rest of the recipe was finishing up.

Back to the Mushrooms, stir them again. They should be spongey about now so turn the heat off. Get your food processor or blender and puree the Mushrooms as much as you can. They turned into a kind of paste for me, which turns out to work quite well.

Since the Couscous is done now, just put that down first and top with the Mushroom paste. Garnish with a sprinkling of Italian Herbs and you are good to go. Enjoy.

Couscous Stuffed Mushrooms

So at work we are having a 'potluck' tomorrow, and I decided that an appetizer style contribution would go over quite well. Everyone who has perused my blog must have noticed my tendencies to cook using mushrooms, so that was where I decided to start. My lunch today was the Indian Spiced Chicken from Sunday and I thought that I should somehow use Couscous with Mushrooms.

The first thing that came to mind was Couscous with Mushrooms mixed in...that could be tasty. But no, that's been done before.

Secondly I thought of making a Mushroom sauce and putting that on the Couscous. Alas, I passed on this idea since this would not be served fresh and I do not want to serve the Couscous all soggy with Mushroom sauce.

So I came upon the idea to reverse the idea process I was using. Why not put the Mushroom as the main part of the dish rather than just a side ingredient!?! Well, I've made a few Stuffed Mushrooms in my day, so I went with that to start it off.

Ingredients:
Couscous (1 cup Couscous :3 cups Water)
2 lb Cremini Mushrooms
1 cup Scallions/Green Onions (diced)
Shredded Cheeses (4 cheese blend)
1/4 stick Butter
1 1/2 cup Sake (Does not include what you drink!)
dash of Teriyaki Sauce
dash of Soy Sauce
dash of Lime Juice
dash of Lemon Juice
2 spoonfuls of Indian Spice Mix*

*Previously mentioned in this very blog!

I began by putting my large saucepan on the stovetop and turned the heat to medium-high. Then I poured in the Sake, Teriyaki Sauce, Soy Sauce, Lime Juice, and Lemon Juice. Then stirred a bit.

Once the temperature got hot enough to almost boil the liquid mix, I put in the 2 spoonfuls of Indian Spice Mix. You don't really have to stir here but I did a little bit. Do not be alarmed by the foamy reaction right away, it will die down quickly. Turn the heat down to just medium.

I then grabbed the Cremini Mushrooms and proceeded to take out their stems. The stems went into a mixing bowl in the fridge to be used for a different recipe(I'm thinking sauce) and the caps go into the saucepan gill side down.

After a minute or two, flip the mushrooms. They should be almost spongey. Once they are spongey feeling, they should be ready to take off. So turn off the heat and do so with a tongs or spoon(easiest way in my opinion).

Now that you have them on a plate or dish, time to put the Couscous in. I used my rice cooker to cook the Couscous and a small spoon to scoop it out and place the Couscous in the Mushrooms. Takes awhile, but is worth it.

I then sprinkled some Shredded Cheese on top, along with an extra sprinkling of the diced Green Onions/Scallions. Now it's ready to serve, Enjoy!

Indian Spiced Chicken

Today for lunch, we went to a local indian restaurant. It was amazing. I have not had indian food in years, other than that which I have cooked myself, so it was quite memorable....and filling.

This trip got me in the mood to cook today, so I picked up some chicken and delved into my spices and came up with something that was tasty!

Ingredients:
2 Chicken Breasts
Vegetable Oil
Sesame Seeds
Turmeric/Tumeric
Garam Masala
Hot Smoked Spanish Paprika
Cumin
Coriander
Ground Black Pepper
Cloves
Cardamom Pods
Fenugreek Seeds
Garlic Salt
Pearl Couscous

So I grabbed a metal mixing bowl and mixed together everything but the Vegetable Oil, Pearl Couscous, and Chicken Breasts. I did not include an amount on the spices because everyone should have fun with this recipe and mix together what you think is right! Once that was mixed, I took my large saucepan and poured in around 2 cups of the Vegetable Oil. I then turned the heat to medium-high and turned to the chicken.

You should be able to trim the Chicken Breasts and cut them into smaller portions/chunks in time to turn around and add the spice mix to the oil. The oil should be about to boil at this point. I turn the heat down to about medium when I add the spices in. Mix them together as best you can.

Once that is done, add the chicken in. Let cook for about a minute, then flip the chicken. Do this periodically until you think it's done, which should be no more than 10 minutes. However, cut a piece to check so you do not get sick!

I also used my rice cooker to cook up some Pearl Couscous (1.5 cups Couscous: 2 cups water) and had that with the Chicken. It was very tasty and I am lucky enough to have some for my lunch tomorrow! Enjoy!

Summertime Appetizer Snack

So as mentioned in my previous post, I made couscous. I also decided that I should make a snack for my girlfriend. I don't think that just couscous alone is enough, so I decided that those Cremini Mushrooms in the fridge needed to be dealt with...as a sauce!

Ingredients:
Mushroom Sauce:
12 Cremini Mushrooms
1 bottle Dark Beer
Orange Juice
Lemon Juice

Green Onions/Scallions

Couscous:
2 cups Pearl Couscous
4 cups Water
dash of Sea Salt
Italian Herb Mix (few pinches)

The couscous was cooked in my rice cooker according to the instructions that it came with, and of course with some herb mix added in. You start this up and let it be since it doesn't need any more attention.

The Mushroom Sauce began with a small saucepot on the stove, where I put in about 3/4 worth of standard beer bottle's beer. Set the heat to medium, any higher and it looks like a cloud is emerging from the pot, trust me...I found this out.

I grabbed my trusty food processor and proceeded to slice up the Cremini Mushrooms and then dice up quite finely. Then pour/dump the mushrooms into the saucepot with the beer. You'll probably have to scoop it out since it is quite sticky at this point, not sure why. Stir.

Let it go for a few minutes, but make sure to watch it in case you have to turn down the heat a little bit or stir. Add in the Orange Juice, maybe 1/2 a cup's worth. As for the lemon juice, I want to say like 10 drops worth were added, barely anything at all. Stir.

At this point your couscous should be done and the rice cooker on 'warm'. So now grab some Green Onions/Scallions and cut them up about halfway down into small chunks. Your mushroom sauce can go for as long as you want it to, but I turned off the heat at this point and dished everything up. Enjoy.

Steak and Couscous

Today I thought some flank steak would be good for an early lunch. Well, just having steak without anything with it is never the smart thing to do, at least if you ask me. So I decided to utilize my rice cooker and cook up some tasty couscous.

Ingredients:
For Couscous:
Pearl Couscous
Water
Sea Salt
Herb Mix

For Steak:
Flank Steak
Herbed Butter
Lowry's Seasoning
Garlic Salt

I'll start with the couscous since I stated that first. In the little 'instructions' manual for my Rice Cooker, there are several recipes and cook times. I just used the one for Pearl Couscous, which is 1.5 cups couscous to 3 cups water. Also added the sea salt and mix of italian herbs in and stirred it all together. Then just click the button to cook and it will turn off to warm when it's cooked properly. So simple, so great.

The flank steak is one of my favorite cuts of meat available. I generally prefer very lean cuts of meat, and this one doesn't necessarily follow that but everything gets cooked off quite readily. I cut the steak into 3 strips since I do not have a grill to cook it on, just a skillet.

I put probably 1/3 stick worth of herbed butter in there and turned the heat to medium. I got the herbed butter at Central Market (local awesome food supermarket). Then I covered one side of the steak with Lowry's Seasoning. Put the steak in with the Lowry's side down, then lightly cover the top unseasoned side. At this point add some garlic salt in, but beware a little goes a long way.

I'd say about 5 minutes per side with it on medium got it to where I like it, I just took it off and cut it into strips. Added the couscous to the plate and a nice perfect lunch....and since I had a lot of steak leftover from it, I now have lunch for tomorrow while at work! Enjoy!