Archive for the ‘Cooking Tips’ Category
Friday, October 28th, 2011
This is not a fancy kind of post. We can definitely dress it up around here (thanks to a phenomenal crew of contributors) but this is,essentially, the “favorite pair of sweatpants” sort of post. I’m talking about making breakfast for dinner. Any other fans out there?
As someone who has been on a personal quest for healthy menu planning in the last six months, I made a discovery this week that I think might make some of you pretty happy as well. I was looking in my fridge, totally perplexed, one weeknight after work and a workout and had a Eureka! moment.
I, as an adult and mistress of my own menu, can absolutely have scrambled eggs for dinner but in my mind, plain scrambled eggs would be a sacrilege. Eggs are vehicles for other great food in my book. I think you know where this is going.
I had an 8 oz (pink!) till of sliced mushrooms and I wanted all of them. I sauteed that entire package with half of a jalapeno and a little red onion. Once we were good and browned, I added two fresh eggs scrambled with about a tablespoon of water and I turned the heat way down to medium-low, stirring constantly from the bottom.
What I ended up with was a creamy pile of light yellow fluff, filled with an entire container of mushrooms and some heat from that jalapeno. As with anything I intend to eat more than the recommended serving size of, I checked the packaging. The results were significantly more fun to consider than say, an entire pint of Cookies n’ Cream (ahem, not that I have any experience with that…).
I got 3 grams of fiber and a nice selection of nutrients, including well over 100% of my daily vitamin D, for all of 50 calories in mushrooms. This could vary depending on which mushrooms you pick up but raw mushrooms are always a low calorie option. Topped with a pillow of shredded sharp cheddar, it was one of the best dinners of the week and is officially on a regular rotation.
Tags: Breakfast, breakfast for dinner, dinner, low calorie dinner, low carb dinner, mushroom scramble, vitamin d
Posted in Breakfast, Cooking Tips, Dinner Tonight, Editor Post, vegetarian, vitamin d | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 19th, 2011
It would seem that a solid half of the US is experiencing a classically damp, cool fall day and that is nothing if not the ultimate in soup weather. This particular editor has a handy dandy “test kitchen” that’s been waiting for a night like this one to share a few fresh ideas. Both of these soups are lighter on calories but will leave you toasty and satisfied the whole night through.
Pictured up top is the Mushroom Barley Soup found via Post Punk Kitchen. Her photo is miles prettier than the one a snapped minutes before digging in but I stand heartily by the deliciousness of that recipe. Don’t skimp on the freshly shopped herbs on top- extra dill brightens the whole bowl!
The second soup in our arsenal could really be any soup- my point is that it’s all about the accessorizing. The soup pictured just happens to be a beautiful Potato, Celery Root and Sunchoke Soup from Cannelle et Vanille. I love pureed soups because they taste so rich but I rarely find they need cream.
Instead I want to load in extra texture, which is where my mushrooms came into play. Forget the bacon bits in potato soups, you guys. Just chop a mixed lot of mushrooms, saute them in a little extra virgin olive oil and season accordingly. I added a little cinnamon when I paired them with Butternut Squash and Apple Soup and I added a little cumin for the Potato, Celery Root and Sunchoke Soup pictured above. In both cases, the mushrooms provided just the right amount of variety in the midst of a warm, creamy stew.
Do you share our love of a warm, hearty bowl for lunch and/or dinner? Any favorite mushroom varieties you’d care to share on a dark and stormy night?
Tags: cannelle et vanille celery root, light dinner, light soup, mushroom barley soup, mushroom soup, post punk kitchen, seasonal soup recipes, soup bacon, sunchokes, test kitchen
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Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
Portabellas are wonderful meaty and flavorful mushrooms. They’re perfect for those nights when you want something vegetarian and filling. This recipe can be grilled or broiled making it perfect year round. It’s also incredibly versatile. You can stuff them with just about anything your heart desires. Cherry tomatoes would be a fantastic addition.
For another variation it would even be delicious made into a portabella mushroom burger simply by adding a great toasted bun and garnishing with balsamic vinegar!
Portabella Mushrooms filled with Goat Cheese
What you’ll need:
- 2 portabella mushrooms – stems removed
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- pepper
- 2 cloves garlic – minced
- firm goat cheese – 2 slices or enough to cover mushroom caps
- 1/4 cup Parmigano Reggiano – grated
- flat leaf Italian parsley – roughly chopped
What to do:
1. Preheat broiler to HIGH. Place mushrooms onto a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle oil olive on both sides {using more if necessary}. Place portabellas gill side down. Broil for approximately 8-10 minutes.
2. CAREFULLY flip portabellas over onto baking sheet. Season with pepper. Add garlic and top with goat cheese slices and Parmigiano. Season with pepper. Return to oven for approximately 5 minutes OR until cheese is bubbly and golden.
3. Garnish with parsley.
Buon Appetito!
Paula
bell’alimento
www.bellalimento.com
Tags: #meatlessmonday, Bell'Alimento, dinner, Featured Contributor, meatless monday, Portabella, stuffed portabellas, summer dinner recipes
Posted in Cooking Tips, Dinner Tonight, Featured Contributor | 1 Comment »
Monday, May 23rd, 2011
Shiitake and Egg Breakfast Pizza courtesy of Chef Todd Humphries, Kitchen Door, Napa
We’re fresh from the studio, following our annual foodservice photo shoot of marvelous mushroom dishes from some of our favorite chefs.
To prepare for the shoot, we perused menus from top restaurants and college campuses across the country and selected the best mushroom entrees. After all that hard work tracking down awesome recipes, we got to have a little fun at the photo shoot.
Mushroom Bulgogi Tacos courtesy of Chef Robery Mayberry, University of Texas, Austin
A lot more goes on behind the scenes than you would think (a testament to our talented photogs, prop stylists and chefs)! From the slicing and dicing to the cooking and assembly, these plates had more prepping and primping than we do, all to ensure that our mushrooms looked porto-bellisimo! (you know, Italian-mushroom speak for “lovely.”)
It was like Goldilocks and the many mushrooms—we had to make sure that the size, shape, colors and props were just right. What can we say, all part of a day’s work here at the Channel. Though, staying focused is a challenge when the workplace is filled with one delicious aroma after another. While each dish was in front of the lens, our on-site chefs manned the kitchen cooking up the next shot. With this crowd of mushroom fans, it’s hard to believe any of these dishes made it from the stove to the set. Test out the recipes for yourselves!
Tags: Chef Robery Mayberry, Chef Todd Humphries, itchen Door Napa, mushroom burgers, Mushroom Channel, mushroom dinner, mushroom photos, mushroom pizza, mushroom recipe photos, mushroom tacos, mushrooms recipes
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Monday, April 25th, 2011
This week’s recipe post comes to the Mushroom Channel from Paula of the positively bellissima blog bell’alimento. If your family is looking for tasty ways to cut down on meat during the week, this recipe would be an excellent choice for Meatless Monday (or Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday…you get the idea).
Vegetarian Mushroom Calzones are a quick and easy meal that you can pull together in about 30 minutes tops. It’s quick because we’ve taken a short cut and used refrigerated pizza dough. If you want to make your own pizza dough, you can find my pizza dough recipe HERE.
The filling is a classic mushroom mixture that starts by sautéing the mushrooms with butter, garlic, and parsley. A quick note: you’ll want to be sure your mushroom mixture is cool before adding it to the dough and topping with the cheese mixture. Then the assembly comes together in a snap: dough, cheeses, mushrooms, fold, seal and pop into the oven!
You can serve this with pizza sauce for dipping if desired. This recipe makes 2 very generous calzones, but can easily be doubled if necessary!
Vegetarian Mushroom Calzones
Ingredients: {Makes 2 large calzones}
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 8 ounces mushrooms – sliced
- 1 tablespoon fresh flat leaf Italian Parsley – roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic – minced
- cornmeal
- 13.08 ounces of refrigerated classic pizza crust
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese – divided
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese – divided
- salt/pepper
- extra virgin olive oil – enough to brush on calzones
Directions:
1. Place your pizza stone {or upside down rimmed baking sheet} into oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. WHILE the oven is preheating, into a sauté pan, add: butter and melt over medium heat. Add: mushrooms, garlic and parsley and sauté for approximately 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
3. Sprinkle a small amount of cornmeal onto your clean work surface {so pizza does not stick} Unroll the pizza dough and cut it in half.
4. To assemble: Place 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese about 1″ from the bottom of the dough in a straight line. Top with 1/2 of the ricotta mixture. Top with 1/2 of the cooled mushroom mixture. Season with salt pepper. Using your finger, or pastry brush, LIGHTLY dab water onto the edges of the dough. CAREFULLY fold the dough over itself sealing the edges. Use the tines of a fork to crimp the edges. Continue with other piece of dough.
5. Transfer your calzones to the oven {A pizza peel is recommended but if you don’t have a pizza peel, a large grill spatula will work in a pinch} and onto pizza stone {or upside down baking sheet}. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes or until golden.
6. Carefully remove calzones from oven. Lightly brush the tops with olive oil. Allow calzones to cool slightly prior to serving.
Tags: bel'allimento, Bell'Alimento, bell'alimento mushroom, calzone recipes, calzones, dinner recipes, meatless monday, mushroom calzone recipes, Mushrooms, vegetarian calzone recipe
Posted in Cooking Tips, Dinner Tonight, vegetarian | 1 Comment »
Monday, March 21st, 2011
As you mushroom fans probably know, March is National Nutrition Month (NNM). Here at the Channel, nutrition is always top of mind and to keep the momentum going we’re hosting a book giveaway on Twitter this week featuring some of our favorite authors!
You can win a free copy of some of the hottest nutrition books on the market! Re-tweet our hash-tagged #NNM mushroom fact each day, and you’ll be entered to win the daily drawing for one of the following books:
Stay tuned to the Mushroom Channel on Twitter, and in the meantime check out the following roundup of some of our fave nutrition stories from this year – some easy reads that tout the benefits of nature’s hidden treasure:
March Is National Nutrition Month!: Self.com announces the American Dietetic Association’s theme for NNM this year: Eat Right with Color. Fill your plates with all the colors of the rainbow! It’s not always bright colored veggies that pack a nutritious punch – those that are light in color (or WHITE) do too, like mushrooms!
Knowing how many calories you need is what counts: To stop weight gain, remember one thing: energy in must equal energy out. In other words, the calories you consume must be equivalent to those you burn and if you want to lose weight, the scale must be tipped toward energy out. USA Today suggests cutting calories by using one of our favorite tricks – substituting mushrooms for meat.
ARE YOU “D”-PRESSED?: Dr. Keith Ayoob blogged about mushrooms as a unique source of vitamin D. That’s right, all mushrooms contain D – they’re the only source in the produce section – and like our skin, they can produce vitamin D when exposed to light.
Finally! Burgers and fries that are good for you: Martha Stewart highlights the benefits of mushrooms in this “TODAY Show” power food cooking segment. Give Stewart’s portabella burger recipe a shot for a healthier twist on one of America’s favorite foods.
Tags: Mushrooms, National Nutrition Month, portabella burger, vitamin d
Posted in Contests, Cooking Tips, Dinner Tonight, Health | No Comments »
Thursday, August 5th, 2010
We recently worked with Dan Coha to take some amazing pictures of delicious mushroom dishes from chefs and their restaurants across the country.
To find these delectable mushroom recipes, we first tapped our network of champion mushroom chefs. We received an overwhelming amount of recipe submissions from chefs in high-end, trend-setting restaurants, university dining halls and even fast food chains- the variety and breadth of mushroom love knows no bounds.
It was a tricky task to narrow down all 50+ recipes to only eight for the final shoot. We chose recipes that embodied new culinary trends, demonstrated creative mushroom applications and of course…tasted absolutely delicious!
Shooting eight mushroom dishes took more than you might think. A chef helped recreate each of the recipes while a special food stylist – armed with a pair of tweezers – painstakingly made each dish look picture-perfect (no pun intended).
But, the picture wouldn’t be complete without the help of a prop stylist. What’s a prop stylist you may ask? Check out the image below; lots of time and energy goes into each photo’s environment, so to speak, to create the perfect ambiance that accentuates the dish being photographed. This Thai Stroganoff was especially tricky. We went for the warm feeling of the brown setting.
Below are just some of the mouth-watering pictures we got to take home, but stay tuned; we’ll be featuring these new photos and their accompanying recipes regularly as we interview the chefs who created them.
Queso Fundido con Champinones Adobados – Chef Richard Sandoval, Zengo, Washington, DC
Sugarcane Portabella with Arugula Salad – Chef José Luis Ugalde, Gibraltar, El Granada, CA
Tags: Chef Jose Luis Ugalde, Chef Richard Sandoval, Food Photography, foodservice, Gibraltar, mushroom dishes, mushroom stroganoff, mushrooms on the menu, Photo Shoot, Restaurants, Zengo
Posted in Cooking Tips, Dinner Tonight, Editor Post, Kitchen Swap | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
Erika Kerekes is a dot-com product manager by day and a relentless home cook and food blogger by night. She started writing In Erika’s Kitchen in 2008 because she was tired of hearing her mother ask “When are you going to write a cookbook already?” A native New Yorker, she now lives in southern California and marvels every day about the fact that food grows on trees in her backyard.
There are nights when only comfort food will do. In my house, these nights typically follow days like this:
- Wake up before dawn.
- Get two boys fed and into the carpool with their lunches, backpacks, completed homework, assorted permission slips, musical instruments and the like.
- Get to the office to find that more than 100 emails have accumulated while you were sleeping.
- Go from meeting to meeting, inhaling lunch (maybe) while dealing with the additional emails that have piled up during said meetings.
- Arrive home and realize that if dinner is not on the table in half an hour, there will be major meltdowns – and they won’t all be coming from the kids.
Comfort food means different things to different people, but for me it’s got to be hot, creamy, salty, and on the table fast. That’s why mushrooms often figure into my comfort dishes – they’re hearty, satisfying, and quick to prepare. We buy two-pound containers of Baby Bellas at our local Costco, and on a comfort food night, they’re the first ingredient I reach for.
This mushroom beef gravy is a cross between a stroganoff and creamed chipped beef, which, inexplicably, is what I was craving that night. It took just a few minutes to prepare; I served it over biscuits, but it would be equally good served over thick slices of toasted country bread if time is really tight.
Mushroom beef gravy
- 2 lbs Baby Bella mushrooms, cleaned
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1/4 cup dry sherry
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup beef broth (or water plus 1 packet Savory Choice liquid beef broth concentrate)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Separate the stems from the caps of the Baby Bella mushrooms. Slice the caps. Put the stems into a food processor and chop finely.
In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Add the onion and the chopped mushroom stems and cook about 5 minutes, until the onions are soft. Pour in the sherry and stir until most of the liquid has boiled off.
Sprinkle the flour over the mushroom mixture and stir for a minute or two until it is well incorporated. Add the milk and broth, bring the mixture back to a boil, and turn the heat down. Simmer the mushroom gravy about 5 minutes more, or until the gravy has thickened and is creamy. If it’s too dry, add a little more broth or milk.
Season with salt and pepper to taste – if the broth was salty, you’ll probably want very little additional salt, and in any case you’ll want a good dose of pepper. Serve over warm biscuits or thick slices of toasted country bread.
Tags: biscuits and gravy, Erika Kerekes, Featured Contributor, In Erika's Kitchen, mushroom beef gravy, Mushroom Channel Featured Contributor, Mushroom Gravy, mushroom gravy recipe, mushroom reciopes. brunch recipes
Posted in Breakfast, Cooking Tips, Dinner Tonight, Featured Contributor | No Comments »
Thursday, May 20th, 2010
We are thrilled to once again have author and nutrition expert Keri Glassman answer questions submitted by our amazing fans and followers on Facebook and Twitter. Fresh off the release of her new book, The O2 Diet, Keri dishes with us on nutrition, superfoods and her tips for maintaining a healthy diet. And we can’t help but notice she’s a big fan of mushrooms. If you missed last week’s edition, we have to highly recommend checking that post out.
Q: I’ve heard a lot of talk about vitamin D lately. How important is it for our bodies? – Brian (Grand Rapids, MI)
A: Most of us don’t get enough vitamin D, which is troublesome because it plays an important role in supporting a healthy immune system and lowering the risk of certain diseases. You can increase your D levels by including foods containing D in your diet. I mentioned that mushrooms are the only item in the produce aisle to contain vitamin D; salmon and dairy are great sources as well.
Q: I’m trying to lose weight. Where can I cut corners on calories without feeling hungry and bored? — Jill (Boulder, CO)
A: It can be challenging to find foods that fill you up, but are good for you. Reach for foods that are low in calories and high in fiber like fruits and whole grains. Try substituting veggies for meats once a week to lose weight. For example, studies have shown substituting four ounces of mushrooms for four ounces of meat once a week for one year could save more than 18,000 calories and nearly 3,000 grams of fat – that adds up to more than five pounds. Lastly, sauté an assortment of vegetables as a meal starter; it’s a great way to pack in antioxidants and help you eat less throughout your main meal.
Q: How can I satisfy snack cravings without killing my diet? — Jessica (St. Louis, MO)
A: Be a conscious snacker. You can’t go wrong dipping cut up veggies in hummus. You can sprinkle a few mushrooms into a quesadilla, or grill up a veggie sandwich for a satisfying snack. Consider keeping a healthy side salad around as a snack, especially when making dinner for the kids. Marinated mushrooms with pine nuts is a great one! And if you need something sweet, you can give in a little without giving up; I love dark chocolate and almonds, and portion controlled treats make managing snacking a lot easier for me. Just put one serving of almonds or chocolate in small Ziploc bag, and keep it in your purse or desk drawer for when hunger strikes.
Q: I have a deep love for cooking and food, but I also have a passion for health, and I am taking the steps of going back to school to pursue a career as a Registered Dietitian. What are your thoughts on combining a career as a personal chef with a dietetic degree? — Renee (Chicago, IL)
A: I always say that I love food, which is one of the reasons I love being a nutritionist. You have to love food! Combining being a chef with an RD is a powerful combo and I wish you the best of luck!
A special thanks to Keri for making a special guest appearance on the Mushroom Channel. To learn more about Keri Glassman and The O2 Diet, visit www.nutritiouslife.com.
Tags: Keri Glassman, Nutrition, snacking, vitamin d, vitamin D cooking
Posted in Cooking Tips, Health | No Comments »
