party food

I went to a party last night, and made some (apparently) crazy good crab-stuffed mushrooms. I don't know, because I don't eat mushrooms, but I brought a dozen and they were gone in about 45 minutes, so I'm going with it.

Crab-stuffed mushrooms
12 portabello mushrooms (I used the Dole "Stuffer mushrooms")
1 12-0z can of crab meat (I used claw meat, and I have to throw in praise for the Phillips company here, because there wasn't a piece of shell in the whole can)
1/2 teaspoon fresh dill, chopped
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
salt and pepper
1 egg
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (grated)

Preheat oven to 400 F.
First, I cleaned the caps and chopped the stems. Then, I picked over the crabmeat (unneccesarily, as it turns out). I mixed the mushroom stems and the rest of the ingredients into the crabmeat and prepared the pan. I laid the caps out in the pan, and filled each with the filling (which stretched perfectly between the caps, luckily). Then, I topped each cap with a sprinkle of mozzarella.
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
I poured the wine around the caps in the pan and spooned melted butter over each mushroom cap. Then I baked them, uncovered, for about 12 minutes. Just before I served them, I reheated them for about six minutes.

I hope they are as successful for you as they were for me!

homemade marinara

I made this last night so I'd have lunch today... :) I like to think ahead like that.

Marinara
1 small onion, chopped

Cook the onion in a couple tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat until they're nice and glassy. Then add
6 mini carrots, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced

Heat the mirepoix until the celery is softened. Then add salt, pepper, and garlic. Cook until the garlic is crispy but not burnt. Then add:
28 oz can San Marzano crushed tomatoes
14 oz can diced Italian tomatoes
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Simmer over low heat for twenty minutes. Then take out the bay leaf and stir in a handful of grated Parmagiano-reggiano. If you have time to let this simmer on low for another 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, then that really adds to it.

I serve this over rotini or farfalle, but spaghetti or linguine would be nice too.

Sick in Bed Chicken soup

I am really sorry, because I owe you all a long post filled with awesome pictures and at least two recipes, and I promise that you will get them soon. However, DH is out of town, I feel awful and I really want to lay in bed and moan, but I needed to eat first. So I made up this "Sick in Bed Chicken Soup" which is a cross between Avgolemeno (lemon/egg) and Chicken Rice (rustic veggies) soup, and I promise you...it is AMAZING. As in, if anything on the face of this planet is going to chase off whatever the heck I managed to catch, this is it AMAZING. I can't wait til I feel better to write this one down because I'm pretty sure I won't remember it and that would be a travesty, since the lemon and egg are velvety smooth on my sore throat and the chunky veggies are cooked perfectly, plus the chicken is crunchy which actually gives this "layers" of flavor. So here it is: my new go-to sick soup.
Sick in Bed Chicken Soup
(serves one with leftovers for lunch and dinner tomorrow)
2 boneless chicken breasts, thawed
salt and pepper
olive oil, 2 turns around the pan

I sauteed the chicken in the olive oil after seasoning it, over medium-high heat. Yes, I know it's an extra pan, but as a bonus, you can sit down for six minutes per side while the chicken sizzles away! (See, the recipe even has built in rest periods!)

1 small onion
1 stalk celery
4 cups chicken broth (I actually added a couple of tablespoons of chicken stock too because I wanted it really chicken-y and it was open in the fridge)

I roughly chopped the onion and celery and dumped them in a soup pot with the broth/stock. Then I took the chicken out of the pan and shredded it with a fork. Put the pot right where the pan was and heated it to a simmer. I added:
1 teaspoon dried minced garlic (I TOLD you I felt like crap!)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried oregano
5 handfuls of Basmati rice (that was the closest package. I have tiny hands, so that was probably about a cup)

I got the soup to a boil, then turned it down to medium (aka simmer) and sat down for about ten minutes. Then I rolled the heck out of a lemon on my dining room table and was ready for the last part.

3 eggs (I need my protein and I'm not in the mood to work for it...I started with two but really wanted the soup to be creamy. It feels so good on my throat that I can't bring myself to regret it.)
1 lemon

I broke the eggs into a small mixing bowl and whisked them until they were well-scrambled. Then I cut the lemon in half and juiced it well. (Notice that the rice has been in the soup for about fifteen minutes) Then I took a ladleful of broth and whisked it in well to temper the eggs. I did that three times until the eggs and lemon juice no longer felt cold when I touched them. THen I dumped the bowl into the soup pot and whisked briskly for a minute. I turned off the heat, (equals about 18 minutes on the rice) and pulled out the bay leaf. I served myself and ate while I wrote this post. Now I'm going to go ladle the rest into plastic containers for tomorrow's lunch and dinner and go to bed.
Enjoy.

pan-fried gnocchi, picture has arrived!

I was a little hungry, even after eating the leftovers from New Year's Eve at Nagoya (note: do NOT try on New Year's Eve....worst service we've had in 14 years). So I decided to try and save a few things that had been in my fridge since we left on our Christmas trek through 9 states. Inspired by the foodie blog 101 Cookbooks, I pan-fried some gnocchi I had in the fridge in about two tablespoons in olive oil, and then made a little pan sauce with tomatoes, garlic, basil chiffonade, and shallots, plus salt and pepper, of course. Very good. I just got the oil nice and hot, and by the time I toasted those gnocchi, the base for my sauce was hot enough that the sauce came together in 2 minutes flat. No lie. Marvelous-ness, although I suspect the gnocchi would have been even better fried in butter, as 101 cookbooks suggested. Husband was a little suspicious, "Why does everything you make have to be gourmet?" but he ate it in about three minutes once he overcame his initial reserve. :) Easy-peasy and it used up things in my fridge that were pretty close to dead, so all in all, it was an excellent start to 2009.