stuffed mushrooms to die for!

Baked Stuffed Mushrooms

* 1 lb. fresh mushrooms with caps
* 1/2 to 1 stick (4 to 8 Tbs.) of melted butter
* 1 cup bread crumbs
* fresh chopped parsley
* 1 Tbs. oil
* 1 crushed garlic clove
* 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
* 1/2 cup white wine
* 1 minced medium onion

Remove mushroom stems and chop. Place caps on buttered baking sheet and set aside. Sauté chopped stems, onions, and garlic in oil. Mix other dry ingredients. Add them to melted butter and wine in a sauce pan and stir together. Mold a small amount on the cap. Bake 20 minutes at 350 F.

Serve warm.

Aunt Alexis's Onion Dip

I go over to my Aunt Alexis's house all the time. Especially now that we live in the same state! She made this dip once and since then, I always ask her to make it when I come to visit. This is a quick dip that goes really well with vegetables, soda crackers, or french bread. Feel free to vary this recipe by adding crumbled bacon or garnishing with a sprinkle of parsley or cilantro.

1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup white onion, chopped fine
1 cup Swiss cheese
1 tsp. garlic
1 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese

Set oven toe 350 F. Mix all ingredients together. Spread into a baking dish. Heat until golden brown and bubbly.

Annie's Irish Soda Buns

This recipe was given to me by my roomie at UMaine. I tried her mother's soda buns in honor of St. Patrick's day. These buns are delicious hot or cold though I prefer them warmed with hot chocolate or irish coffee.

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 sugar (optional)
1 egg
3 Tbsp butter or margarine
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup currants or raisins

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut pieces of the butter/margarine into the dry mix. Don't worry if it doesn't mix completely. Add wet ingredients. Stir in currants/raisins. Knead the dough briefly (I just mixed it with a spoon and that worked too). Cut the dough into eighths. Shape into buns. Use a butter knife to make a cross on the tops of the buns. Bake 20-25min. I set my oven to 350 F.

Get your mojo back, cuban style!

Mojo (Cuban Citrus-Garlic Marinade) Recipe

3 large heads garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups sour orange juice (or 3/4 cup fresh orange juice plus 3/4 cup fresh or bottled lime juice)
1 cup minced onion
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
3 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, minced
1 cup olive oil

Mash the garlic, salt, and pepper into a paste, using a mortar and pestle, or on a flat surface, using the side of a large chef's knife.

Place the garlic paste in a small mixing bowl and add the sour orange juice, minced onion, oregano and parsley. Stir all of the ingredients together thoroughly.

Set this mixture aside and allow the flavors to marry for at least 30 minutes at room temperature.

In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat until it is hot (approximately 280 degrees F.). Remove the saucepan from the heat and carefully (the oil may sputter) whisk in the garlic-orange juice mixture until the ingredients are well blended. .

Place the saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring the sauce to a rolling boil. Taste and correct the seasoning, adding salt and pepper as needed.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the mojo cool to room temperature.

Pour the mojo into a clean glass jar with a lid. Use the mojo immediately or store it in the refrigerator; it will keep for several weeks.

Shake well before using.
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Ingredients

• 3 heads garlic
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
  
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns (whole)
• 1 1/2 cups orange juice, sour orange (or 1 cup orange juice & 1/2 cup lemon juice & 1/2 cup lime juice)
• 1 cup minced onion
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 1 cup Spanish olive oil

Directions

1. 1

   Mash garlic, salt and peppercorns, using a mortar and pestle or use food processor.

2. 2

   Stir in juice.

3. 3

   Allow to sit for at least 30 minutes or longer at room temperature.

4. 4

   *If making it without the oil - stop at this point and this makes a perfect marinade for seasoning, chicken, fish, pork &/or beef.

5. 5

   Continue with preparing the mojo with oil - after you have stirred in juice add onion & oregano.

6. 6

   Allow to sit for at least 30 minutes or longer at room temperature.

7. 7

   In a saucepan heat olive oil to medium hot & then remove from heat.

8. 8

   Whisk oil in garlic-juice mixture, until well blended.

9. 9

   Stores for at least a week in the refrigerator.

great on grilled chicken, steak, white fish, slow cooked pork, shrimp, eaten with cilantro rice. used as a marinade or sauce.
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Cuban Mojo sauce recipe
courtesy of Cocina Cubana Club (please join) / Pascual Perez and chef Sonia Martinez

The authentic mojo is made with juice from sour oranges. It still has that little orangy taste, but its very acid and tart. You can come close by mixing equal amounts of freshly squeezed orange juice with lime juice (*). If you live in areas with large concentration of Latinos you will probably find bottled Mojo (Goya brand makes one) or their produce department might have the slightly bumpy, thick skinned sour oranges. This recipe makes one cup.

1/3 cup olive oil
6 to 8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced or minced
2/3 cup sour orange juice or lime juice
(or equal portions orange juice and lime juice)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Heat the olive oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant and lightly toasted. Don't let it brown or it will be acrid tasting, just about 30 seconds should do it.

Add the sour orange juice, cumin and salt and pepper. STAND BACK; the sauce may sputter. Bring to a rolling boil. Taste and correct seasoning, if needed

Cool before serving. Mojo is best when served within a couple of hours of making, but it will keep for several days, well capped in a jar or bottle, in the refrigerator.

Use with Cuban sandwiches, boiled yucca, grilled seafood and meats, fried green plantain chips, etc.

I have seen recipes for mojo using cilantro in it, but that is not traditional to Cuban Cuisine.

(*) I prefer to add more lime juice than orange, as I like it very tart.

Eggplant Southeast Asian Style

Sorry it took me a while to post this, I have been meaning to share.
If you are a Southeast Asian food lover, this should satisfy your taste buds.
I followed the recipe and it turned out really good.

Ingredients:
A:

3 teaspoons of chopped garlic
1 teaspoon of chopped ginger
1 tablespoon of preserved salted soya beans, pounded (which I just used miso paste and it did the magic)
1 teaspoon of chilli sause

B:

1 lb of eggplant
1 cup of oil for frying
3 tablespoons of lard or oil
4 dried Chinese mushrooms, thinly sliced
8 oz of minced pork
4 oz of chopped shelled shrimps

Seasoning:

1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons tapioca flour dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Method:

1. Remove stems from eggplants and cut them into thick slices and soak in salt water. Drain before frying.

2. Heat 1 cup of oil in an iron wok until very hot, fry eggplants till lightly browned. Remove to a medal colander to drain oil.

3. Heat 3 tablespoons lard or oil in wok, fry A over moderate heat, until garlic and ginger brown. Add mushrooms and stir for 1 minute. Put in pork and shrimps and stir fry for another minute before pouring in seasoning. Cook for 1 minute and add eggplants. Mixed well and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Serve.

Oh so good banana bread

i LOVE this recipe! it's easy, delicious and is a great use of extra ripe bananas. i'll post the original recipe but i'll put my alterations in parentheses. after making this, you'll never buy banana bread ever again! :)

ingredients:
1.5 cups of all purpose flour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 very ripe medium-sized bananas = 1 cup mashed
3/4 cup sugar (i usually put less, like 1/2 cup or less)
1/4 cup cooking oil (more oil will make it very cake-y & moist)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

directions:
1) grease the bottom and sides of a 8x4x2 inch loaf pan - set aside.
2) in a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt. make a well in the center of this dry mixture - set aside.
3) in another bowl, combine the egg, mashed bananas, sugar, cooking oil and walnuts. add this wet mixture all at once to the dry mixture. stir until moistened (batter should be lumpy).
4) spoon batter into prepared pan. cover the top of the batter with a thin layer of sugar! bake at 350F for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick or knife comes out clean from the center. let cool for 10 minutes. remove loaf from pan and let cool.

Nobu’s Black Cod with Miso

this is a very special dish that olympia and i have made on rare occasions. you definitely want to make this if you want to impress someone, as it takes up to 3 days to prepare and make! be very careful NOT to burn the cod in the broiler b/c it cooks fast but a little crust is ooooh so good!

Nobu-Style Miso (from Wolfgang Puck)
3/4 cup mirin
1/2 cup sake
2 cups white miso paste
1 cup sugar
4 black cod fillets, about 1/2 pound each
1 stalk hajikami

My friend Nobu Matsuhisa shared this signature recipe with me when he appeared on my Food Network TV show. The recipe is adapted from his beautiful “Nobu: The Cookbook” (Kodansha International, 2001). The hajikami garnish he calls for is a pickled ginger shoot, which you can find in Japanese markets; regular sliced pickled ginger may be substituted. You’ll find the sake, mirin, and white miso not only in Japanese markets but also in most well-stocked supermarkets. You can use sea bass fillets in place of the cod.

1. First, make the Nobu-Style Miso: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the mirin and sake and boil for 20 seconds to evaporate the alcohol. Add the miso paste and stir with a wooden spoon until it dissolves completely. Add the sugar, raise the heat to high, and stir continuously until it has dissolved completely. Remove the pan from the heat and leave at room temperature until the mixture has cooled completely.

2. Pat the black cod fillets thoroughly dry with paper towels. Put them in a nonreactive dish or bowl and slather them with the Nobu-style miso, saving a few spoonfuls of the sauce in a small covered bowl in the refrigerator to use as a garnish. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 3 days.

3. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Preheat a grill or broiler. Lightly wipe off any excess miso clinging to the fillets, but don’t rinse it off. Place the fish on the grill or under the broiler and cook just until its surface turns brown. Then transfer to a baking dish and cook in the oven until the fish is just opaque in its center, 10 to 15 minutes more.

4. Arrange the black cod fillets on individual plates and garnish with hajikami. Add a few extra drops of Nobu-style miso around each plate.

quick quesadillas

this is a quick and yummy snack that takes no time at all.

ingredients:
white corn tortilla
1/2 slice of cheese (any cheese is fine, i used pepperjack)
olive bruschetta or any spread

directions:
put cheese on tortilla and place in toaster oven. remove and place the spread on it. let cool and then enjoy!

kitchen chicken

i love dark meat of chicken and my favorite piece of all, is definitely the thigh. i call this kitchen chicken b/c i basically threw almost everything i had in my kitchen to marinade this.

ingredients:
chicken thighs
light soy sauce
sweet yoshida sauce
sriracha
fish sauce
salt & fresh ground black pepper
corn starch
greens

directions:
you just want to pour enough of the liquid sauces so it coats the thighs, leaving about 2 cm of liquid at the bottom of your baking pan. i poured quite a bit of the sweet yoshida sauce though. just enough salt & pepper to coat them and a bit of corn starch at the end. i massaged it all it and baked it at 375F for 40 minutes. i flipped the thighs about halfway through. came out succulent, tasty and golden brown! i placed it over a small bed of shanghai bokchoy and used cilantro for garnish.

it's about time

i got tired of always referring to my scrap pieces of paper for my recipes. i got tired of wading through my ocean of emails to find the exact amount of baking soda for the banana bread. but now we have a food/cooking blog to document all of our kitchen victories! but most importantly, now we can share all the sumptuous foods, tricks and tips that mean so much to us.

please share and let's cook! :)
karen