Wild Lobster Mushrooms

 Last yr. I bought one of these monsters at the local farmers market. I didn't know a thing about them and just treated it like any mushroom I would buy in the store. I sauteed some in scrambled eggs for breakfast. It was awful, they were not soft at all. I swore I wouldn't waste my money on them again. That one mushroom cost me $3. That's a lot to waste.

Since then Ive been going mushrooming with a friend. Last yr. we got a few corals, lots of Chantrelles and some Boletes. I loved them. I dried them all last yr to use in winter soups and stews.

And so this yr my friend and I went early to see whats out there. I love wandering her farm, hiking thru the woods, finding all sorts of plants and tracking animals too. We went for Oyster mushrooms but I guess they are gone now.....but we found lots of Lobster mushrooms. I wasn't going to take any, remembering my experience with them last yr. But since we were out there I would get some to play with at least. I figure it was no loss if I didn't like them still.

That is my fist, to give a comparison of size.

And so I got quite a few in my basket and along the way back picked a bunch of wild blackberries too. I pick as many as I can of those too while the season lasts and freeze them for canning and baking thru the yr.  I took these mushrooms home and was trying to decide what to do with them There's conflicting advice out there whether to saute and freeze or dry. But I had quite a few and just decided to dry them. It was getting late and I still had to make dinner.  After I cleaned them, I sliced them about 1/4in. thick and dried them.

My bf decided he wanted Alfredo that nite for dinner since I mentioned it earlier to him. I had one chicken breast in the fridge. I had some reg. store mushrooms too and was just going to use that.......then I remembered the Lobster ones. I thought this would be a really good time to play with them. So I took about the equivalent of one big one out and re-hydrated it back to life.

There is no recipe for what I made, just a bit of this and that. But Ill post it here for those who wish to play. I put butter in a saute pan and cut up the chicken breast into bite size pieces. I sauteed that till golden. Then I tossed in more butter, this time much more because I know mushrooms absorb it. I drained the Lobster mushrooms and tossed them in. I let them saute very slowly in the butter while I sliced the store bought ones. I also sliced two garlic cloves very very thin. When the Lobsters were soft, I tossed the reg. mushrooms and garlic in with them and let it slowly absorb all the flavors of butter and chicken and cook and get all mellow.

I tasted them and they were heavenly, I could have eaten them just like that. I tossed the chicken in one more time. While all this was going on I had water for the pasta going. When the pasta was cooked, I drained it. I poured cream into the mushroom mixture and stirred it around. I added the pasta right to the pan with the mushrooms then and stirred it up again to coat well. Added a bit of s & p and some fresh chopped parsley. Put it on our plates and topped with Parmesan cheese.

Dinner was to die for. 
For more info try these links: 
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/hypomyces_lactifluorum.html
http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/

As with any wild thing........please do not pick if your not familiar with one that wont hurt you. Go with an expert, be safe!

Teriyaki Pork Chops with Chinese Sesame Peanut Butter Noodles

I made spaghetti the other nite and ended up with some leftover pasta. I  could have put the leftover sauce on it but when I do that nobody eats it. So I saved the sauce for another meal. I hated to toss out that pasta tho so I put it in a plastic bag with the intention of using it the next day or so. Then I remembered a Chinese noodle dish a friend made many yrs ago. I loved it.

And so I started looking online for something like it. I knew I could use this spaghetti in place of oriental noodles. And I knew it had some peanut butter in it, also veggies. I found one or two I liked but it had no meat in it. I wanted a whole meal. I searched in my freezer and found two pork chops. And so I decided to make Teriyaki sauce for those. But it was getting late and I had no time to marinate them.

I heated up the marinade to blend the flavors, then poured some over the chops. I decided to bake them in the marinade. I didn't have time to BBQ and I didn't want to watch the broiler or fry them on top of the stove. I figured baking them in the marinade would infuse them with the flavor and help evaporate it too, into a sauce. I still had to make the noodle dish and I wasn't sure yet how that would come about. Baking the chops left my hands free for the rest. It actually was a good idea. By the time the chops where half done, I had all the veggies chopped and figured out how I was going to make the sauce. And so this recipe will be for two but you could easily double it or more. I will say it was the bomb! And the heat from the pepper flakes was just right......you knew there was heat but it didn't overwhelm the other flavors.

Teriyaki Pork Chops with Chinese Sesame Peanut Butter Noodles   Serves 2.

First make the Teriyaki sauce:
    1/3 cup mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine) ( didn't have this but I did have my ginger preserved in a jar with dry sherry and used some of this liquid instead)
    1/2 cup soy sauce
    3tb. rice vinegar
    1 tb. sesame oil
    1 tb. honey
    3-4 cloves garlic, minced
    1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
    1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
    1/2c. orange juice

 Put in a microwaveable container and heat for 2min. on high. You could also bring to a boil and simmer a few min. on the stove. This is to start to infuse the flavors into the liquids. Set aside.

I used two pork chops because its what I had on hand. You could just marinate pork or chicken strips in some of this marinade if you wish and stir fry quickly. Because I decided this late, I wanted a quick meal. So I put the chops into a baking pan, poured about 1/3 of the mixture over them and baked them in a 400 degree oven. By the time they are half done, you will be ready to make the noodle mixture.

 While the pork is baking, chop up your veggies.

Noodle mixture:

About 2c. of precooked spaghetti (leftover is perfect for this)

As much of any veggie you would like to use. I used half of a broccoli crown, chopped, 4 mushrooms chopped, 1/2 of a small red onion , sliced thinly and one carrot shaved into strips with my veggie peeler. You could also add peas, snow peas, green onion, peppers, bean sprouts, or anything else you might have around. Its a good way to use up leftovers and bits of things. The ratio of noodles to veggies is about 1/3 veggies to 2/3 noodles. Its not meant to be a veggie dish but of course you could do that if you wish.

Also 1/4c. peanut butter. Recipes seem to call for smooth but I had organic crunchy here and I liked it. Little bits of nuts throughout the mix were delish. :)

First take remainder of marinade and add the peanut butter. Again put in microwave for two minutes to melt the peanut butter and make it easier to whisk into the sauce. Taste this. I found my peanut butter took away some of the sweetness so I added a tsp. of sugar to it to balance it. Since this was fresh organic butter that may have had something to do with it so taste and adjust to what you think you would like. However you don't want it really sweet, just a hint.

 Then chopped veggies. Better to do this all at once so the stir fry goes quickly. Once these are chopped, check pork chops. They should be about half done by now and browning nicely. Take out of oven and turn them over and return to oven till the noodle mix is done.

Add a tb or so of vegetable oil in a pan. I have a stir fry wok pot but you could use a fry pan too. Get the oil really hot then add the broccoli. Stir and let cook a minute. Then add the carrot strips and cook 2 min. more. 

 Add the onions and mushrooms since these don't need as much time to cook. ( here's where you would add snow peas, peas, sprouts, peppers, etc. since they don't take long to cook). If it looks like it might need a bit more oil, add it. Mushrooms absorb it fast. Cook till mushrooms look like they are starting to shrink. Then add pasta and stir well to heat thru. 

 Put the rest of the marinade with the peanut butter on the noodle mix and stir in well and heat thru till sauce thickens. Check the chops, they should be done about now unless they were thick ones.

To serve, put some noodle mix on a plate and top with chopped cilantro (or green onion if you like). Top with pork chop and any juices in the pan. 

The Stuffed Shells Story

Years ago when I was first married, my mother in law used to make Stuffed Shells. I never heard of these before. And so I asked her how do you make them? I wanted to learn since my new husband loved them. She told me how to make the stuffing and to buy large pasta shells. And so that's what I did.

I made my homemade spaghetti sauce and proceeded to put this together. I sat there stuffing over 100 shells. Took me all afternoon and I thought to myself.......these people are nuts. I'm never making this again! And so I finished the recipe and presented them to hubby. Of course he loved them, and I said good!, cuz I AM NEVER MAKING THESE THINGS AGAIN! Who stuffs over 100 shells for a meal unless your feeding an army?

And so the story got told to his mother because she wanted to know how they turned out. She laughed and I got upset. You see this lil Polish/Hungarian  girl never heard of Stuffed Shells before this and didn't know they also made JUMBO SHELLS. That's what I should have used! lol So once I found them in the store, the recipe finally made sense to me. That was 40 yrs. ago,  Ive made it often thru the yrs.

These can be made and frozen before or after cooking. They usually make a lot so its good you can freeze them. Unless you were having a houseful of people, you're going to have leftovers!

Italian Stuffed Shells

1 box of JUMBO pasta shells
1 lb. of mozzarella cheese
2lb. ricotta cheese
S & P
2 eggs
A couple tbsp. chopped parsley
Grated Romano cheese
Parmesan cheese
Your favorite spaghetti sauce, homemade or not but homemade is better

Cook pasta shells till al dente. Cook them too long and they fall apart. You want them done but still with a bit of bite to them. Drain and let cool.

Meanwhile make the stuffing. Cut up the mozzarella cheese into cubes about 1/2 in. Some folks shred the cheese on a grater and you certainly can do that but we like chunks of melty cheese in these better. Put into lg. bowl with ricotta. I used part skim but it doesn't matter what kind you use. 

Chop some parsley, I do about 2-3tb. You will be tasting this so if you feel it needs more when you taste add it but I start with this. Add S & P. I add alot of pepper but go ez on the salt since the grated Romano adds alot. I buy a big chunk of Romano and freshly grate it but you can buy what you want. We use it alot so I always have a chunk around here. I would say start with about a 1/2c. and mix it in, then taste. You want it to have flavor but not be salty or bland. You need to add enough of the things to the mix so that it is not bland.  

 When its to your taste, add the eggs and beat in well. Take each shell and stuff till full. I use one lg. soup spoon and one big scoop is usually enough. The shells are ez to fill if you squeeze them gently from end to end. They are a bit like those old fashioned coin purses that you squeezed to open. Place shells in lg. baking pan. It will fill a 13 x 9 pan with some leftover. Just put them in a smaller pan. Pour spaghetti sauce over to just cover. You will use the rest when you serve these. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Cover with foil.

Bake at 350 till hot and bubbly about 30min. or so. These are quite filling so a serving of 4 is plenty for most people. Top with hot spaghetti sauce and serve.

Sometimes I make this in two smaller pans and freeze one unbaked for another meal. I also roughly cut up any broken cooked shells and toss them in the pan before I put the sauce on. They cant be filled but they are still pasta, so why waste them?

SPINACH, CHICKEN AND TORTELLINI SOUP

This is one of those quick but delicious soups. I like to make this when Im in a hurry and dont have much time to make a quick dinner. This with a nice loaf of crusty bread with butter and its a meal. You can substitute small ravioli in this too. I use whatever I have on hand. If this soup has to sit for awhile, I would cook the pasta separate and add it when I serve the soup. Otherwise the pasta absorbs alot of the broth and it becomes very thick.

SPINACH, CHICKEN AND TORTELLINI SOUP Serves 4-6 main dish servings

2 lg. cloves garlic, minced

1 lg. onion, sliced

1c. sliced celery

1tb. oil

4c. chicken broth

2 whole chicken breasts, (bones ok and will add more flavor, you debone and shred it later)

1 pkg. (10oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1/2tsp. oregano

24 frozen mini cheese ravioli OR tortellini

1/2 tsp. salt - pepper to taste

In lg. pot saute garlic, onion and celery in the oil till golden. Add broth,and chicken breasts then cover and poach till breasts are done. Remove and let cool. Add spinach and oregano and cook over med heat about 5min. Add 1c. more of water and ravioli to the pot. Cover and cook till ravioli are done. While cooking ravioli, shred cooled chicken. Add to pot with s & p. Serve hot with grated Romano cheese on top and with a nice crusty loaf of sourdough or Italian bread. YUM!

BAKED ZITI CASSEROLE

My bf has a cold so the other nite I decided to make something Italian. If your Jewish then where I come from we call chicken soup Jewish penicillin. (Don't attack me now for saying that, I grew up with Jewish kids in NJ. geez) In my house when your sick I cook something Italian that has lots of tomato sauce whether its spaghetti sauce or something using it and we call it Italian penicillin. You see it works! Everytime I do that and they eat it a couple days ,they get better fast. Tomatoes have lots of vit. C in it. So today I decided to post my blog recipe for what I made for dinner the other nite.
I made Baked Ziti.

The first time I made this was for my in-laws 40 Anniversary party that I catered at their house for them. My in-laws were full blooded Italian and they knew good food. The whole family was raving over this , they couldn't believe how good it was. I laughed and said it took a lil Polish girl like me to teach all you Italians how to make it right!!
So here it is..........

BAKED ZITI CASSEROLE Serves 8

1 lb. ziti pasta
1 container (1lb.) ricotta cheese
1 lb. mozzarella cheese, diced
1/2 c. grated Parmesan ( I use Romano cuz mom in law did)
1 egg
3/4 tsp. salt- 1/4 tsp. pepper (you could use more, to taste)
6c. homemade spaghetti meat sauce

Cook Ziti and drain, following label directions. While pasta is cooking, make filling. Combine ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, S & P in a large bowl. Layer ziti, filling and meat sauce in a 13 x 9 x 2 in. baking pan, starting and ending with meat sauce. Bake in moderate oven (350) 40 min. or till bubbly hot.

This is like lasagna but without all the work. I frequently make a quicky meat sauce from Classico Tomato w/Basil sauce. It tastes just like tomatoes I used to can from my garden.

You can add more of different cheeses if you like, Ive added domestic provolone to the others when I didn't have enough of mozzarella. Also my in laws always used Locatelli Romano cheese on all their spaghetti type things. Its a bit stronger tasting and we love it. Sometimes I don't even layer this I just mix it all up in a huge bowl, add some of the sauce , plop it in the pan then top with more cheese and sauce. Its pretty forgiving.

I promised the bf leftovers the next nite but I made ribs instead cuz I didn't have room in my freezer for them. He was disappointed. I guess that's what he will get tonite then Pssssssssst btw I didnt have any ziti in the house so I used rigatoni. You can see that in the picture.