Canon Mark II Giveaway

OK Epiphanie is giving away a Canon Mark II camera. I so want this camera.

Check out the site and their lovely bags.

http://www.haveanepiphanie.com/home/2010/2/28/epiphanie-give-away.html

http://www.epiphaniebags.com/#/shop-1/

Stuffed Mushrooms

A couple of weeks ago when I was preparing for a dinner party I went through all the recipes I've pulled from multiple food magazines. As I love mushrooms I pulled an old recipe from April 2003 Gourmet magazine. I adapted it a bit as I was missing a few ingredients and wanted to use the extra pork sausage I had in the frig before it went bad (I hate wasting food).

I made the veggie version for SB and the sausage version for myself. These are very meaty even without the sausage. Whole Foods has some great stuffing type of mushrooms, big cremini's.

3 slices firm white sandwich bread (I toasted mine to make it dry)
2 tabelsppons olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
20 large (2 to 21/2 inches in diameter) white mushrooms (I used Cremini)
2 tbsps unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped (I left this out as I didn't have any of the "must" have staple)
1/4 cup finely chopped celery (I left this out too as I didn't have another "must" have staple)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 oz finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano
1/4 cut chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 400F
Tear bread into pieces and pulse to coarse crumbs in a food processor. Transfer to a bowl and toss with oil, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp pepper. Spread in a shallow baking pan and bake in middle of oven until golden. 6 to 8 minutes. Then transfer to a bowl.

Pull stems from mushroom caps (to create space for stuffing) and finely chop stems (I put these in a food processor and went to town). Put mushroom caps, stemmed sides down, in a lightly oiled large shallow baking pan and bake in middle of oven until mushrooms exude liquid, about 10 minutes, then remove from oven.

While mushroom caps are baking, melt butter in a 12 inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then saute chopped stems, stirring until golden, about 5 minutes. Add onion, celery, garlic, oregano, and remaining 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper and saute, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden, about 5 minutes. Cool vegetable slightly, then add to bread crumbs along with cheese and parsley and toss well.

I browned ground pork sausage and added it to the mixture after I stuffed the veggie mushrooms.

Turn mushroom caps over, then mound mushroom filling in mushroom caps, pressing gently (you will have some filling left over). Bake in middle of oven until mushrooms are tender and stuffing is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Eat while warm, delicious appetizer. I took some left over for lunch and the sausage was even better the day after as the flavors melded well.

Books I've Read - January

I just finished this fascinating book called the Billionaire's Vinegar. It's all about a bottle of wine sold thru Christies that broke auction records. Supposedly it's a bottle that Thomas Jefferson purchased from the Chateau and had engraved with his initials, year and vintage. In 1985 it was sold to Malcolm Forbes for $160K. The story features a few real life collectors and one man, Hardy Rodenstock, who seems to suspiciously stumble upon the oldest bottles of wine. I love wine, but can't say I know much about it. This book was a fascinating journey on what kinds of tasting notes wine specialists make, on Christies and Sotheby's auctions and the people who run them, how to make a 1787 vintage fake wine, then how to test wine to see if its fake (i.e. radation before and after the a-bombs) and why some people collect wine to store in a cellar and others drink it, seriously why wouldn't you drink it. If you love wine you'll enjoy this book immensely. I enjoy a good mystery, love history and am grateful to learn something new anytime I take a week to read a book.


My dear friend Bekah and I like to swap books and she told me I must read the above book. I started it last night and already laughed on Page 2. The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicous Adventures in the World's Most Glorious - and Perplexing - City. David Lebowitz has a funny sense of humor and I love when people can just pick up there lives and move to a new city, foreign one at that. I know I'd have to learn patience if I moved anywhere as things are done so much differently. But that's the charm of it all. I'll share a few snippets as I get further into the book. It has fantastic recipes that have already made me salivate.

Dinner for 10

So this past Sunday a dear friend gave his first Public Talk. 30 minutes in front of about 1oo people. He prayed for a natural disaster to keep him from giving this talk. We had rain last week and hail, but thankfully no natural disaster. As a little gift for he and his lovely wife we had dinner for 10 people in our tiny little apartment. It was enjoyable company in a cozy environment.

I have no pictures as I was too busy cleaning, cooking, pouring drinks and entertaining.

It took SB and I days to figure out what to make but here's our menu for 10:

Appetizer: Ceviche - made with Mahi Mahi, persion cucumbers, tomatos, jalapenos, salt and lots of fresh squeezed lime juice. Served in martini glass with Tostito's scoops to accompany. We're High-low class. Just ordinary folks.

Main Course: Fresh Chicken Breast stuffed with Taleggio cheese (rind trimmed) and wrapped in thin slices of prosciutto. Served with Rice Pilaf and pan roasted asparagus with salt and olive oil. Recipe for Chicken Breasts adapted from Bon Appetit.

Dessert: My friend Caroline provide a delicious Ghirradelli chocolate cake with fresh berries on top. It was perfect.

Drinks were open to wine, beer and good old fashion gin & tonics. It was a lovely evening. Can't wait to entertain again.

Trees

This recent storm seems to mimic my life. While I want to hibernate I'm forced out into the elements. I miss baking, photographing and traveling. I've watch Julie and Julia twice and wished I had a better situation myself these days.

I have always had an infinity towards trees, maybe it's the lonely nature of a tree or the big textured trunks that branches off into these leaf wonderful shapes. When I was in New Mexico recently my Dad showed me a painting he was working on. Yes he's finally doing what he loves. I almost gasped because it was a tree, barky textured cottonwood tree. I swear I've drawn that tree a million times. So this post is dedicated to the tree. Here are few of my favorites.