Miso Mushroom Pasta

 Bit of an Asian fusion recipe from here:

Recipe

• 8 oz spaghetti
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 lb (!) mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tbsp flour
• 2 c soy milk*
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 3 tbsp miso paste
• 1 c warm water*
• 1 c green onion, sliced

Heat a bit of olive oil in a big pan, and saute the onion and garlic a couple minutes. Then add your mushrooms (and a little salt & pepper) and cook about 10 minutes to get most of the liquid out.

Probaby put your pasta in while that cooks. Also mix the miso into the water.

Next add the flour to the mushroom pan, and stir up to coat. Then mix in the soy milk, nutritional yeast, and a bit more salt & pepper, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and fold in the pasta and get it all coated. Turn off heat and add the miso water and green onions. Serve!

Notes

This one has a really interesting flavor, and process! It would be a shame to ruin anything with that many mushrooms in it... I was worried the soy milk would be sweet - it's hard to picture in pasta! And it's so much liquid between that and the water, with limited time to cook out. 

But it all comes together! We've played with reducing the liquid (thus the *s above) so there's less broth at the bottom of the pot - although it's tasty broth ;)

Mushroom "Clam" Chowder

 OK so Anne & I eat a lot of southwestern food. And who can complain? Burritos are delicious, and we're in the right region for it to feel authentic (even the vegan version). But when I saw this recipe, I thought it was worth trying for something New England-y...

Recipe

• 12 oz mushrooms, rough chopped
• 4 potatoes, cubed
• 1 sheet sushi nori (we just used seaweed snacks...)
• 4 tbsp flour
• 4 c non-dairy milk (forget what we used - soy, almond, or oat...)
• optional: green onion tops, old bay seasoning

Boil the potatoes 5-10 minutes to give them a head start. Meanwhile, saute mushrooms and green onion, and add the potatoes when they're done. Shred the nori and in it goes, then the flour - stir it all up so everything's coated in flour. Add the milk & old bay and boil for 5 minutes, then simmer 5-10 until it's at the right consistency.

Notes

While I wasn't convinced I was eating authentic New England clam chowder, I was pretty happy with how this came out. It was a bit on the thick side, so might try less flour or cook time.

Vegan Swedish Meatballs

What caught my attention about this recipe - aside from vegan Swedish meatballs - was the "One Pot" promise. More on that below...

Recipe

Meatballs

• 8 oz cremini mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1 15 oz can cannellini beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 1/4 c panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 c parsley, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 tsp vegan worcestershire
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
• salt & pepper

Gravy

• 3 tbsp canola oil
• 3 c vegetable broth
• 1 14 oz can coconut milk
• 1 tbsp vegan worcestershire
• 1/4 c flour
• salt & pepper

Pasta

• Recommended 4 c bowties

Combine the "meat" ingredients together, mashing the beans up. Heat up the oil in a large pot over medium-high. Roll the meatballs - they recommend about golf ball size. Cook in the pot a minute or so per side to brown. Add the gravy ingredients, stir together, and bring to a boil.

Here, they recommend adding the pasta and letting it cook in the gravy. Our experience, backed up by internet stranger comments, was that doesn't work great. The pasta took forever to get to an edible level, and in the meantime the rest of the recipe becomes a bit of a goop with no clear dividing lines between meat and gravy. The flavors killed! But I'd likely start the pasta separately, and just finish it in the pot. Will test that out soon, hopefully resulting in a more photogenic end product!

Lentil Mushroom Shepherd's Pie

Found another veganized favorite to try out!

Recipe
Filling
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 c carrot, diced
8 oz mushrooms, diced
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 1/2 c dried lentils, soaked and drained
2 c veggie broth or water
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 c frozen peas

Potatoes
5 c potatoes, chopped (~5 potatoes)
1/2 c cashews
3/4 c water
2 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried parsley

• Heat some olive oil in a large pot over medium-low. Add the onion, garlic, carrot & mushroom, and season with salt, pepper, and the spices. Cook 8-10 minutes until soft.
• Add the lentils, broth, tomato paste, and other liquids, and simmer until lentils are cooked, ~20 minutes. Add the peas at the end.
• Meanwhile, boil the potatoes until tender, ~20 minutes.
• Also meanwhile, make your cashew cream by blending them with water.
• Drain and mash the potatoes, then mix in the other ingredients.
• Put the filling in an 8x12 baking dish, and top with mashed potatoes. Broil on high for 5-7 minutes.

"Sausage" (aka mushroom) "Breakfast" (aka anytime of day) Patties

Just did a Virtual Cooking Class with a chef who is on Instagram as @PlantBasedG.life and these are DELICIOUS. They SMELL just like sausage and get a delicious SEAR like a burger but its all mushrooms and plants :)

Ingredients

-3 cups white mushrooms

-1 large white onion, diced

-3 cloves garlic, diced

-1 cup brown rice

-4 oz black olives

-1/2 Jalapeno

-1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used Trader Joe's Gluten Free Rice Crumbs- use whatever! In the class he also told us you could also just make toast and use that)

-Avocado oil (2ish tablespoons but I honestly use less than every recipe says for oil)

-English Muffins (I used Ezekiel Gluten Free English Muffins. Highly recommend!!)

Spices

-Cayenne Pepper

-Oregano

-Cumin

-Dried Sage (I honestly just used regular sage and it totally was fine hahaha)

-Thyme

-Salt & Pepper

-Add any other spices you like :)

**NOTE: BLENDER NEEDED

To Serve

Tomato slices, lettuce, and raw onion slices

Steps:

1. Cook the rice, leave to cool

2. Blend the mushrooms till they kinda look like ground beef

3. Saute the onions in the avocado oil for a few mins (till translucent & starting to brown)

4. Add mushrooms to the onions and saute another few mins till the mushrooms are cooked. Add the garlic and ALL the spices (but NOT the jalapeno) and cook for another few mins.

5. Let everything cool (very important because you don't want to put warm stuff in the blender- it will get super hot in there)

6. Put the mushroom concoction, olives, and rice in the blender and blend. Add the bread crumbs & Jalapeno and blend a little more. It should start to look like ground beef.

7. Scoop everything into a bowl (this just makes it easier to form the patties and put on the pan

8. Add a tablespoon of avocado oil to a pan and set it to medium heat. When pan is hot, scoop out a patty sized chunk and put it on! It'll sear just like a burger its crazy. Flip over after 3-5 mins. Play around with timing obviously but cook for about 3-5 mins per side. 

While the patties are cooking, toast your English Muffins!

Serve with the raw tomato slices, raw onion slices, and lettuce. Eric liked his with Hot Sauce. 

ENJOY!! <3 Natalie

Mushroom Stroganoff

While the sibs might not have great stroganoff memories, it was never one of my unfavorites, and this recipe looked pretty awesome...

Recipe

1/2 red onion
16-20 oz mushrooms
1 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 c picked onions
1/3 c pickles
2 tbsp capers
1/2 c parsley
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 c vegan creme fraiche

Saute the onions and mushrooms over high heat, about 5 minutes.  Then add the olive oil, garlic, pickled onions, pickles, capers, and most of the parsley, and cook another 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and add the paprika, creme fraiche, rest of the parsley, and salt & pepper, with some hot water if needed to thin it out.  Serve!

Notes

Whoa those mushrooms...  We didn't get plating nearly as nice as the IG version, but less important than taste...  They recommend serving over rice which was good, but (non)egg noodles might be good too!

Zha Jiang Mian

Another ATK IG recipe: Beijing-style meat sauce...

Recipe

8 oz ground pork (we replaced with vegan crumbles)
1/8 tsp baking soda (I guess ignore for vegan crumbles)
5 tbsp red miso paste
5 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp molasses
8 scallions - white & light green in 1/2 inch pieces, dark green sliced thin
2 garlic cloves
1/2 in ginger, peeled and sliced
4 oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1 lb lo mein noodles
1/2 english cucumber, cut into matchsticks
6 oz bean sprouts

• Toss the pork with 2 tsp water and the baking soda, and let stand for 5 minutes.
• Whisk together 1/2 c water and the miso paste, soy sauce, hoisin, and molasses.
• Pulse the white and light green scallion parts, garlic, and ginger until coarsely chopped, then add mushrooms and make an awesome-smelling finely-chopped mixture.
• Heat pork mixture with some vegetable oil in a large saucepan for a minute, then add the mushroom mixture.  Cook 5-7 minutes.
• Add the miso mixture and cook 8-10 minutes while noodles cook.
• Combine sauce and cooked noodles, top with cucumbers, sprouts, and scallions, and eat!

Meatless Mushroom & Chickpea Pasta Sauce

Alright, here's another faux-meat sauce, this one courtesy of the America's Test Kitchen IG:

Recipe

10 oz cremini mushrooms*
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced*
1 1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes*
1/4 c tomato paste
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 c vegetable broth
15 oz chickpeas, rinsed
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
*feel free to add more as desired!

• Pulse mushrooms in a food processor until in little (1/8-1/4 in) pieces.  Heat 5 tbsp of oil in a dutch oven over medium high and cook mushrooms (and a little salt) until browned.
• In the meantime, pulse the onion similarly (don't need to clean out the processor between all these ingredients).  Add to the dutch oven until soft.
• Mix the extra tbsp of oil plus the garlic, oregano, and red pepper in a bowl.
• Add the tomato paste to the pot and cook a minute or 2.  Reduce heat to medium and clear space in the middle for the garlic mixture; add it and cook and mix in until fragrant.
• Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer about 5 minutes.
• Pulse the chickpeas similarly, and rinse in a strainer until the water runs through clear.  Add to the pot and simmer about 15 minutes.
• Stir in basil and salt & pepper, and serve over pasta!

Notes

This is a bit more complicated, but comes out really, really good!  Great to make a big batch and get a few meals out of it.  Might even be jefe-friendly?

Roedspaette og Spinat

...Or, more intelligibly/less authentically, Danish flounder and spinach casserole!  Courtesy of gramma's Scandinavian cookbook.  (Although, Google Translate confirms that they mistakenly swapped the labels with "roedspaette med loegsovs," flounder with onion sauce.)

Recipe

1 lb flounder fillets
1 9 oz package frozen creamed spinach
3 oz mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c bread crumbs
butter
salt & pepper

Dust the fillets with flour and sprinkle with salt & pepper.  Dip in the beaten egg and dredge through the flour; brown on both sides in a couple tbsps of butter.  Meanwhile cook the spinach as per directions.  Make it the first layer in a casserole dish, followed by the fish, then the shrooms on top.  Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Notes

Authentic Danish cuisine meets the modern 1950's kitchen!  Really, this could be a super easy dish, using nothing but fish sticks, frozen creamed spinach, and canned mushrooms...  Thought about going that route, but King Soopers is apparently too classy for frozen creamed spinach.  Found a simple enough preparation here, bought some fresh sole in place (plaice, heh) of flounder.  Took a bit more effort and cooking utensils, but turned out very tasty!

Two pics: I like the fresh out of the oven one, but you can't see the delicious creamy (and oniony/garlicky) spinach!

One-Pot Pasta Primavera

That one pot is pulling its weight these days...  Here's the next episode of one-pot preparations, plus the latest Meatless Monday.  Original recipe here.

Recipe

4 c vegetable broth
1/2 lb linguine
1 onion, sliced
1 lb broccoli florets
1 1/2 lbs asparagus, tough ends snapped off, cut into 1-2" pieces
4 oz mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 c frozen peas
1/4 c heavy cream
parsley, Parmesan cheese, lemon zest
olive oil, crushed red pepper, salt & pepper

Add the broth, pasta, onion, broccoli, asparagus, shrooms, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt & pepper to your (one) pot, and drizzle over some olive oil.  Bring to a boil; once it's there, cook 7 or so minutes, tossing with tongs.  Add the peas, cream, parsley, Parm, and lemon zest, and cook another couple minutes, until everything is basically done.  Let cool and thicken, then serve!

Notes

That's a long list of ingredients, but it probably works as a choose-your-own-vegetarian-adventure - however much you feel like chopping and tossing in a pot of whatever plants and fungi you have lying around.  Really good!  I about two-thirded things, which left me with more liquid than I expected.  The broth was delicious, though!  I didn't bother with cream, just added a splash of milk (and tons of cheese) for that dairy goodness.  Almost as good as porky ramen broth...

Sausage & Mushroom Pasta Skillet

Well, it wasn't the most productive summer for the blog, between travel and other stuffs.  I did get excited about one dutch oven chicken recipe, but it was a bit of a letdown.  So July was a washout...  Getting back in the groove, this Serious Eats recipe looked pretty serious...

Recipe

1/2 lb Italian sausage (hot or mild (but go with hot)), removed from casings
1/2 lb pasta, rotini or similar ridged
1 lb mushrooms, chopped (they recommend mixed but Portabellos were great on their own)
1 c Panko bread crumbs
6 oz Parmesan cheese, grated
2 small shallots, minced (or just an onion)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 parsley leaves, chopped
2 tbsp chives, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 1/2 tbsp flour
2 c broth (they say chicken, I used veggie)
1 c heavy cream
salt & pepper

Combine the bread crumbs, 1/3 of the cheese, half the parsley & chives, 1/4 shallot, 1/4 garlic, and the olive oil, and mix together with some salt & pepper.

Melt the butter in a large cast iron skillet over medium high, and brown the sausage, breaking it up.  Set aside, leaving fat in the skillet.

Next you cook the mushrooms in the skillet until well browned.  Probably a little after that starts, put in your pasta.  OK back to the skillet.  Stir in the garlic and shallot for a minute, then stir in the soy sauce and lemon juice, then the flour.  Next, add the broth and simmer a couple minutes until it starts to thicken.  Stir in the cheese, parsley, chives, and sausage, and season with some salt and pepper.  Your pasta should be done and drained by now.  Add it too.

Top your skillet mixture with the bread crumbs.  Pop it in the oven about 10" under the broiler until golden brown, probably just a few minutes with some rotating.  Remove and eat.

Notes

That's a lot of ingredients...  I about halved everything, and left out some of the green herbs.
If that missed some flavors, I made up for it with a lot of cheese and generous (by my standards) salting and peppering.  It's a delicious, super-rich pasta.  In addition to the cheese, you've also got the butter/olive oil/other fats going - and cooked into those mushrooms.  Really good.  It's a bit extravagant for a pasta dish, but worth it when the occasion arises.  It proved to be championship-caliber carb loading for me :)

Beef & Mushroom Soup etc.

Here's a handy (sorry CI editing staff) soup infographic.  It's a simple formula:

1. Aromatics: onion, shallot, leek
2. Protein: beef, chicken, tofu, beans, peanut butter (!)
3. Spices
4. Liquid: various broths & stocks
5. Veggies (loosely defined): peppers, mushrooms, sweet potato
6. Garnish

 Here's the first one I wanted to try:

Recipe

1. 1 onion, chopped
2. 1/2 lb ground beef
3. 1 tsp fresh thyme, minced
4. 4-6 c mushroom broth
5. 1 lb mushrooms, sliced
6. tarragon, sour cream

oil, salt & pepper

Saute the onion, then add in the meat, mushrooms, and spices.  Add in the broth and simmer 20-30 minutes.  Garnish and serve.

Notes

This is all approximate enough.  The recipe calls for 1/4 lb of ground beef, which I doubled (and could have done more, honestly).  I also reduced the liquid down to one box of broth (4 c).  They also seem to claim you just simmer the meat and mushrooms, but I browned/sauteed it a bit first to be safe.  Then I forgot the sour cream.  Typical.  Anyway, this is a very tasty, earthy soup, good for a cold winter night.  It could use a starch - not one of their categories, not sure if Shape is paleo, Atkins or what - but noodles or rice would help make it filling.

Postscript: Yeah, finished the leftovers with some egg noodles and sour cream (remembered this time).  Gives it some solid bulk...

Beef Stir Fry with Green Beans & Shiitake

Tons of recipes to work through in the Cooks Illustrated Science of Good Cooking cookbook (cook cook cook)...

Recipe

Sauce
1/2 c vegetable broth
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp mirin
1 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Stir Fry
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
12 oz flank steak, sliced (with grain then across)
2 tbsp oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp ginger, grated
8 oz shiitake mushrooms, cut into 1" pieces
1 onion, chopped (optional but why not)
12 oz green beans, trimmed and halved
1/4 c water
3 scallions, cut into 1 1/2" pieces, white(-ish) pieces quartered lengthwise

Rice - cooked separately

Combine the (stir fry portion) soy sauce and honey and marinate the meat for 10 minutes to an hour.

Whisk the sauce ingredients together.  Separately, combine 1 tsp oil, the garlic, and the ginger.

Drain the beef.  Heat a tsp of oil in a large skillet - get it real hot - then brown the meat, in two batches if needed.  That means let it sit for a minute NO TOUCHING, then stir occasionally for another couple minutes.  Rinse skillet when you're done.

Add a tbsp oil, then cook the mushrooms (a couple minutes, till starting to brown (and onion too if you want)).  Add the green beans and cook 3-4 minutes, then add the water and steam for 2-3 minutes (covered, if possible).  Uncover, clear some space in the center of the skillet, and add the garlic-ginger mixture, mash it into the skillet a little for about a minute, then stir it all up.  Stir in the beef (and any juices), scallions, and sauce.  After another minute or so you're ready to go.

Serve over rice.

Notes

Part of the appeal of the stir-fry concept is that you cook everything in one wok, which in theory reduces cleanup.  Well, somehow I ended up with a teetering stack of dishes to clean after this one.  The recipe calls for a lot of ingredients that you really have to prep in advance, then reserve to be added in phases.  So if you're looking for a quick, simple Asian-inspired meal, go with something simpler.  But this one is pretty good (even left over) for when you're ready to go the extra mile.

I guess the other appeal is that you get your veggies and protein all at once.  This one at least looks pretty healthy!

Lastly, the cookbook used a couple beef stir fries to illustrate the Maillard reaction - browning beef pretty good to maximize flavor.  I don't think I nailed it this time, but it didn't ruin dinner and I'll go hotter next time...

Steak alla Pizziaola

This recipe came from the folks at Lodge, makers of fine cast-iron cookware.  And lovers of good meat and veggies:

Recipe

Meat
4 strip steaks

Plant (& Fungi) I
1 onion, sliced
3 red bliss potatoes, cut into 1/2" cubes
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 cup cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts, drained & chopped
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 tbsp capers

Plant II
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
3 sprigs thyme
a sprinkle (or a few) of red pepper flakes

salt, pepper, olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 and your (Lodge, of course) skillet medium-high with some olive oil.  Sprinkle the steaks with salt & pepper (or Montreal seasoning), and brown about five minutes per side.  Set the steaks aside, replenish the olive oil in the skillet, and in goes the first batch of plant (and fungi).  Saute for about 7 minutes, then add the second batch, stir up, and cook a few more minutes.  Put the steaks on top and pop it in the oven for 20 minutes.

Notes

There's a ton of chopping (you want the potatoes small so they soften; at least you don't have to dice the garlic), but well worth it - chop everything in group I into a big, beautiful bowl of plant (and fungi) parts before you get started.  The small-ish steaks I used came out pretty well done, but still delicious!  Make as much as your skillet can hold (OK, so about as prescribed) because it's good left over

Westerosi Honey-Clove Lamb - Updated

The North remembers.  It was not so long ago that Ned Stark ruled in Winterfell, free of those meddlesome southern lords and their Iron Throne.  Such feasts we had!  Who knows when we'll next know the taste of mutton in this long winter?

The imagination of George RR Martin as interpreted by The Inn at the Crossroads blog is not always on point...  No complaints at all about this one, though.  It's such a simple recipe - almost no prep of the ingredients - but such rich flavor between the lamb and sauce.  That said, it does almost seem like something's missing.  After a couple tries, I think sauteed mushrooms and onions do the trick.

The Recipe

lamb chops or steaks
mushrooms, chopped
1 onion, copped
1 cup cider
2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp honey
butter/olive oil, salt, pepper

Preheat oven to 400.  Sprinkle your lamb with salt and pepper, and sear (over pretty high heat) in a dry skillet.  Then move to a buttered/oiled baking dish and cook for about 10-15 minutes.  Meanwhile, sautee the mushroom and onion in the skillet until softening, then put everything else in and simmer.  You want it to reduce down pretty well into a nice gravy.  Combine, give thanks to the Old Gods and eat.

Notes

And that's it!  A few points.  What are cloves?  I don't know but they are delicious.  The original recipe calls for mead.  I have no idea where to get that and was at a loss, until it came to me right there in Morton Williams - cider.  Even if it doesn't work out, you have five and a half ciders to comfort yourself with.  And if (when) it goes amazingly well, you still have those ciders!  The only suitable cuts of lamb they had were shoulder steaks, a bit tough but not expensive, and they still have that great lamb scent, and then taste.  Once the lamb's in the oven and the sauce on the stove, you have some good time to work on sides.

Here's the finished product as per Inn at the Crossroads with a tasty fancy-boy sauteed spinach.  As you can see, ideally the sauce would be thicker and sit on top of the lamb (instead of sloppily pool in the plate), but it tasted great.

And here's a subsequent iteration with the full gravy.  Much less wet, especially over mashed potatoes: