Recipe Riffing- Mushroom Cheese Bread

After a week and a half of planning our meals based on recipes, I was feeling a little less than fulfilled. I missed the improv of coming home and trying to make a meal out of what I had, the creativity of not following a recipe. So I have decided to amend my original plan of planning meals with the caveat that at least one meal would be making doing with ingredients or riffing on a beloved recipe.

This week I got the opportunity because I realized, well actually Manatee realized, that my schedule for the week was insane and what was even crazier was the thought of pulling together a four course from scratch meal for my book club. He pleaded with me to 'just order a pizza for the love of God.' I think he was thinking Pizza Hut but I of course went ahead with Roman Candle. I mean, if you are going to order pizza, then at least do something good!

But of course I couldn't just do that, I also had to make something so I decided to make the mushroom bread of yore. But then was thinking more about it and I had some Romano cheese I wanted to use up and Manatee wasn't a big Swiss cheese fan so I decided to amend the recipe slightly and I have to say it I was really pleased with the result.

I, unfortunately, don't have pictures because my book club (and Manatee when he got home) devoured it, but I will provide the recipe. Now, given my crazy schedule, I was literally throwing spices into the sauce so I made changes to the ratios but don't have exact measurements so I will try to do approximations.

Ingredients:

1 round loaf bread (preferably day old ot make it easier to cut but doesn't have to be)
8 oz. shredded Swiss cheese
8 oz. shredded Mozzzarella cheese
3-4 oz. shredded Romano Cheese
approx. 1/2 cup chopped sundried tomatoes
1 pear- cut into matchsticks and then cut those in half
6 oz. baby bella mushrooms, coarsely chopped
6 oz. regular mushrooms coursely chopped

Sauce:
3/4 cup butter
2 parts poppyseeds (1-1 1/2 Tbsp)
1 part ground mustard
1 part season salt
2 parts lemon juice
3 green onions, finely chopped

1. Mix together cheeses, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and pear in a bowl.
2. Cut the bread in diagnol rows and then cross hatch to you have 1 to 1 1/2 inch cubes. Go almost to the bottom but make sure it is still attached. guests will need to pull apart the bread.
3. Preheat the oven to 350.
4. Place bread on foil. Stuff ingredients into the bread. Fill in all crevices.
5. Melt sauce ingredients in a saucepan. As soon as butter is melted, remove from stove and pour over bread.
6. Wrap bread with foil. At this point, really work to get the bread back into a round shape by pulling the foil tight across it.
7. Put bread on cookie sheet and bake 40 minutes at 350.
8. Remove, Unwrap and Enjoy!

The Super Sexy Not Sexy Recipe

Confession: I love shredded lettuce. Like love-love-LOVE shredded lettuce. It's weird and I don't admit it to anyone--well at least not in person--but I love it so much I look for recipes where I can justify eating shredded lettuce. My enchiladas are one of those recipes.

If you recall from the last week, enchiladas equaled bitter disappointment. Well this time I managed to turn the slow cooker on and it worked surprisingly better.

There is nothing sexy about this recipe. No hidden ingredients, it's not even close to authentic and takes little to no talent to make. Well I like to brag about more complex recipes, I like to make (and eat) these kind of recipes.

The Super Sexy Not Sexy Enchiladas


3 10 oz cans of enchilada sauce
1 small can of chiles
1 lb of chicken breasts


Tortillas
*I recommend whole wheat tortillas, Manatee and I really like the low carb, high fiber kind (I did warn you that this was NOT an authentic enchilada recipe)
1 can of black beans drained and rinsed
Reduced Fat Mexican Blend Cheese


In the morning, combine enchilada sauce, chiles and chicken in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours. *I added two cans of water because I knew I would be going to the gym after work. Do you know what's worse than forgetting to turn the slow cooker on? Having it dry out. Much harder to clean afterwards.

When you get home for the day, pull out the chicken into a bowl and shred.

Preheat oven to 350.

Take out 1 2/3 cups of slow cooker sauce and put in large bowl. Add chicken and beans.

Take about 1 cup of sauce and spread in a pan (coated in cooking spray).

On a plate, put 1/3 cup of chicken mixture in middle of tortilla and roll up. Place enchilada seam side down in the pan.

Pour remaining sauce over top the enchiladas and top with approx. 1 cup of cheese.

Cover with tinfoil and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 5-8 minutes.

I served them with brown rice, shredded lettuce (yum!) and fat free Greek Yogurt.

Some notes:
You have a few options here. The recipe book suggested splitting between 2 8 inch square pans and freezing one pan. I didn't have an 8 inch square pan so I made 1 11x7 pan. I had some chicken mixture leftover so I saved it for Manatee to use on his salads this week.

This second picture looks super yellow- it was the setting I used, I swear. ;)


So because I am not without a sliver of an ego, here are some pictures from a more complex and more brag-worthy recipe: Pumpkin doughnut muffins. I think it will become a staple of guests and brunches so the recipe will follow in upcoming posts.

And then there are days...

When you burn the puff pastry, miss a step in the recipe and burn your finger, all within about 2 minutes of each other.

Sigh.

Sometime I think Martha Stewart is sadistic and purposefully lays out her recipes so you miss one vital part.

I would write more but it is hard to type with a blistered index finger.

This is post is dedicated to anyone who has screwed up a recipe, burned a body part or burned puff pastry, that evil delicately-layered bakery item. To all the REAL cooks out there: You're not alone and don't give up. For those who claim they never mess up, you're lying.

With love,
Badger Girl

The Plan: Final Day

We made it through the week. The only hang up we had with 'the plan' was when I forgot to turn on the slow cooker for our enchiladas. Manatee saved the day by taking me out for Mexican food.

I have to admit that I was so hungry last night that I did not take the time to take a picture before eating. :)

Talking with Manatee, he claimed this was not a huge change from our normal routine because I usually cook a lot during the week. For me though, this was huge. It was so much easier having everything planned out and the grocery list in my wallet. It also made my lunches easier as I always had leftovers.

Next week will be a little tough as we have plans every single night but none of them include dinner. I mapped out our plan and we are really going to utilize the slow cooker. Here is our plan of attack:

Sunday:
Mushroom and Pecorino  Tart
Tomato Pesto Crockpot Soup

Monday:
Enchiladas

Tuesday:
Leftover Soup
(We have a knife skills class and I know we will get turkey sandwiches at some point in the evening so we won't need much before)

Wednesday:
Slow Cooker Paella and Spanish Tortilla (hosting my bookclub)

Thursday:
Leftovers/Chicken Sausage Ravioli

Sweet for the week: Pumpkin doughnut muffins which I am going to take a brunch we are going to go on Sunday.

I will continue to keep you posted. :)

The Plan: Day 3

What is the most important step when cooking something in the slow cooker?


Turning the slow cooker on before you leave for work.

The Plan: Day 2

Day 2 and we are still with The Plan. Manatee claimed this was one of my bests. The sherry gives this black bean soup a lot of flavor. Though it was one of the best tasting, I will warn you, it is one of the worst looking things I have ever made.

I also discovered what happens when the lid is not secured when pureeing black beans and chicken broth. Luckily Manatee did not make the same discovery. I was able to hide it well when he walked in the room. I swear he has something against the food processor. This may be because of what happened when we bought it.
Me (gazing lovingly at the Cuisinart): I want this one.
Manatee (doing a double take): Are you stroking that food processor?
Me: Um...(cough) No (voice higher than normal) don't be ridiculous (cough).

Here's the recipe and picture.

I told you it wasn't pretty.


Black Bean Soup with Sherry


3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
3 medium cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
2 15 1/2 oz cans black beans, including liquid
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup dry sherry


Heat the oil in a 4-5 quart pot over medium heat. Add onion, green pepper, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes.

Puree the chicken broth and 1 can of beans (and liquid). Make sure the top is secured!!

Add cumin and oregano to onion mixture. Cook 1 minute.

Add tomato paste. Cook 1 minute.

Add bean puree and can of beans (and liquid) and cook 10 minutes (until flavors meld).

Stir in sherry. Add salt and pepper to season.

We also squeezed lime juice over our individual bowls.

Enjoy! :)

The Plan: Day 1

Well, I didn't get off to a great start seeing how I did not bake cookies yesterday, but I made up for it tonight. I made the salmon AND the cookies. :)

Five-spice-glazed Salmon
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp five-spice powder
4 tsp reduced sodium soy sauce
2 large cloves of garlic minced
4 6 oz. salmon fillets
1 lb. green beans
1 tsp Asian sesame oil
1 tsp canola oil
2 Tbsp of toasted sesame seeds
1 tsp lemon juice


In a small bowl, whisk honey, soy sauce, five-spice powder and garlic.
Put salmon skin side down on a large plate and pour sauce over it. Let it marinate for at least 15 minutes.

Position rack 6 inches from broiler and heat it on high. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with tinfoil and coat with cooking spray.

In large bowl, toss green beans with canola and sesame oils. Arrange beans on one half of sheet.

Arrange salmon, skin side down, on baking sheet. Drizzle with leftover sauce.

Broil salmon and green beans for 3 minutes. Toss green beans and rearrange salmon if necessary. Broil 3 more minutes. Toss green beans with sesame seeds and lemon juice and enjoy!

This recipe was actually even easier than it seems. We loved it.

So I didn't really know what they meant by 'toasted sesame seeds' so I took it literally. I put the sesame seeds in the toaster oven. It seemed to work pretty well!

This one type A girl I know served salmon over spinach and basil. Well it was so good I had to copy her. :) I also made some brown rice and an additional spinach salad with my favorite homemade dressing. Yum!

These are our leftovers. Yummy lunches the rest of the week!

These are what my mother and I suspect to be my grandmother's recipe for chocolate sour cream cookies. We can't find her recipe but they taste just like we remember- light, fluffy and more cake than cookie. Recipe will be included at a later date. :)