Happy Holidaze (sausage, spinach stuffed mushrooms)

Just a quick note today and two stuffed mushroom recipes that we’ll be serving any minute.  Over here at Fresh Fun Foods we are moving into the modern age.  This time, the recipes will have pictures.  Be kind, there are no food stylists involved yet.  Maybe someday when the Food Network writes me that big check…
 

We have a problem at our house, ok numerous problems, but today’s issue involves my misguided vegetarian son.  Actually I admire the kid, however since I know that bacon even improves ice cream, we’ll never see eye-to-eye on tasty little animals.  When I plan a meal, I have to consider what Pat will eat, so there always has to be a vegetarian offering.  Big mushrooms were on sale this morning.  It is simple to make a vegetarian and a meat-gorged version of stuffed mushrooms.  Recipes follow for an Italian sausage and a spinach and feta cheese version. 

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Jolly Diwali and joy to you for any other holidaze that make you happy.

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Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

15 large mushrooms, stems removed

8 oz. Italian sausage, sweet or hot

4 oz. grated parmesan cheese

2 oz. bread crumbs

2 eggs

salt and black pepper

2 tbs. olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400°.

Mix the sausage, bread crumbs, eggs, 3 oz. parmesan cheese, salt and pepper in a medium mixing bowl.  Divide the stuffing evenly and place each bit in a mushroom cap. 

Put the remaining cheese in a small bowl.  Roll the stuffed mushrooms in the cheese , evenly coating the sausage.  Place the stuffed mushrooms on a baking dish, drizzle the tops with olive oil and bake for 15 minutes at 400°.

Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms

10 oz. fresh spinach, washed

4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

2 tbs. red onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 oz. Ouzo

2 oz. bread crumbs

2 eggs

salt and black pepper

3 tbs. olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400°.

In a large pot, heat 1 oz of olive oil.  Sauté the onion and garlic until transparent add the spinach and sweat out the water, cooking for only another two minutes.  Add the ouzo and cook for one more minute.  The transfer the vegetables to a small mixing bowl.

Mix the spinach mixture with the cheese, bread crumbs and the eggs.  Season with salt and pepper.  Stuff the mushroom caps.  Place the stuffed mushrooms on a baking dish, drizzle the tops with olive oil and bake for 15 minutes at 400°.

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Mushroom washed and stemmed

Onions, garlic sautéed in olive oil

Sausage stuffing (left), spinach stuffing (right)

Coating the sausage with cheese

Before baking

After only 15 minutes in the oven

Rock and Falafel and Roll (Yogurt, Tzatziki Sauce)

I went to the TLA last night with my buddy Chris to hear a double bill of the Old 97s and Drive-By Truckers.  We’ve been getting wired on music together since we were about 12, so we have a good handle on each other’s oddball taste.   Both are bands that I have enjoyed over the years, but never really followed with the maniacal fervor that I gave the Velvet Underground or somebody like Son House.  After driving around for a half hour begging for a parking spot, I did what I should have done in the first place and put the car in a lot.  Since I was well past hungry and needing some kind of fuel, I was depressed a bit, because South Street in Philly is a wasteland of wings, reheated pizza and cheesesteaks that a local walks right on by.  We did find a shining light in that eatspocalypse, Alyan's Restaurant on south 4^th, just around the corner from the club.  http://www.yelp.com/biz/alyans-restaurant-philadelphia#query:Falafel

 

Falafel is the junk food of the Middle East.  Although we are well on the way to converting them to the American way of eating, KFC and McEvil, completing a form of economic domination that is far more lucrative than old-fashioned colonialism, those in the Middle East still grab a kebob or falafel when they are on the go.  It has everything, nutrition, flavor, homemade pickles on the side and of course crunch.  Crispy fried stuff is always good, especially crispy fried stuff that can easily pass for healthy.  I may be way off base here, since I’ve visited Alyan’s exactly once.  This place looks like a keeper.  Chris had chicken noodle soup that was dipped deep in the pot, giving him a bowl filled with the good stuff, carrots, celery, onions, noodles and shredded chicken.  My falafel platter, at under $10, was a buy, consisting of a salad, pickles, hummus, tahini, pita and five generous falafel nuggets, the mother lode of before rock and roll eats.  The garlic and parsley flavors were appropriately balanced.

 

The show was fun.  Even though the Old 97s shamelessly ripped off Desolation Row on one number, I thought that their set was one of the best I’ve heard in years.  Anyone who covers Merle’s Mama Tried is on my list.  The guy playing leads had a big red guitar that would have made Duane Eddy cry.  Lots of dark songs.  Those young men do seem uncertain about their redemption.  While Drive-By Truckers were skilled. Their three guitar attack got a bit repetitive.  I’m sure the bootleg will surface.  I’ll give them a second chance.

 

Oh yeah, this is a food blog.  

 

Fermented milk products, yogurts, are common sides or marinades in Middle Eastern countries.  I know that is a loose statement, nonspecific as you can get, covering a huge geographic area, however roll with me on this one.  Unlike many Americans, I do have a handle on world geography.  For example, I knew the problem with Gov. Palin’s statement that Africa is a “big country.”  Many people from the Levant to India consider yogurt a staple.  You should too!  It is easily made, versatile and adds flavor and texture to food.   Homemade yogurt is another thing that can be made in large batches.  If you have it hanging around, you will find a variety of uses for this stuff.  Here is a recipe for yogurt and a Tzatziki sauce that you and your friends will enjoy.

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For your starter culture, buy a commercial yogurt with active Lactobacillus cultures.  You should also purchase one that you like, because some of the character of that commercial product will be transferred to your batch.  Taste a few, buy what you like.  Avoid cheap store brands.  They are likely to be filled with stabilizers and thickeners.

 

Yogurt

 

½ gallon skim milk

1 6oz. container of plain commercial yogurt

 

Scald the milk over high heat in an enamel or stainless steel stockpot.  Remove from the heat when bubbles begin to form around the edges of the milk.  Do not boil the milk.

 

Set the stockpot off the heat on a corner of the stove.  Cool the milk until it no longer feels hot to the touch.  When it has cooled, stir in the yogurt.  Cover the pot and let it sit in a warm place overnight.  The fermentation will begin and you will notice that the yogurt has thickened. 

 

At this point, the yogurt will have a slightly acidic taste.  Mixed with a puree of fresh fruit, it makes a refreshing drink.  Let the fermentation continue for another day and the yogurt will become tart and will set up firmly.  You can save some of the culture that you started to use making your next batch.

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Tzatziki is the classic garlicky yogurt sauce served with gyros and put on grilled kebobs.  You can also use it as a dip with pita chips.  Only make what you’ll be using that day.  The cukes get mushy and release water into the yogurt, thinning it out.

 

Tzatziki Sauce

 

1 ½ cups homemade yogurt

1 cucumber, peeled seeded and cut into a ¼ inch dice

2 tbs. chopped dill (or mint, oregano or chives)

1 tsp. chopped garlic

salt and pepper to taste

 

Combine all the ingredients.  Refrigerate for one hour before serving.

The "Great Pumpkin" (Pumpkin Bisque, Cumin Pumpkin Seeds)

­Linus was right, not completely, because he was a day or so off.  The “Great Pumpkin” does rise up out of the kindest pumpkin patch at this time every year, just not on Halloween night.  No, the greatest pumpkins are the ones that your neighbors set out at the curb after the scary night has passed while they are putting up Christmas decorations. 

I’m not one to look down on someone who makes their living trash picking.  We all have our challenges and somehow needs must be met.  I do give a bad look to those who toss out a perfectly good pumpkin only because the calendar says 11 instead of 10.  I’m going with that it is sinful to throw out a pumpkin.  There’s nutrition and extremely good tastes in that big, orange gourd.  You just have to know how to cook it.  I think we can all get behind the idea of free food, especially if it tastes good, so if you see an unblemished pumpkin at your neighbors curb, grab it up.  If you are afraid of getting busted, take a shopping bag with you when you walk the dog after dark.

Every year during October, I used to run a “Guess the Weight of the Pumpkin" contest at the high school where I taught Social Studies.  The winner was announced on Halloween and the pumpkin from the contest was served to the students as soup and cookies.  The cookies were a sugar cookie recipe with some pumpkin puree folded in.  The soup recipe follows.  I scored big with the students that day.  Some of the faculty and administration didn’t like the idea of me giving out food to the kids, but they were mostly jackasses.

Two recipes follow, one for a velvety pumpkin bisque and the other for cumin butter roasted pumpkin seeds.  For generations, Americans have been feeding their families on pumpkin soup, fritters, cookies and puree.  You can/should/damn well better do the same thing.

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Pumpkin Bisque

1 medium pumpkin, about 8 pounds

1 spanish onion, diced

½ cup rice

1 stick unsalted butter

3 quarts of cold water

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup light brown sugar, or to taste

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

salt and white pepper

Preheat oven to 400.  Cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy flesh, leaving only the firm meat.  Put the pumpkin on a baking sheet and roast it for about an hour, until it is cooked through and lightly browned on top.  Cool, peel then chop the pumpkin into 1 inch chunks.

Heat a heavy-bottomed stock pot over low heat on the stovetop.  Add 2 tablespoons of butter.  When the butter has melted, add the onions and sauté them until they are translucent.  Add the rice, cook for another minute then add the chopped pumpkin.  Sauté the pumpkin for about five minutes, until it is almost dry.  Season the soup with salt and pepper.  Add the water, turn up the heat, and bring the soup to a boil.  When it boils, turn down the heat and simmer the soup for at least one hour.  Stir occasionally so that the rice does not stick to the bottom and burn.

When the soup has cooked for an hour, puree it in a blender or run it through a food mill.  Return the soup to the stove and bring it back up to temperature.  Add the cream, the sugar, the spices, salt and pepper. 

Just before serving, remove the soup from the heat.  Cut the remaining butter into 1 teaspoon sized pieces, stir the soup and add the butter, one piece at a time.  Continue stirring until the butter has been fully incorporated into the soup.  Adjust the seasoning with sugar, salt and pepper.  Do not boil after the addition of the butter because it will separate out of the soup.

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Cumin Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

seeds from one pumpkin

1 tbs. kosher salt

½ tsp. ground cumin

1tbs. unsalted butter

1qt. water

Scoop the seeds and stringy membranes out of the pumpkin, leaving the firm flesh for roasting.  Put the seeds in a colander and rinse with cold water, using your hands to separate the seeds from the membranes.  Preheat the oven to 400°.

When separated, put the pumpkin seeds, salt water and butter in a saucepan and boil to cook the seeds and reduce the water.  When reduced by ¾, about 20 minutes, add the cumin, stir, then pour the seeds and remaining water onto a baking sheet pan and put it in the oven to roast.  Check the seeds every 10 minutes.  With a metal spatula, turn them occasionally, cooking them until they are golden brown. 

They can be served as a snack or used to garnish pumpkin soup.