Friday, December 01, 2006
you can stuff your sorries in a sack, mister.
i finally got around to making that stuffed mushroom recipe i talked about before. the past few days i wasn't able to do it because things came up (i didn't have the cream cheese or we went to happy hour and got home too late to want to cook, etc). i knew we had to use the sausage because it had been sitting in the fridge now for a few days defrosted. so last night was the night.
while cavin was sautéing the sausage, i was working on another food project that we will eventually make saturday or sunday. (thank god today is friday. i’ve been working 9.5-10 hour days almost every day this week!) it’s our first foray into molly steven’s all about braising cookbook that i picked up a few weeks ago.
there are quite a few recipes that i was tempted to try, but i want to try them exactly as written first, before i go changing the recipe, which is bound to happen. while we were at h-mart the other week, i picked up some pork belly and it had been patiently defrosting in the fridge. there are two pork belly recipes in all about braising: red-cooked pork belly with bok choy; and braised pork belly with turnips. after reading the red-cooked pork belly recipe, i realized that the ingredients were exactly the same as those i use in the rock-candy ginger short ribs i just made for thanksgiving (star anise, cinnamon, sugar, soy sauce, sherry) but in different proportions. so, there was really no need to make it again. thus, the decision to try the other recipe was already made for me.
to be honestly ignorant, i don’t think i’ve ever had turnips. i know what they look like – to me they look like a larger version of the radish, only white and purple. i’m not the biggest fan of the radish (we had so many radishes leftover from our csa, i felt bad – cavin would try to sneak them into a stir-fry every now and then), and because the turnip looks similar to the radish, i assumed that they would be similar in taste as well. i guess after this weekend i’ll know if i like turnips or not.
anyway, the recipe calls for the pork belly to marinate in a dry rub for 1-2 days. here’s the dry rub (for about 1.5-2 lbs. pork belly, boneless, skin-on):
while cavin was sautéing the sausage, i was working on another food project that we will eventually make saturday or sunday. (thank god today is friday. i’ve been working 9.5-10 hour days almost every day this week!) it’s our first foray into molly steven’s all about braising cookbook that i picked up a few weeks ago.
there are quite a few recipes that i was tempted to try, but i want to try them exactly as written first, before i go changing the recipe, which is bound to happen. while we were at h-mart the other week, i picked up some pork belly and it had been patiently defrosting in the fridge. there are two pork belly recipes in all about braising: red-cooked pork belly with bok choy; and braised pork belly with turnips. after reading the red-cooked pork belly recipe, i realized that the ingredients were exactly the same as those i use in the rock-candy ginger short ribs i just made for thanksgiving (star anise, cinnamon, sugar, soy sauce, sherry) but in different proportions. so, there was really no need to make it again. thus, the decision to try the other recipe was already made for me.
to be honestly ignorant, i don’t think i’ve ever had turnips. i know what they look like – to me they look like a larger version of the radish, only white and purple. i’m not the biggest fan of the radish (we had so many radishes leftover from our csa, i felt bad – cavin would try to sneak them into a stir-fry every now and then), and because the turnip looks similar to the radish, i assumed that they would be similar in taste as well. i guess after this weekend i’ll know if i like turnips or not.
anyway, the recipe calls for the pork belly to marinate in a dry rub for 1-2 days. here’s the dry rub (for about 1.5-2 lbs. pork belly, boneless, skin-on):
1 tsp toasted coriander seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
½ tsp dill seeds
1 ½ tsp coarse salt
i pulled out my trusty mortar & pestle and began grinding everything but the salt, so that the seeds and peppercorns were cracked and blended. then i added the salt and ground it a little bit more. the recipe did not call for cutting the pork belly into cubes or anything, so left them as whole strips (think long rectangular slab) and made sure to rub in the seasoning all over. it’s sitting in the fridge now in a plastic bag, and i plan on marinating it until saturday night or sunday lunch (whenever i can get the darned turnips).
if i remember correctly, i think that the recipe also calls for chopped onion, carrot, and celery, and the braising liquid is chicken stock. the dry rub seemed pretty fragrant, though, cavin and i both thought that it was pretty peppery, so i added a bit more dill and coriander seeds. it seems that this dish will be a pretty light one, considering the fact that i’m using pork belly, but again, i guess we won’t know until after this weekend. i’ll make sure to report back.
ok. back to the mushrooms. of course, we didn’t follow the recipe exactly. the recipe calls for an excess of cream cheese (8 oz. !?!) so we only used about 3 oz. (oh, and we used neufchâtel for less fat). cavin mixed the cooked sausage, sautéed garlic slivers and chopped up mushroom stems, grated parmesan cheese, neufchâtel, and fresh thyme. we opted for no egg, since i thought the cream cheese would act as a fine binder. i added pepper, but no salt, because the parmesan and the sausage were already salty. i should also mention that while cavin was mixing the filling, we put the mushroom caps in a 350F degree oven for about 10 minutes to dry out them out a little.
when everything was mixed, we pulled out the mushrooms, put a few drops of white wine in the caps, and began to stuff them. because of the cheese i was able to mold the filling in the mushrooms so that they weren’t falling all over the place. after we stuffed the 12 oz. container of mushrooms, there was still a lot of filling left. so we did what any other clever cook would do: stuff something else.
earlier in the evening before we got home from work, cavin and i stopped by safeway and picked up green peppers and green zucchini, which were on sale 10lbs. for $10*. i didn’t feel like eating peppers so i sliced a zucchini lengthwise, hollowed it out, and stuffed the halves as well.
we baked it for about 35-40 minutes. we probably could have left them in the oven for another 10 minutes (for the zucchini’s sake), but we were hungry.
i think they turned out pretty well, though i wonder about the neufchâtel. i find that it is more grainier than normal cream cheese or even just fat-free cream cheese. am i wrong? it was a little salty, which i think can be fixed by not adding as much parmesan cheese. i could have probably also added chopped parsley or some other fresh herbs, to lighten up the flavor a little bit. also, i think we could have crumbled the sausage a bit more, because i remember trying to stuff the mushrooms and some of the larger pieces of sausage weren’t fitting properly in the caps.
adding a few drops of the white wine to the caps gave the mushrooms a little moisture, and provided another layer of flavor after biting into the mushroom.
people on epicurious were giving it high fork ratings. if i had followed the recipe exactly, i probably would have only given it 2 forks. 8 oz. cream cheese definitely would have been too much. but after cutting the cream cheese by more than half, i’d give it 3 stars. i’d definitely make it again, and maybe this time try adding chopped sun dried tomatoes as some others noted in their reviews. (ugh. we actually had a jar of sun dried tomatoes in the fridge, except when i opened it up, which i guess i hadn’t done for some months, i was like, ‘what the heck are these things?’ and then i started rationalizing why they looked the way they did, and cavin just looked at me like, hunh?, so i tossed them immediately. we’re usually really good at throwing out stuff in the fridge, but i guess i must have overlooked the tomatoes the last time around.)
ok. so here's what we did (will do in the future):
-cook sausage, garlic, chopped up mushroom stems
-in the meantime, dry out the mushroom caps in a 350F degree oven ~10 minutes
-mix above with 3oz cream cheese (full fat cream cheese), fresh herbs, grated parmesan (and chopped/drained sun dried tomatoes)
-add drops of white wine in each cap
-stuff caps with filling, molding the filling so it doesn't fall over
-add a little oil over the mushrooms
-bake in 350F degree oven for 40 minutes or so
* does this marketing gimmick work? i wonder if people are more inclined to buy more of the product because it is advertised as “10 for 10” instead of just ($1 a lb)...
if i remember correctly, i think that the recipe also calls for chopped onion, carrot, and celery, and the braising liquid is chicken stock. the dry rub seemed pretty fragrant, though, cavin and i both thought that it was pretty peppery, so i added a bit more dill and coriander seeds. it seems that this dish will be a pretty light one, considering the fact that i’m using pork belly, but again, i guess we won’t know until after this weekend. i’ll make sure to report back.
ok. back to the mushrooms. of course, we didn’t follow the recipe exactly. the recipe calls for an excess of cream cheese (8 oz. !?!) so we only used about 3 oz. (oh, and we used neufchâtel for less fat). cavin mixed the cooked sausage, sautéed garlic slivers and chopped up mushroom stems, grated parmesan cheese, neufchâtel, and fresh thyme. we opted for no egg, since i thought the cream cheese would act as a fine binder. i added pepper, but no salt, because the parmesan and the sausage were already salty. i should also mention that while cavin was mixing the filling, we put the mushroom caps in a 350F degree oven for about 10 minutes to dry out them out a little.
when everything was mixed, we pulled out the mushrooms, put a few drops of white wine in the caps, and began to stuff them. because of the cheese i was able to mold the filling in the mushrooms so that they weren’t falling all over the place. after we stuffed the 12 oz. container of mushrooms, there was still a lot of filling left. so we did what any other clever cook would do: stuff something else.
earlier in the evening before we got home from work, cavin and i stopped by safeway and picked up green peppers and green zucchini, which were on sale 10lbs. for $10*. i didn’t feel like eating peppers so i sliced a zucchini lengthwise, hollowed it out, and stuffed the halves as well.we baked it for about 35-40 minutes. we probably could have left them in the oven for another 10 minutes (for the zucchini’s sake), but we were hungry.
i think they turned out pretty well, though i wonder about the neufchâtel. i find that it is more grainier than normal cream cheese or even just fat-free cream cheese. am i wrong? it was a little salty, which i think can be fixed by not adding as much parmesan cheese. i could have probably also added chopped parsley or some other fresh herbs, to lighten up the flavor a little bit. also, i think we could have crumbled the sausage a bit more, because i remember trying to stuff the mushrooms and some of the larger pieces of sausage weren’t fitting properly in the caps.
adding a few drops of the white wine to the caps gave the mushrooms a little moisture, and provided another layer of flavor after biting into the mushroom.
people on epicurious were giving it high fork ratings. if i had followed the recipe exactly, i probably would have only given it 2 forks. 8 oz. cream cheese definitely would have been too much. but after cutting the cream cheese by more than half, i’d give it 3 stars. i’d definitely make it again, and maybe this time try adding chopped sun dried tomatoes as some others noted in their reviews. (ugh. we actually had a jar of sun dried tomatoes in the fridge, except when i opened it up, which i guess i hadn’t done for some months, i was like, ‘what the heck are these things?’ and then i started rationalizing why they looked the way they did, and cavin just looked at me like, hunh?, so i tossed them immediately. we’re usually really good at throwing out stuff in the fridge, but i guess i must have overlooked the tomatoes the last time around.)
ok. so here's what we did (will do in the future):
-cook sausage, garlic, chopped up mushroom stems
-in the meantime, dry out the mushroom caps in a 350F degree oven ~10 minutes
-mix above with 3oz cream cheese (full fat cream cheese), fresh herbs, grated parmesan (and chopped/drained sun dried tomatoes)
-add drops of white wine in each cap
-stuff caps with filling, molding the filling so it doesn't fall over
-add a little oil over the mushrooms
-bake in 350F degree oven for 40 minutes or so
* does this marketing gimmick work? i wonder if people are more inclined to buy more of the product because it is advertised as “10 for 10” instead of just ($1 a lb)...
3 Comments:
My beef is with the same old price being tagged and touted with the little sign that normally indicates a sale price. I mean, come on...the jerk store called and...yeah