Portobello Mushrooms!

I thought I would share last night's dinner with you.  Last night's dinner was intended to be Sunday's dinner.  But, it rained all day Sunday and Mr. McGhee wasn't in the mood to stand outside in the rain and cook.  So instead, Mr. McGhee and I stayed inside and watched this out the window.

This is our boy minis, outside in the pouring rain, jumping from the top of their swingset and trying to use an umbrella as a parachute.  Sometimes I wonder if my boy minis are really smart.  Or really....errr.....not smart.

Meanwhile, my tiny girl mini was inside doing this.

So, Mr. McGhee and I decided we weren't cooking, and packed up the minis and went out to eat instead.  And that's how Sunday's dinner became Monday's dinner.

We had gone to the farmer's market on Saturday and bought two beautiful portobello mushrooms.  I love the meatiness and earthiness of portobellos, so I was pretty excited to try grilling them.  I decided to try them two different ways, one following a recipe from Bobby Flay's cookbook and one of my own.  

Here's Bobby Flay's recipe for marinated grilled portobello mushrooms.

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• pinch of red chile flakes
• 1 tbsp finely chopped thyme leaves
• 2 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley leaf
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• kosher salt and ground black pepper
• 8 portobello mushrooms
• 1/4 cup canola oil

1.  Heat grill to medium.

2.  Whisk together vinegar, mustard, garlic, red chile flakes, thyme and parsley.  Slowly whisk the olive oil until emulsified.  Season with salt and pepper.  Store in fridge for up to 4 hours.

3.  Brush both sides of mushrooms with canola oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place mushrooms on the grill, cap side down, and grill  until golden brown and slightly charred, 4 to 5 minutes.  Turn the mushrooms over and continue grilling until just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes longer.

4.  Remove the mushrooms from the grill and cut into 1/2 inch thick slices.  Place the mushrooms in a large bowl, add the marinade, and toss to coat.  Let marinate at room temp for 30 minutes before serving.  Mushrooms can be stored for up to 4 hours in fridge before serving.

Assemble your ingredients for the marinade.

Slowly add your oil.  Fridge for up to 4 hours.  DO NOT put mushrooms in marinade until after they are cooked.

Remove the stem.

Coat with oil and season.

Toss on the grill, cap side down.

Flip and cook the other side.

Slice mushroom.  

Toss mushrooms in marinade and let sit for 30 minutes.

I thought these were very good.  Mr. McGhee didn't love them, he said he preferred my shrooms over Bobby's.  Smart man.

Heids McGhee's pesto portobello  

• portobello mushroom, stem removed
• canola oil
• salt and pepper
• pesto
• goat cheese

1.  Brush both sides of mushrooms with canola oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place mushrooms on the grill, cap side down, and grill  until golden brown and slightly charred, 4 to 5 minutes.  

2.  Turn the mushrooms over and smear top of the mushroom with pesto and spinkle with goat cheese.  Grill an additional 4-5 minutes.

3.  I served these with fresh garden tomato slices on the side.

Remove the stem.

Brush both sides with canola oil and season with salt and pepper.

Grill, cap side down for 4-5 minutes.

Flip over and smear pesto and goat cheese slices on top.  Grill an additional 4-5 minutes.

These were delish.  You could eat these alongside a grilled steak or chicken breast, or they could easily stand alone as the main dish.  

Celebrate!!!!!

Years ago, Mr. McGhee and I lived in the Windy City.  We had a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom, zero closet apartment that was smack dab in the Little Italy neighborhood.  Mr. McGhee was a student and I was working for a large pharmaceutical company.  We call those my "real job" years.  Thank God they only lasted two and a half years before I had a baby, stopped working, and we started our "broke as hell" years. 

Anyway, we had a favorite restaurant that we could only afford to go to on very special occasions, like when Mr. McGhee had a 4-hour graduation ceremony that I spent nervously trying to soothe our screaming 3 month old and stressing because I wasn't sure if it was legal to breastfeed in public or not, all while listening to a commencement speaker talk about "be the best you that you can be".  Well, sonofa "b", the best I could be that day was a frazzled, overtired, and overwhelmed new mom that wanted two things....garlic and wine.

So, occasionally I try to recreate those celebratory meals.  Yesterday, Mr. McGhee was very stressed out from a 12 hour day at work, and I had a trip to Target with the minis and only bought what was on my shopping list.  Yeah!  Two reasons to celebrate (in all honesty, I did buy 7 things that weren't on my shopping list, but they were from the dollar spot, and everyone knows that purchases from the dollar spot really don't count as purchases, they're principle buys!)  And we weren't celebrating Mr. McGhee's day, rather than celebrating that he made it home in time to eat and help put the minis to bed. 

The first course for dinner was garlic and bread.  I made my own bread following a recipe that came with my bread machine.  If you don't want to make your own, buy a loaf that's nice and crusty. 

Classic French Bread

• 1 cup + 1 tbsp warm water
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 1/4 cups bread flour (*gasp*  I used white flour.  Hey, it's Saturday night and we're celebrating)
• 1 tsp bread machine yeast

1.  Add ingredients according to your bread machine's instructions.
2.  Bake. 

In my opinion, this is not the best bread I have ever had, but that doesn't matter.  Wait until you see what goes on top of the bread.

Roasted Garlic

• whole garlic bulb
• olive oil

1.  Cut 1/4 to 1/2 inch off the top of a whole garlic bulb.
2.  Place bulb cut side up in a custard cup or other oven-safe dish and drizzle with olive oil.
3.  Cover with foil and bake at 400F for 25 minutes.
4.  Cool and gently squeeze the base of the bulb to push out the roasted cloves.
5.  Mash on a plate.  You can add additional olive oil and fresh grated Parmesan cheese.  Just don't lick the plate.  That is frowned on in most households.  In our house, you can lick the plate.  We don't judge. 

Cut the top of the garlic out.  Pick out any brownish-looking garlic cloves.

Here is the roasted garlic.  At this point, your house should smell ah-may-zing.

Squeeze the cloves onto the plate.....

.....mash and add olive oil and grated Parmesan, if you prefer.  I did one with, one without.  Both got devoured.

Are you thinking, "Oh. My. Heids McGhee, you have outdone yourself?"  I am sure you are because last night I was thinking the same thing.  But, guess what?  I've got more.

Tomato Bruschetta

• 6 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, stems removed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1.  Add all ingredients in order listed.

2.  Enjoy with bread.  Tell yourself you are awesome.  Because you really are.  I am too.

The bread, garlic, bruschetta combo is an amazing start to dinner.  But, I don't like to stop at amazing.  I prefer to aim for incredible.  Plus, I had leftover basil and I wanted to see if it was physically possible to make dinner for 5 using 3 whole bulbs of garlic.  So I made my personal favorite appetizer, stuffed mini sweet peppers.

Stuffed mini sweet peppers

• 15-20 mini sweet peppers
• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 1/4 cup goat cheese (you can substitute mozzarella, but I don't know why you would want to)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 2 tbsp diced sun dried tomatoes
• salt and pepper

1. Cut the tops off the peppers and clean out the seeds.
2. In a bowl, mix cream cheese and goat cheese.
3. Add garlic, basil, sun dried tomatoes, salt and pepper.
4. Using a small spoon, fill the mini pepper with the mixture.
5. OPTIONAL: brush peppers with olive oil and bake/broil for 5-10 minutes until pepper is soft. 

Do yourself a favor and make lots of these.  Stick the leftovers in the fridge and cut them up to put in scrambled eggs. 

The main course of dinner last night was sauteed mushrooms.  Oh wait, I think there was a steak under those mushrooms, but the mushrooms were definitely the star.

Sauteed Mushrooms

3 Tablespoons Butter (or olive oil)
16 ounces, weight White Mushrooms, Sliced
1/3 cup Sherry Or Wine
Kosher Salt And Pepper To Taste

 
1.   Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large skillet and add sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2.  Saute over medium-high heat for 2 minutes, then pour in sherry. Add salt and pepper.
3.  Continue cooking for 6 to 8 minutes, or until all liquid is evaporated.

The key to these mushrooms is the sherry.  I will never eat mushrooms that are not sauteed in sherry again.  In fact, I bought a bottle of sherry to keep in my purse for when I eat out.  If I know you in real life and walk up to you and hand you a bottle of sherry,that means, "I love you and I don't want you eating crappy mushrooms."

We had our mushrooms over a grass-fed NY strip steak, but to be honest, I would have devoured these mushrooms if they had been on an over-processed slice of bologna.

And there you go, next time you have something to celebrate in life, you've got your menu already planned!  My wish for you is that you can find something in each day to celebrate.

K-sah-dil-lias and OMG!!!!!BROILED GRAPEFRUIT!!!

I told you that I went to the doctor for a physical the other day.  Now, I know that getting your blood taken and analyzed isn't a competition, but if it were, I am practically an Olympian.  Even Mr. McGhee was postively gushing when he rolled his eyes and mumbled "well, you're doing something right."  So, yeah me! 

Last night's dinner was delish, so I have to share it with you.  I got the recipe from the Pioneer Woman, which is a blog I have followed for years.  The Pioneer Woman always has amazing recipes and photographs, plus she homeschools her minis and lives on a ranch with her husband, who is a cowboy.  Oh yeah, and she is hysterically funny.  In comparison, I ship my minis off to school so I can take crappy pictures of my simple recipes.  I live in a Wisteria Lane-esque subdivision with Mr. McGhee, who is not a cowboy.  Pioneer Woman has a tv show.  I have an audience in my head that I speak to all day.  Now you understand why I follow Pioneer Woman. 

Spinach and Mushroom Quesadilia (I am assuming Pioneer Woman calls these k-sah-dee-yahs.  In the McGhee household, these are k-sah-dil-lias." 

3 Tablespoons Butter

16 ounces, weight White Mushrooms, Sliced

1/3 cup Sherry Or Wine

3 Tablespoons (additional) Sherry Or Wine

Kosher Salt And Pepper To Taste

1 bag Baby Spinach

12 whole Flour Tortillas (Soft Taco Size)

8 ounces, weight Fontina (or Monterey Jack) Cheese, Grated

3 ounces, weight Goat Cheese (chevre)

Extra Butter, For Tortillas

Salsa, For Serving

1.  Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large skillet and add sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then saute over medium-high heat for 2 minutes, then pour in sherry. Add salt and pepper. Continue cooking for 6 to 8 minutes, or until all liquid is evaporated. Remove mushrooms from skillet and set aside.

2.  Return skillet to stovetop and reduce heat to medium-low. Melt additional 1 tablespoons of butter and add a couple of tablespooons of sherry. Add spinach to skillet and stir gently as it wilts. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then cook for 2 minutes, max. Remove from skillet.

3.  To assemble the quesadillas, arrange grated Fontina, spinach, and mushrooms on top of one flour tortilla. Dot with goat cheese. Top with a little more Fontina, then top with second tortilla. Smear softened butter lightly on both sides of the quesadilla, then grill until golden brown and until cheese is totally melted. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.
Slice quesadillas into four wedges and serve immediately.

*sidenote* I did not smear my tortillas with butter.  In fact, I mainly used olive oil in place of butter in the recipe.  Next time, I think I will use butter-flavored grapeseed oil.   

Resist all temptation to eat entire pan of mushrooms.  I will never EVER EVER make sliced mushrooms again for anything without adding sherry.  Oh. My. Delish.

Delish.  And nobody here will judge you if you enjoy your quesadilia with a bottle glass of Malbec. 

Today I got home from spin class (remember, I'm a biker....you know, the hard-core type that rides a stationary bike indoors) and was postively starving.  I remembered a recipe I have been dying to try for broiled grapefruit. 

• grapefruit, cut in half
• honey
• plain, greek yogurt
• chopped walnuts
• unsweetened shredded coconut
• cinnamon

1.  Preheat Broiler.
2.  Place grapefruit halves on foil-lined baking sheet and drizzle with small amount of honey.
3.  Broil 6 minutes until golden.
4.  Top with yogurt, wanuts, coconut, and cinnamon.

Before, drizzled with honey.

After.  Oh. My. Delish.

Um, hello fancy schmancy Heids McGhee?!?!?  I don't know any stuck up rich people, but if I did....I would totally say, "Hey, want to come over for breakfast?  We are having broiled grapefruit."  Until I find some rich stuck up people, I will just share my grapefruit with people I love....I live a blessed life full of those!