More Dinner Ideas

Found this mushroom ragout recipe in the Boston Globe. I'm a huge fan of mushrooms in general, and cooked mushrooms in particular, and with the weather being what it is this seems like a wonderful idea.

MUSHROOM RAGOUT
SERVES 4

2 tablespoons butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
¼ pound oyster mushrooms, coarsely chopped
¼ pound shiitake mushroom caps, thinly sliced
¼ pound button mushrooms, coarsely chopped
¼ pound crimini mushrooms, coarsely chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
½ cup white wine
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

In a heavy-based skillet, melt the butter. When it is foaming, add the shallots. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until they are tender.

Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the oyster, shiitake, button, and crimini mushrooms to the pan with plenty of salt and pepper. Stir well.

Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes or until the mushrooms give up some of their liquid.

Add the wine to the pan, turn up the heat, and, shaking the pan often, let the mixture bubble gently until the liquid evaporates.

Sprinkle with parsley and serve at once.

PORTOBELLO MUSHROOMS WITH ARUGULA
SERVES 4

4 tablespoons olive oil
8 portobello mushroom caps
Salt and black pepper, to taste
½ cup balsamic vinegar
Pinch of sugar
Pinch of crushed red pepper
¼ pound baby arugula
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
¼ cup freshly shaved or grated Parmesan

In a large, heavy skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the mushrooms, stem end down, sprinkle with salt and black pepper, and cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, turning often, or until the mushrooms are tender. Transfer the mushrooms to a bowl.

Pour the vinegar into the skillet. Add the sugar and red pepper. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let the mixture bubble until it reduces to ¼ cup. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and heat through.

Divide the arugula among 4 salad plates. Top with mushrooms and juices from the skillet. Sprinkle with thyme and Parmesan cheese. Serve at once.

Book Review - Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

For the February, 2007 Book Club we read an amazing book about Chinese women in the late 19th century. The story centers around two girls - Lily, the second daughter of a poor, farming family and Snow Flower, the only child of a middle-class bureaucrat's family. We follow their arranged friendship from early childhood through marriage and old age.

Things that I liked the most were the crisp, almost terse prose and the sense of "calmness" of the writing. The voice of the narrator was almost elegant and somewhat languid in pace but it was never boring. I also have to give her tremendous credit for keeping this book short. We could have spent at least another 150 - 200 pages hearing about the trials, tribulations and life experiences of these two women, but the entire book was kept to a slim 288 pages. A very quick read - and very satisfying.

I would definitely recommend this book, in particular for anyone that's about to get on an airplane or take a short vacation. Also a great weekend book. Build up that fire and get reading.

Next month is The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer. I'll be pulling out my illustrated manuscript!

Book Details:

Title: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Author: Lisa See
ISBN: 0812968069
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Random House
Copyright: 2006

The Next Sock Project

I'm almost done with my February STR kit (pix for sure this weekend) and must freely admit that I'm sad - nay, DESPONDENT - that I didn't get the "pooling" effect that others got. I also seemed to have, generally, less of the purple color and way more of the brown, green and gray. The second sock has gone much more swimmingly (unsurprising now that I understand the pattern) and so it's time for me to get cracking on my next sock pattern.

I've already bought the skein of yarn that I want to use, and I've found the pattern as well. Specifically, I'll be working the Jaywalker pattern from MagKnits. I like the diagonal pattern shown and I'm also interested in trying a top-down sock pattern. So far I've only done toe-up (like that idea way better since there's little risk of running out of yarn) but it's definitely time to try something new.

Rainy days are back in California so that means more time to knit ... or at least it seems that way ...

Tower of wool

The other big unfinished object in my stash is another Knitty sweater - this time it's the Eiffel. I love the lacy look of the bottom but will likely skip the ribbon going around the bust and the sleeves. Just too "cutsey" for me.



This time, the yarn is a Rowan DK Tweed. The picture doesn't do the color justice - it's much more of a "lime" than a "citron". The yarn is a bit harsher than the Jaeger, but I expect it to soften up over time. The original pattern calls for hemp yarn but I had a very hard time finding any. What little I did find would have made for one VERY expensive sweater.

I'm at the point were I go from the lace stitch to all 3x1 rib. It should go pretty darned quick now - particularly when I manage to get a few rounds of the rib going so that the yarn slides smoothly around the needle. If I did this pattern again (and I'll need to for the sleeves), I would likely break my own rule and use double-points rather than two circulars. The lace stitch just doesn't slide easily and that makes for much slower going than I would like.

Who said quickbreads were sweet?

A friend referred me to this recipe in the NYTimes for a savory quickbread. Here's the recipe:

Oil or butter for greasing pan
1 2/3 cups buttermilk or plain yogurt, or 11/2 cups milk and 2 tablespoons white vinegar (see Step 2)
2 1/2 cups (about 12 ounces) whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup molasses.

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 8-by-4-inch or 9-by 5-inch loaf pan, preferably nonstick.

2. If using buttermilk or yogurt, ignore this step. Make soured milk: warm milk gently — 1 minute in the microwave is sufficient, just enough to take the chill off — and add vinegar. Set aside.

3. Mix together dry ingredients. Stir molasses into buttermilk, yogurt or soured milk. Stir liquid into dry ingredients (just enough to combine) then pour into loaf pan. Bake until firm and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before removing from pan.

Yield: 1 loaf.

Lighter Whole Wheat Quick Bread: Use 1 1/2 cups whole wheat and 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; omit cornmeal. Substitute honey for molasses. Beat 1 egg into wet ingredients in Step 3. Proceed with recipe.

You can find the article by Mark Bittman here. As simple and easy as this recipe looks, I'll likely give it a try tonight or tomorrow. There's buttermilk leftover from waffles and the gnocchi, so I may as well use it up. Few things in life smell more awful than buttermilk gone bad.