My ruminations on my life, my family, cooking, baking, and whatever else comes to mind
This week’s box:
Free-Range Eggs
Lettuce-Butterhead
Tomatoes-Big Beef
Tomatoes-Big Beef
Squash-Gold Rush
Squash-Romanesco
Sweet Corn
Cucumbers-Slicing
Peaches-Red Haven
Peaches-Red Haven
Blueberries
Apples-Shamrock
This is an elegant and rich mushroom soup. The recipe is inspired by one from Carnival Creations, the cookbook based off of Carnival Cruise recipes. My folks picked up this book on our first cruise back in the day, and I made copies of a few of my favorite recipes, including the one that inspired my own recipe below. Rather than season the entire pot of soup with salt, I topped my bowl with a couple grinds of lovely Himalayan Pink Sea Salt from a local store that specializes in gourmet salts. It was the perfect finishing touch!
Crema Funghi
Serves 6 as an appetizer or 2-3 as a meal
2 tbsp unsalted butter
8 oz crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/4 cup brandy
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup half and half
1/8 cup roux – 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted, and mixed thoroughly with 2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 bay leaf
1/8 tsp white pepper
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Melt 2 tbsp of butter in a 4 quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook until the mushrooms are tender. Add the brandy and increase the heat to medium high. Reduce the liquid by half – about 3-4 minutes. Add the half and half, roux, bay leaf, and pepper, and whisk to combine completely, stirring until no lumps of roux remain. Bring the soup to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the soup from the heat and discard the bay leaf. Stir in the whipping cream and season to taste with additional white pepper and kosher or sea salt.
I was going to do some galbi tonight, but the lack of motivation is still quite present, so I just sprinkled the meat with some kosher salt and black pepper and broiled them until nicely browned. With some grape tomatoes and a cup of brown Minute Rice, one of my favorite little convenience products, with a sprinkle of soy sauce and a couple drops of sesame oil, it was a decently well rounded meal.
Tonight, lacking in motivation to cook at all, I boiled some water and had some Buitoni Wild Mushroom Agnolotti, found near the lunch meats and refrigerated biscuits and the like in the grocery store. I was pleasantly surprised with how tasty these were. Not as good as handmade or a good restaurant version, but for 10 minutes to dinner, quite a good solution and one that I’ll happily use again. There were actual chunks of mushroom and the cheese was not overwhelming. The pasta was nice and al dente as well. Hopefully another real recipe will come tomorrow 😛
Image Courtesy of Buitoni Website
This was a great way to use up some of the abundance of summer squash and potatoes that I’m getting in my CSA boxes. I used Raven Zucchini (basically your typical zucchini) and yellow potatoes this time, but it would work great with other summer squash and/or russet potatoes too. These could be shaped into little patties and pan fried, but I was feeling lazy and made just one big one. I wasn’t paying attention and slightly burned the butter, but this was still good.
1.5 lbs yellow potatoes
1.5 lbs zucchini
3 cloves garlic
2 eggs
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Wash and trim the potatoes and zucchini and grate them. Press down on the grated potatoes and zucchini with paper towels to squeeze out some of the water. Add the garlic, eggs, salt, pepper, and bread crumbs, and mix well with your hands.
Place the olive oil and butter in a large oven-proof skillet (I used my 12 inch cast iron skillet) and turn the heat to medium. When the butter foams, add the veggie mixture and press it down evenly. Cook for 5-8 minutes or until you can see the edges starting to brown. Move the skillet to the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes or until the top is starting to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes, then slice and serve.
This week’s box:
Free-Range Eggs
Arugula-Bunched
Lettuce-Baby Heads
Tomatoes-Farmer
Tomatoes-Big Beef
Squash-Romanesco
Sweet Corn
Potatoes-Banana Fingerling
Pluots
Peaches-Donut
Blueberries
Apples-Shamrock
Emma makes a guest appearance too 🙂
Another variation on stuffed pork, this version incorporates tomatoes. It came out quite well and was a satisfying dinner with some green salad and fresh corn on the cob. Even shipped all the way out here, Olathe corn is the best!
Tomato and Olive Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
Serves 4
2 pork tenderloins, about 2 lbs total
2 thick slices bacon, diced
1 15-oz can petite diced tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 clove garlic, pressed
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup kalamata olives, halved
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Crisp up the bacon in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the tomatoes, spices and herbs, and olives, and stir to combine. Cook for 3-4 minutes to boil off most of the liquid. Turn of the heat and let cool slightly.
Butterfly the pork tenderloins and pound to an even thickness. Place one in the bottom of a baking dish and spoon the tomato mixture over the top. Place the other pork tenderloin on top and sprinkle with kosher salt and black pepper. Bake for 45 minutes or until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the pork reaches 150 degrees F. Let rest for 10 minutes and serve warm.
This is my take on the traditional Spanish cold soup. It’s a great summer soup – a refreshing showcase for some of the great produce that’s currently so abundant.
Gazpacho
Serves 8 as an appetizer or 4 as a meal
1 lb ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 medium cucumber; peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 small cloves garlic, pressed
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp Frank’s Red Hot
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
12 fl oz (1 can) tomato juice
Combine all ingredients in a large blender or food processer and blend to desired consistency. Pour into a non-reactive bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight to let the flavors meld. Serve chilled.
There were many wonderful folks at the corgi picnic, including Carl and Sue Lim. Carl has been the unofficial photographer of many of the area corgi meet-ups. Their corgi, Miso, recently passed on, but they still came to the picnic, camera in hand along with some donations for the auction. Carl captured a few wonderful moments with Emma, and he’s graciously allowed me to share his photos with my reader(s). 😛 I’d like to thank him again and express my condolences for the loss of Miso.
Emma looking attentively, far right
Emma exploring the yard, far left
More exploring, on the left behind the two in the foreground
Full speed ahead!
