Mushroom Stroganoff

The temperature in Boston today hovered between 92 and 100 degrees today. In my car, the temperature gauge went from 103 to 105 and then back down to 100. What it actually was is anyone's guess, but no one is denying the obvious: it was hot today.

So of course, what's a girl to do but make a dish typically seen in colder weather: mushroom stroganoff. I'm not sure why, but I have been craving pasta recently, and trying to figure out the best way in which to get my fix. On Sunday morning, I was watching TV while drinking my morning coffee, and a show that I haven't seen in awhile came on, called "The Best Thing I Ever Made" (on Food Network, obviously). One of the dishes I saw on there was mushroom stroganoff, and I was hooked. I had to do it. Every now and then I'd see beef stroganoff in the store, and I wanted to get it but for some reason always talked myself out of it. This seemed like a pretty decent compromise-and it wasn't even as bad for you as the original recipe! After looking at the recipe it also seemed like I could get it done pretty quickly too, which was a huge plus. Add to that I had nearly everything needed for the recipe except the mushrooms, and I was sold.

Unfortunately, my stomach today was all, "pasta! Now!" while my body was all. "Too hot. Need water and melon.". Cooking this meal didn't seem like the brightest idea at this temperature, until I remembered one thing: I now live in a home with central air. It could be 3,000 degrees outside and I'd be cool as a cucumber in the house. So I went to the store after work, picked up some portabella caps, and came home to get started.







This was very quick to throw together: slice the mushrooms, let them saute, cook the noodles, and make a sauce in the pan. Really no big deal. I was pretty excited too-the recipe called for sour cream and goat cheese. I had plenty of goat cheese leftover from that tart I posted about yesterday, and I had a whole boatload of greek yogurt, which is pretty similar to sour cream and I have it in the fridge more often than sour cream anyway. It took about a half hour, maybe 45 minutes, tops. Most of that time was just waiting-it's very low-effort, as meals go.





I do think the end result was tasty, but it was probably missing a bit more of salt and pepper-it was a little on the bland side for me. On "The Best Thing I Ever Made", one of the things I heard was that this dish tasted just like beef stroganoff. I don't necessarily agree-it tasted like mushrooms. But it was still pretty decent. I ate it with some wilted kale on the side, since I need to use enough of the CSA share from last week to make room for our next share tomorrow. I could definitely taste the goat cheese (I used a bit extra than the recipe called for) and the mushrooms were nice and tender, just the way I like them. Dare I say that this recipe might even be improved by a bit of bacon? But I may say that only because I think bacon makes everything taste better. :)

Mushroom Stroganoff (recipe obtained from foodnetwork.com)

12 oz extra-wide egg noodles (I used whole wheat wide noodles-kind of like egg noodles in shape)
3 Tbsp. butter
5 portabella mushroom caps, sliced
1 tsp. salt
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1 Tbsp. flour
14 oz. beef broth
8 oz. sour cream (I used plain greek yogurt instead)
4 oz. fresh goat cheese (I used crumbled goat cheese instead of a log)
1/2 tsp. pepper

Add the noodles to cold water in a large pot (enough to cover the noodles). Turn the heat to high and cook 18 to 22 minutes, stirring every so often.

Melt the butter in a large pan set over medium-high heat. Increase the heat to high, add the mushrooms and sprinkle with salt. Saute for about 5 to 6 minutes or until the mushrooms have softened a bit and released their juices. Add the white bottoms of the green onions (sliced!) and saute 2 to 3 minutes more.

Sprinkle in the flour and cook about 1 minute, creating a bit of a roux. Add the beef broth and bring everything to a simmer. Cook for about 10 to 12 minutes, and then add the sour cream (greek yogurt), goat cheese and black pepper. Stir to combine and warm through, about 2 to 4 minutes.

Drain the noodles, add to the pan and stir to combine. Garnish with the green onion tops if you desire and additional black pepper if you want it. Serve immediately.

Pasta a la CDG

I first had this pasta in Dallas. My friend C's mom had this fantastic pasta recipe, and I'm told it became the birthday dinner of choice for quite a few people. When I go there I often make dinner one night for my friends C and B, and whoever else happens to be there. We sit, drink beers and wine, and hang out eating something tasty. It makes for a fun evening for sure. When I ate this pasta for the first time, it was actually on a request. I couldn't decide what to make for dinner, and my friend B told me, "you should make C's mom's pasta; I love that dish.". Not one to turn down a challenge, I told C to get the recipe from her mom and I would make the dish for dinner.

Man, I should never doubt my friends. This *was* a fantastic recipe. Simple, great tasting, and it just made me feel like summer (I think it was the basil). I hadn't made it in quite awhile, though. It seemed a little depressing to take that dish out of Texas and eat it up here in the northeast. (*Sidenote: I swear, Dallas peeps, I'm coming back. Soon. Very very soon.)

Tomorrow, I'm running in my first 5K. Ever. The idea both excites and petrifies me. I'm running with two of my friends, and all three of us are notching our first 5K. The slight problem with running this is actually not so much the running (I've been trying to increase my distance for awhile, and did make it 4 and a half miles last weekend, and I know my friends have run that distance or more as well) but the fact that Boston and surrounding areas are currently in a nor'easter at the moment, not to let up until tomorrow afternoon. Awesome. So not only will I be running my first 5K race ever, but I'll do it in pouring rain and whipping wind. YES. To try to alleviate my anxieties about doing this, I decided tonight was a good time to bring out C's mom's pasta recipe, since, y'know, I heard something about carb-loading the night before a race and all. I made it with a bit of chicken, had a friend over, and we hung out, relaxed, and watched a movie. Exactly what I needed tonight.





The pasta's easy. The thing that takes the longest is cutting a pound of the cherry tomatoes in half. I'm not sure why it took me well over a year and a half to make this again. Eating it reminds me that summer's coming soon (it's the basil, I swear!) and it reminds me of and makes me homesick for my favorite city besides the one I'm currently in. It just makes me feel good.



Thanks, C (and C's mom). This is one recipe I love, and I can't wait to make it again when I'm back down in Big D. Or, better yet, maybe I'll be able to have the original version from C's mom!

Pasta a la CDG (original origins of recipe are unknown-recipe received from Jane Gard)

1 lb. cherry tomatoes, cut in half
4 cloves of garlic, whole
1/4 c. olive oil
1 tsp. sea salt (make sure it is sea salt and not regular table salt-the sea salt works much better)
pinch of crushed red pepper
1/2 lb. bocconcini mozzarella balls
1 lb. pasta (I used whole wheat spirals)

Combine the tomatoes, garlic cloves, olive oil, sea salt and crushed red pepper in a bowl. Marinate the mixture for roughly 1/2 hour at room temperature, stirring occasionally.
Prepare the pasta per package directions. Drain.
After sauce has finished marinating, remove the garlic and throw away. Put in 10 basil leaves (I ripped them into smaller pieces to make for easier eating) and then combine the pasta and the sauce together.
Cut up the mozzarella and add to the pasta mixture and stir together gently. Serve.

"Seduction"

Before I get to the main purpose of this post, I'll start by saying that as my birthday was earlier this month, I knew I was going to have cake (and good thing too, as I had been craving cake for quite awhile). My friends threw me an awesome party, and one of the best things was that my friend K made me my birthday cake. Now, don't get me wrong. I love a good bakery cake. I even love the cake mix cakes. But I was secretly hoping that someone might bake me a good old fashioned cake. And damn, was I not disappointed.



Chocolate cake with a mocha buttercream. I was in heaven. It was awesome. And I even got to take the rest home, where I proceeded to finish the rest of it the next day (uh oh, secret's out!). But it was awesome. and one of the best things about it was that someone made it for me. Writing about it is making me want it again.



But because my birthday falls right before Valentine's Day, I usually get inundated with all things pink, hearts, etc. Normally, most years, Valentine's Day is just another day, in this case, Sunday. I had seen a recipe that I had been really itching to try though, and just never got to it. For Christmas I had given my sister a cookbook called "Casserole Crazy", and liked what I saw in it so much that I wound up buying myself a copy too (I have a bunch of new breakfast casseroles I want to try, but that will have to wait until I a}have a brunch gathering or b}give myself enough of an opportunity to have a breakfast casserole all week for breakfast). Not long after I got the cookbook, I was flipping through it, and found a section devoted entirely to mac and cheese (YES!). One of the recipes was entitled "Seduction", and I knew I had to try it. Five different kinds of cheese. Corn. Tomatoes. Sounded heavenly.

Valentine's Day seemed to be a perfect opportunity for such a dish (even if really I was just giving myself an excuse to make a really rich meal). So I went to the store Sunday afternoon, got all of the ingredients, and went to work. Damn if that cheese sauce didn't give me a workout. It wasn't really creamy like most cheese sauces I've done before. This wasn't soupy. At all. Instead it stuck to the pasta like, well, like sticking to your ribs. It was quite difficult to put together and not fall out of the pan. But I perservered, and wound up making a dish that was quite good and that I was quite a fan of. Maybe not quite as much as my current mac and cheese favorite, mac and cheese lorraine, but still, a definite sell. I added spinach to it as well, which gave it even more color. Because I'm a huge fan of bacon, I also think that this would go quite well in this dish but decided not to try it this time. That'll be something for the next go-round.



One word of note: although this is very good fresh, it is not quite as good leftover-the casserole gets very tough to scoop out of the dish (I actually bent a spoon trying to get some for myself over the next few days) and it is very heavy. But this is definitely the kind of mac and cheese you can make your own. Add some cheeses, take others out, add a different vegetable or some bacon or pancetta. Have fun with it.



Seduction (mac and corn 2.0) (from Casserole Crazy: Hot Stuff for Your Oven, by Emily Farris)

INGREDIENTS

o 1 large white onion
o 2 cloves garlic (I used a spoonful of minced garlic)
o 1 pound Cavatelli (I went with whole wheat spirals-I figured I'd try to be a little health-conscious)
o 1/2 pound sharp cheddar, cubed or shredded
o 1/2 pound white cheddar, cubed or shredded
o 1/2 pound Gruyere, cubed or shredded
o 1/2 pound fresh mozzarella, cubed
o 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
o 1 bag (10 oz) frozen sweet corn
o 2 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
o 1/4 cup olive oil
o 1/2 cup milk
o salt, pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º.

2. boil the pasta until al dente, drain and set aside.

3. In a large pot, over medium heat sauté the garlic and onion in 2-3 tbsp of olive oil. When the onions begin to brown, reduce the heat to low, add milk, and stir. Add both cheddars and Gruyere while continuing to stir. When the cheeses begin to melt, and it will take a while for this to work out well-feel free to add more milk to thin it out if you need to-add the pasta while continuing to stir. Once everything is well coated, add half of the Parmesan (1/4 cup) and stir. (Special Note: I forgot the parmesan, but there was so much other stuff in there I never even noticed). Add corn while continuing to stir (it should go in frozen). Salt and pepper to taste. Add mozzarella and stir. At this point, feel free to add whatever else you want (I added a box of defrosted chopped spinach this time, and next time will add some bacon or something like it).

4. When thoroughly mixed, transfer to a 2 3/4 qt buttered or greased casserole dish and bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes or until bubbly.

5. Remove from oven and cover with sliced tomatoes and the rest of the Parmesan cheese. (Again, I never added it and it made no difference whatsoever).

6. Bake for about 15 more minutes.

Enjoy!