Quick Mushroom-Barley Soup

I don’t think I have ever cooked with barley before. Barley is….very chewy. Not sure if I love it or not. Anywho, this soup was ok. I didn’t love it. I told Toby it didn’t knock my socks off. I used matchstick carrots instead of rounds, and I used vegetarian “chicken” broth.  With this we had a salad and some bread. Eh.

rating: 5
Quick Mushroom-Barley Soup
(from www.allyou.com)

Ingredients

• 2  tablespoons  vegetable oil
• 1  onion, finely chopped
• 2  carrots, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds (I used matchstick carrots)
• 10  ounce  white or cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1  cup  pearl barley
• 1/2  teaspoon  dried oregano
• 1/2  teaspoon  dried thyme
• 3  cups  low-sodium chicken broth (I used veggie chicken broth)
• Salt and pepper

Preparation

1. Warm oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté until they release their liquid, about 5 minutes. Add barley, oregano and thyme and stir 1 minute.

2. Add chicken broth and 3 cups water and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer until barley is tender, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

 

Toasted Sesame Balsamic Asparagus

I saw this ad for McCormick’s Toasted Sesame Seeds in a magazine (along with this recipe), so I thought I would give it a whirl. This is pretty easy, and really jazzes up your basic roasted asparagus. I roasted mine about 15 minutes. The sauce was very subtle but good! I left out the red pepper since I don’t do spicy, but this was still a really easy flavorful way to dress up your asparagus. We also enjoyed some Crash Hot Potatoes and Riblets. Mmmmm.

rating: 8.5

Toasted Sesame Balsamic Asparagus
(from an ad in a magazine)

2 tsp sesame oil
1 pound asparagus spears
2 tsp McCormick Gourmet Collection toasted Sesame Seed or Sesame Seed, toasted
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1/8 tsp McCormick gourmet Collection Crushed red pepper (I omitted)

Spread sesame oil in foil-lined baking pan. Wash asparagus and break off stalks as far down as they snap easily, 1-2 inches from ends. Roll asparagus in sesame oil. Sprinkle with sesame seed. Arrange asparagus in single layer.

Roast in preheated 425 degree F oven 10 minutes or until crisp tender.

Mix vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and red pepper in small bowl. remove asparagus from oven; place on serving platter. Drizzle with soy sauce mixture.

Pumpkin- Sage Polenta

Have you ever had polenta? I love it. And I love pumpkin. So why not combine them?  This is a great side to throw together in a snap. Seriously, this was ready in about 7 minutes. I did use Silk soy milk instead of the low-fat milk. I thought this was good, but it needed something. I don’t know what. And it started out really creamy, like grits, but the longer it sat on the stove it got dry and chunky. I doubt I will make it again, but it was a good idea. With this we had some Quorn naked cutlets and a green salad.

rating: 6

Pumpkin-sage Polenta
(from www.myrecipes.com)

Ingredients

* 2 1/2  cups  1% low-fat milk
* 2  cups  water
* 3/4  cup  canned pumpkin
* 1 1/4  teaspoons  salt
* 1 1/4  cups  instant dry polenta
* 3/4  cup  (3 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
* 2  tablespoons  1/3-less-fat cream cheese
* 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh sage
* 1/4  cup  (1 ounce) shaved fresh Parmesan

Preparation

Bring milk and water to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add pumpkin and salt; stir with a whisk. Reduce heat to low, and gradually whisk in polenta; cook 1 minute or until thick. Remove from heat. Add 3/4 cup grated Parmesan, cream cheese, and sage; stir until cheeses melt. Top with shaved Parmesan. Serve immediately.

Mushroom Pies with Pear Salad

Well, the Food Network magazine has done it again. This was AWESOME. Toby said several times how great it was, and then he said “This is in your top 10 of best meals EVER.” Ever! I had my doubts about this. I wondered how in the world the portobello cap was going to cook in 25 minutes, all wrapped up in that dough?! I thought it might be a little undercooked. Nope. The crust was so flaky and good, and the mushroom was perfectly tender inside. We felt a little decadent, cutting into this cute little pie! And the salad was good as well! I told Toby that this would be a good dish to have when we have friends over for dinner, and he agreed, and said we should also have this salad, too, since they go so well together. I put my puff pastry in the fridge to thaw all day, but when I got it out at dinner-time, it was still a little frozen. It wouldn’t roll out much, and instead of just using the one sheet, I ended up using both. Oh well. I had alot of the cheese/bread crumb mixture left over as well. I would say next time to use maybe 1.5 cups of cheese instead of 2. Again, this was SO good. Top 10, people! Top 10!

rating: 9.7

Mushroom Pies with Pear Salad
(from the Nov. 2009 issue of the Food Network magazine)

* Cooking spray
* All-purpose flour, for dusting
* 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of a 17.3-ounce package), thawed
* 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
* Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
* 4 large portobello mushroom caps
* 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
* 2 cups shredded cheddar and/or muenster cheese
* 1 large egg, beaten
* 1 shallot, thinly sliced
* 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
* 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 6 ounces mache or other salad greens (about 6 cups)
* 1 pear, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and mist with cooking spray.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the puff pastry into a 14-inch square and cut into four 7-inch squares. Brush the center of each with mustard and season with salt and pepper. Place the mushrooms gill-side up on the pastry and season with salt and pepper.

Toss the breadcrumbs and cheese in a bowl and sprinkle over the mushrooms. Fold in the pastry edges, pleating to fully cover the mushrooms; press to seal. Brush both sides of the pastry with the beaten egg. Place seam-side down on the baking sheet, make slits in the top and bake until golden and crisp, 25 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, combine the shallot, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl, then whisk in the olive oil. Toss the dressing with the salad greens and pear. Serve the salad with the mushroom pies.

Guy Fieri’s Holy Haluski

We love watching Diners, Drive-In’s and Dives on tv. I get alot of good ideas from this show! Mostly it just makes me hungry. We saw this episode where this woman made this dish, and the host (Guy) tasted it and said that he loved it and that HE was going to make it at home. This is that dish. It was in the Food Network magazine that I get, and I knew I had to give it a try. I, of course, left out the pancetta, and was just going to omit it, but then at the last minute decided to fry up 3 strips of vegetarian bacon and use those instead. I also got frustrated while cutting up my head of cabbage and only used about 3/4 of it. This has alot of flavor! At first Toby said he didn’t think that he liked it, but he kept eating it and even got seconds! He said that he thinks it’s the texture that turns him off (the onions and cabbage being “slimy”), but the more he ate it, the more he liked it. He said next time less cabbage and more capers. I really think that egg noodles in a dish makes anything taste good, but I really liked this one. I ate some for lunch too! This is just a nice combination of unique flavors. Try it!

rating: 8

Guy Fieri’s Holy Haluski
(from The Food Network magazine)

• Kosher salt
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 pound thinly sliced pancetta, diced (I used Morningstar Farms fake bacon)
• 2 large onions, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 medium head green cabbage, cored and sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 1 cup carrots, cut in 1/4-inch julienne
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme (I used dried thyme)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 8 ounces wide egg noodles
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup green peas, preferably fresh, shelled, but can substitute frozen
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves (I omitted)

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the noodles.

2. In a large Dutch oven, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat and add the pancetta. Cook, stirring, until crisp, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove the pancetta to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain. Reserve.

3. Strain the fat from the pancetta into a bowl and wipe the pot clean. Add back in 2 tablespoons of the pancetta fat and melt the remaining 3 tablespoons butter in the pot. Reserve the remaining pancetta fat for another use or discard.

4. Add the onions, cabbage, carrots and thyme. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and half the pepper. Stir to coat the vegetables with the butter. Cover and cook until the cabbage is wilted and almost tender, about 10 minutes. Uncover and simmer until the cabbage is very tender, about 10 more minutes.

5. While the cabbage cooks, add the noodles to the boiling water and cook according to the package directions.

6. Increase the heat to high and cook, stirring, until the cabbage and onions are golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Add in the garlic and capers and cook for 1 minute. Add the peas, deglaze the pan with the white wine and add the lemon juice. Add in three-quarters of the pancetta, combine well and remove from heat.

7. Drain the noodles and add to the pot with the cabbage. Toss well to coat the noodles with the cabbage and onion mixture. Sprinkle with the parsley, remaining pancetta and the remaining pepper.

Serve immediately.

Marche Wedding Soup

This recipe comes from The Splendid Table from NPR. I get their emails (maybe weekly?) and sometimes the recipes sound really good! I figured I would give this soup a try. We had it last week when it was cold and rainy, and it was really the perfect night for soup. There’s really not much to it. Like, literally. It’s basically broth. I suppose you could jazz it up with some pasta or something. I think it’s a great soup for, say, if you are sick on the couch. This is a good “sipping” soup. It’s really good, but again, there’s not much there. I substituted vegetarian chicken broth for the real stuff. With this we enjoyed some crusty olive bread and a green salad.

rating: 8

Marche Wedding Soup
Stracciosa in Brodo
From The Italian Country Table: Home Cooking from Italy’s Farmhouse Kitchens by Lynne Rossetto Kasper (Scribner, 1999). Copyright 1999 by Lynne Rossetto Kasper

Serves 6 to 8

Lacing hot broth with a blend of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, egg, lemon zest and spices transforms a pot of good-tasting liquid into an elegant event. The creamy mix firms into threads. The soup is a close relative of Rome’s Stracciatella and a favorite opening to wedding feasts in central Italy’s Marche region. Eggs and meat broth are old symbols of celebration. Begin almost any meal with the soup, as long as cheese and lemon are not important flavorings in any other dish.

• 10 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth (or homemade if you have some) (I used vegetarian chicken broth)
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• Shredded zest of 1/2 large lemon
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

1. In a 4-quart saucepan, simmer the broth and wine 5 minutes, partially covered. Season to taste.

2. Meanwhile, in a bowl, blend the eggs, water, cheese, lemon zest, nutmeg, and about 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

3. Take the soup off the heat. With a fork, gently stir in the egg mixture with long slow strokes until it firms into pale shreds floating in the broth. The long strokes lengthen the shreds slightly. This should take 10 to 15 seconds. There will be a moment when the Parmigiano and lemon release their fragrances – enjoy it. Quickly taste the soup for seasoning and serve it while it’s still very hot and fragrant.

(Faux) Chicken Cacciatore

I had chicken cacciatore once when I was younger, and I remember it being SO good. I decided to attempt this recipe with the Morningstar Farms fake chicken (Chick’N Strips). At first I was going to just throw the strips into the recipe, but then I thought, why not really treat them like they are real chicken? So I dipped them in the flour mixture like it says. They were good that way! I also left out the carrot, celery and parsley. I hate when you only need a little bit of an ingredient for a recipe, and you have to buy ALOT of it (the rest of the carrots and celery would go bad in my fridge). Does that make sense? Anyway, when Toby took the first bite of this dish, he asked “is there any booze in this?” I guess you could really taste it. Another thing- this ended up almost like a pasta sauce. I thought, we can’t just eat this like soup, so I boiled some egg noodles and served it on top of that. That turned out well. Oh, one more thing…at the very end I added about 1/2 cup of heavy cream.

rating: 8

Chicken Cacciatore
(from www.myrecipes.com)

Ingredients

* 1/4  cup  all-purpose flour
* 1 1/4  teaspoons  kosher salt
* 3/4  teaspoon  black pepper
* 1  3 1/2- to 4-pound chicken, cut into pieces (I used Morningstar Farms Chick’N Strips)
* 1/4  cup  olive oil
* 1  medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
* 1  carrot, diced (I omitted)
* 1  celery stalk, diced (I omitted)
* 4  cloves garlic, finely chopped
* 3  sprigs fresh thyme
* 1  bay leaf
* 1  28-ounce can plum tomatoes
* 1/3  cup  dry red wine
* 1/4  cup  fresh flat-leaf parsley,roughly chopped (I omitted)

In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of the pepper. Rinse the chicken and pat it dry with paper towels. Working in batches, lightly coat the chicken with the flour mixture, shaking off any excess.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium heat. Add some of the chicken to the pan and cook until browned, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate; set aside. Repeat with the remaining chicken.

Add the onion to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Add the carrot, celery, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Crush the tomatoes in the can with a large spoon and stir them into the vegetables along with the wine and the remaining salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer. Add the chicken, reduce heat, and cover. Simmer for 45 minutes, turning the pieces occasionally. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Stir in the parsley.

Zesty Broccoli Casserole

My grandmother makes the best broccoli casserole, and whenever we have family get-togethers, she makes it because she knows I love it so much. This broccoli casserole uses Panko, which are Japanese breadcrumbs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panko). This was pretty simple to put together, and it smelled so good while it was baking! This was really good (although it was no Grandma’s casserole), but the important thing here: Liam loved it and asked for seconds and thirds. He’s almost 3. So- that says alot about this recipe, I think. I will quote him: “This tastes good!” I served this with some veggie meatball subs (I am trying to eat down the freezer and fridge).

rating: 8

Zesty Broccoli Casserole
(from www.myrecipes.com)

Ingredients

* 3  (10-ounce) packages frozen broccoli florets, thawed
* Cooking spray
* 1 1/2  cups  fat-free milk (I used Silk plain soy milk)
* 2 1/2  tablespoons  all-purpose flour
* 1/2  teaspoon  salt
* 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
* 3/4  cup  (3 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
* 1/2  cup  (4 ounces) fat-free cream cheese, softened
* 1  cup  fat-free mayonnaise
* 3/4  cup  chopped onion (about 1/2 medium)
* 1  (8-ounce) can water chestnuts, rinsed, drained, and sliced
* 3/4  cup  panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
* 2  teaspoons  butter, melted

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.

Arrange broccoli in an even layer in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray; set aside.

Combine milk, flour, salt, and pepper in a large saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add cheddar and cream cheeses; stir until smooth. Stir in mayonnaise, onion, and water chestnuts. Spoon cheese mixture evenly over broccoli.

Place panko in a small bowl. Drizzle with butter, and toss. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture evenly over cheese mixture. Lightly spray breadcrumb layer with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until mixture begins to bubble and breadcrumbs brown.

Cheddar-Polenta Puff

Ok, so they can’t all be winners, right? Basically this is a cheese souffle. I really should not have attempted this recipe, since I had an needy toddler running around, and the recipe was on my laptop, which was across the kitchen, and I would have to read out the recipe to myself a sentence at a time. Whew! This “puff” did not rise all the way to the top of the dish like it should have. I think I may have overmixed it while adding the egg whites. In any case, it TASTED good. This one bad experience will not ruin souffles for me in the future. I will bounce back from this and give them another try.

rating: 6

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/grains/cheddar-polenta-puff/
Ingredients

* 4  egg whites
* 1-1/2  cups fat-free milk (I used Silk plain soy milk)
* 2  tablespoons finely chopped red sweet pepper
* 1  tablespoon thinly sliced green onion (I omitted)
* 1/4  teaspoon salt
* 1/8  teaspoon ground red pepper
* 1/3  cup cornmeal
* 1  egg yolk, slightly beaten
* 1/4  cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 1/4  cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese (1 ounce)*
*   Nonstick spray coating

Directions

Allow egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large heavy saucepan combine milk, sweet pepper, green onion, salt, and red pepper. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture just begins to bubble. Slowly add cornmeal, stirring constantly. Cook and stir over medium heat about 5 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken. Remove from heat. Stir half of the cornmeal mixture into the egg yolk. Return mixture to the saucepan. Stir in Parmesan cheese and cheddar cheese until melted.

Lightly spray a 1-1/2-quart soufflé dish with nonstick coating; set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat egg whites with an electric mixer on medium to high speed until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Gently fold about half of the beaten egg whites into the cheese mixture. Gradually pour cheese mixture over remaining beaten egg whites, folding to combine. Pour into prepared soufflé dish.

Bake in a 375 degree F oven about 25 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean and top is golden brown. Serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.

Banana Banana Bread

Last Friday I noticed that I had 4 sad-looking bananas on my counter. They were too far gone for me to eat them in cereal, so I thought, YES, I have an excuse to make banana bread! So I looked online for a recipe, and found one pretty quickly that even used stuff I already had in my pantry! Score! This recipe is pretty fool-proof. I did add a teaspoon of vanilla and some chopped-up walnuts and pecans. This bread is so moist and flavorful. I had 2 slices (what?) and then cut the loaf in half to give to two neighbors. I can’t have food like this in my house- too dangerous. This will be my go-to recipe for banana bread from now on.

rating: 9

Banana Banana Bread

(from www.allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.