Portabella Burgers

An eighty-degree day in mid-October? To the grill we go!

Mushroom burgers have always seemed wimpy to me -- a cop-out to a wonderfully rare and juicy beef burger.

But Bean wanted to grill today, and the urge for a burger strikes me in slow intervals. The urge for mushrooms, however? ALL OF THE TIME.

1. Boil some kale that a dear roommate has in surplus.

2. Crack open some goat cheese

3. Put a giant portabella, doused with olive oil, garlic and salt, on the grill for five or six minutes.

4. When you flip the mushroom, put the intended bun on the grill; flip after around three minutes.

5. After five minutes (or so) of second-side cook-time: take everything off!

It is imperative that you assemble all of the ingredients at once after cooking, and then promptly mow down.

1. Spread goat cheese on top (toasted) bun

2. Lay kale on bottom bun

3. Plop on the (flaccid and willing) mushroom

4. Join top and bottom buns

The first (and only previous) time I tried a mushroom burger, it was unsatisfactory, but the heartiness of this might actually pass for a beef patty. And for a mushroom-lover like me, it was many times better!

Goat Cheese Burger

Tuesday grilling!

Burger with a goat cheese & pesto spread, specially mixed by Bean. On the side; grilled mushrooms and spinach, with olive oil and garlic and salt, and a dill pickle from Panera that Dear Morg did not desire.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Spring Grilling

Spring's first grilling! Ears of corn wrapped in foil with onions, butter and garlic, and a burger with cheddar on fresh bread....

What could beat that?!

Stuffed Grape Leaves!

First came the cooking of the Basmati rice, which produced a much greater yield than I expected with a measley half cup of the darn things; they swelled and wriggled to a giant bowlful of aromatic grains.

Then, the chopping of wonderfully complementary vegetables -- mushrooms and tomatoes, of course; my altogether favorites.

All of this boiled with the rice, until it reached a delicious tenderness:

olive oil

leftover fresh coriander

chopped onion

chopped scallion (redundant?)

basil leaves

garlic

salt

And then came the unfurling of the jarred grape leaves.

And the rolling.....

Here they are, all hot side-by-side in their lil' dish:

I'd forgotten that grape leaves have a taste all their own; I was simply using them as a containing mechanism. But their taste reminds me of childhood days when a loud, German man would cook us leaves stuffed with lamb and rice, and tell us tales of the world.

Happy (as a Freakin' Clam)

I still cannot believe I had not cooked seafood for myself until a week ago. I love it so, yet I always viewed it as an "out to eat" commodity. But now there are so many exciting possibilities!

So to begin, I simmered:

~1 c. pinot grigio

chopped parsley

sprinkle o' dill

1 garlic clove, chopped

The dill is surprisingly necessary and apparent in the final product. The only time I've consciously had it was when Dear Moth baked salmon fillets topped with sour cream & dill; a very comforting childhood memory).

When it was a'bubbling, I added (2 cups?) of chopped mushrooms; crimini and shiitake and oyster. Such a scrumptious bunch, they are.

I let them simmer until the sourdough bread that Bean had plans with (he made french toast and fried eggs -- a combination I will never understand) was done. Then I added the clams; precisely one dozen. How many does one person eat? I am at a loss; when I was a child we would race for the last one without having any inkling of what "one serving" was. So I played it by ear.

A study in clams:

Mushroom Stew & Dumplings

Today was a day of wintery doldrums. I yearned to make something that would remind me of the stew my dearest Moth would make for re-heating after a day of pulling brush out in the frigid winter air. She always makes it with our home-grown beef; having none of that, I settled into the usual mostly-vegetables routine.

While Bean and I mulled around the kitchen, I steamed a small bundle o' asparagus. When it was done, it was pureed into the most pleasing of green shades! Next to the vast supply of mushrooms it held its own quite well (see picture).

The next step was to saute:

olive oil

scallions

garlic

and when this was browned (or at some random time) I added a bit of red wine and a massive pile of chopped mushrooms. They came from a 'wild medley' (crimini, oyster, shiitake, etc.), and it excited me very much. I added the asparagus puree, and let this simmer as I mixed up a simple dumpling dough:

3/8 c. flour

oregano, thyme, and garlic

~1/4 c. water

These I dropped (plop!) into the water, and then this all simmered and spat and whined while I cleaned up the kitchen for Ma'am. And then?

A delicious combination of spices! I'm not sure exactly what made this scrumptious to me, but I wish to know for the future. For now it shall remain a mystery.

Cooking for Bean, for real

With the anticipation that last night's dinner-independence brought on, I decided to try my luck with a complete take-over of pizza preparations. The dough, which I have little experience with, was:

1/2 package rapid-rise yeastdissolved in

3/4 c. water

Bean started this when he got home from work (before me), which is the only addition he made to the meal.

When this had activated, I added:

3/4 c. bread flour

3/4 c. white flour

sprinkle cornmeal

sprinkle salt

sprinkle sugar

~ 2 tsp garlic spice mix

2 spanish olives, chopped

a bunch of olive oil

My measurements are lackadaisical, as always (I do apologize). We watched Fawlty Towers and then I added to the top more olives, a tiny mushroom, some basil leaves, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and lastly some freshly-grated Parmesan.

It was so beautiful before it went in; perfectly square and dotted with color.

But my inadequacies with the pizza peel caused the whole thing to tip onto the stone, causing a meltage breakdown in the oven. That's how the finished product ended up more like this:

Garlic Grilled Corn

Summer is ears of corn. We melted some butter, chopped up some garlic, and mixed in salt and pepper. Then we wrapped the drizzled corns in foil and grilled them for about 40 minutes, until they came out hinting of garlic and good weather to come (hopefully).

Mushrooms in Red Wine

There were a lot of mushrooms in the refrigerator threatening to topple into the realm of undesirability, so I cooked up a few for myself in:

butter

red wine

garlic

lemon juice

rosemary

thyme

They came out delicious. No one else in the Sarris house except Dearest Mother enjoys them, though (wimps!).

We also grilled burgers marinated in soy sauce and some other things of which I am unaware, and they were beauteously done.

(Kind of) Burritos

Was hungry hungry today because my class got out at 10 PM. Since, however, I had this avocado to use up, I had to be patient with the meal, but it was pleasing as ever to concoct alone in the kitchen -- it never ceases to be relaxing.

So!

This made two tiny burritos. I mashed up all of these ingredients in a bowl:

1/4 avocado

1/4 c. pinto beans (mashed)

1/2 c. white rice

scoop of salsa

red pepper flakes

garlic

salt

I also had pita pockets in the fridge, so I carefully sliced one in half (which turned out to the most difficult part of the meal) and wrapped the burritos in them. Then I fried them in a pan with Simon's leftover fried egg butter and some cooking spray. They were hot and GOOD.

Keep in mind that this is how burritos must be assembled:

Thai Try

Simon has been suggesting we attempt to make something Thai like for weeks now, so today we went to the store and bought tons of fresh vegetables and some basil leaves and chicken and went to town.

We started by sautéing some:

olive oil

garlic

basil leaves

red pepper

scallions

and then added

diced chicken breast

broccoli

asparagus

soy sauce

red pepper flakes

and side by side we steamed

spinach

broccoli

tomatoes

And then, finally, we added rice to the mix and proceeded to place it inside of us.

A Salad.

For this salad, we fried a diced chicken breast in:

olive oil

butter

basil

garlic

lemon juice

and then added:

tomatoes

baby spinach

cucumbers

feta cheese

and then drizzled the leftover frying mixture over the top for dressing. The plan was to put this mixture in a wrap, but I was more in the mood for a simple salad, and it was fresh and delish.