Super Fast Mushrooms in Minced Garlic and Parsley

I promise this will be quick. This is one of those lame recipes which when brought to the dinner table has the personality to rub shoulders with your gorgeous main. Pair it with our centrepiece chicken roast or baked cauliflower, even your toasty baguette, and you will have a winner!

After the scintillating debut this dish made to our dinner table the other day, with about just a pound of Swiss brown mushrooms, the husband got all enthusiastic and got one kilo of white and brown mushrooms for two and a half people!

Yes, the baby ate it too and quite enjoyed sucking on the garlic sauce from the quartered mushrooms we gave her.

Ingredients for Mushrooms in Minced Garlic and Parsley are:

500 grams of any variety of small mushrooms, stalks removed, cleaned
1 pod of garlic cloves, peeled and minced
Handful of fresh, flat-leaf parsley, minced
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoons good-quality olive oil
Freshly cracked black pepper
Salt

In a pan or wok, heat the butter and the olive oil together. Add the minced garlic and parsley to the oil-butter. Let them sauté for a minute or two, make sure you don’t burn the garlic.

Now add the mushrooms face down if you are making about a pound. Make sure some of the garlic and parsley also goes inside the hollow of the mushrooms. You can also mince the garlic and parsley together, so that the flavours get married to each other right on your chopping board.

Let the mushrooms get some color from the butter-olive oil in the pan for the next 2-3 minutes. Then stir fry them on high heat for another couple of minutes.

Season with salt and pepper. Stir again. You will see the natural juices of the garlic and parsley bubbling at the bottom of the pan. That’s when you know you ought to turn the heat off and stop cooking the mushrooms.

Serve the Mushrooms in Minced Garlic and Parsley immediately. You can even serve this as an appetizer in a party. Just stick fruit picks in each mushroom and have the beautiful platter go around.

I had leftovers the next day and I used them to make a mushroom soup in chicken broth, with boiled and shredded chicken and tofu. There was no need for seasoning either. It was that good.

Herb, Cheese & Garlic-Baked Cauliflower

There is nothing primal about baking a cauliflower with cheese and herbs and garlic. But it makes a pretty good dinner.

So here is a quick recipe from my kitchen, something that was literally created with some leftover ingredients lying in the fridge. Like the fresh parsley from Maria’s Piri-Piri Chicken and all that cheese from LMN’s birthday party.

I got a beautiful head of cauliflower from the Farmer’s Market for just two dollars. And instead of making my rather favourite Chingri-Phulkopi, I baked it with whatever was at home!

Ingredients for Herb, Cheese & Garlic-Baked Cauliflower are:

1 medium size head of cauliflower, trim leaves and outer stems
Half to one cup grated cheese (I used a mix of grated Parmesan, Mozzarella and Cheddar)
Handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped + one more tablespoon chopped leaves + few stems for decoration
5-6 fat cloves of garlic, peel on (Use more, I regret not throwing in a whole pod!)
Juice of half a lime/lemon
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Freshly cracked black pepper
Salt

Pre-heat oven to 350°F.

Place the beautiful-looking head of cauliflower on a pie dish (or use a baking sheet).

Crack black pepper directly on the cauliflower. Season with salt.

Tuck in stems of parsley in the space between the flowerets.

Now heap the grated cheese and chopped fresh parsley on the cauliflower.  Throw in the unpeeled cloves of garlic too.

Drizzle olive oil covering the cauliflower and garlic cloves.

Bake for an hour.

In a glass jar or bottle add the remaining fresh parsley and pound with a wooden pestle. Add the EVOO and lemon juice. Mix and keep.

When the cauliflower is ready, drizzle the EVOO and parsley dressing all over, covering the cauliflower and the baked garlic.

Cut chunks of the baked cauliflower and serve. Taste the roasted, creamy, sweet garlic with each bite of the baked cauliflower. Enjoy with a baguette and a glass of good white.

Maria’s Piri-Piri Chicken, Very-Very Good!

If you have a family recipe like Maria’s, it ought to be shared and talked about. Maria is my kind and affable butcher lady in downtown TO. Kensington Market to be precise. If you are looking for the best personalized cuts in town, visit Kensington Meat Shop.

(Maria getting ready a leg of goat for me)

Maria loves food. Its obvious from the way she will explain to you about many traditional recipes she has grown up with. The Piri-Piri Chicken which she shared with me, among many other of her customers is one such family treasure.

Piri-Piri means “hot”. So if you are in for a little taste adventure, I’d say, try this recipe soon and get your butcher to cut and open up a whole chicken just like Maria did it for me.

Here is Maria’s recipe, handwritten by her for you! I of course measured everything and used it for her recipe.

Ingredients for Maria’s Piri-Piri Chicken are:

1 cup red wine, I used Merlot
I whole chicken, with skin, cleaned, scored and opened up to lay flat on the surface (about 1.25 kg is ideal)
4-5 fat cloves of garlic, minced
Handful of flat-leaf parsley, minced
2 tablespoons chilli flakes (you can add more, if you like it hotter)
Juice of one lime (Maria mentioned it later!)
Quarter cup olive oil
Freshly cracked black pepper
Salt

Start by taking a large baking pan, lay the chicken flat on it and add all the ingredients. As Maria suggests, use your hands to rub everything in the chicken. Since I was taking pictures, my husband helped me with the prep work.

 


I marinated my chicken overnight in the fridge, turning once.

The red wine lent a beautiful dark, rich color to the meat. I have a feeling if you use white or beer, your meat will continue to retain its reddish-pink color. So if you love to cook with red, use it.

After about at least 6-8 hours’ of marinating time, keep the chicken out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature.

Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Bake chicken face down for 15 minutes and then turn. I do face down first so that the chicken’s legs do not part in the heat and look obnoxious. A chicken should look dignified when served on the table!

Continue baking and basting (the chicken with the dripping marinade) for another 45-50 minutes or until done with some char on all sides. Make sure you turn it every 15 minutes of so.

It took me one hour and change to finish baking my chicken. Alternatively, you can also barbecue it outside on a good day.

I served Maria’s Piri-Piri Chicken with grilled vegetables and a fresh baguette. The result was awesome. I will make it hotter next time for the chilli lover in my life.

Bacon and Egg Pots

There are some things that I can only fantasize about. Like breakfast in bed. But what is possible though is I let someone else make my breakfast. My trusted oven! And see how.

Ingredients for Bacon and Egg Pots are:

Strips of bacon, 3-4 for each ramekin
1-2 eggs per each person
Finely chopped fresh parsley or chives
Sprinkle of freshly cracked black pepper
Half teaspoon butter

Throw the bacon strips in a skillet and cook till they are dark pink in color, but not crisp. Drain them on paper towels.

Line each ramekin with a little butter on your fingers. Place one or two strips of bacon at the base and another on the sides, making a “ bacon cup” inside the ramekin.

Crack an egg or two over the bacon base. Crack some black pepper over it.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Place all the ramekins on a water bath and bake for 15-18 minutes or unless the eggs are set and the whites visible.

Garnish with fresh herbs like parsley or chives and serve with slices of bread, OJ, chai or coffee.

Crawl back in bed with your tray of breakfast and enjoy! Looks like breakfast in bed is possible after all.

More breakfast ideas are here.

Soul Seduction with Beef-Barley Soup

My soup repertoire is quite limited. But this 50ish lady at P’s office cafeteria was giving me some long distance competition. Every time, P did not take lunch from home, he invariably has the Beef-Barley Soup served at his work’s cafeteria. Apparently its his favorite soup. Now that sure was NEWS.

No wife likes competition from another woman. Even if its the harmless soup lady.

After some help from Google and Food Network, I created my husband’s favorite soup today. Ladies and gentlemen, applaud my maiden attempt at Beef Barley Soup, since you cannot slurp on it.

Ingredients for Beef-Barley Soup are:

300 grams oxtail
400 grams boneless beef stew pieces
Half cup (heaped) pearl barley
1 medium size onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
3-4 fat cloves of garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Freshly crushed black pepper
Salt

Cook the oxtail and beef stew pieces with the bay leaves, salt and pepper. I added about 8-9 cups of water in my stock pot. It took me about one hour to do so, until the meat was tender. Skim any fat from the surface with a ladle.

Separate the meat from the stock and shred them. Discard the bones from the oxtail pieces.

In a stockpot, heat the canola oil, sauté the minced garlic without browning it. Add the celery, onions and carrots and cook for 3-4 minutes.

 
Add the barley and mix well with the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper.

Once the barley and vegetables are coated well with salt and pepper and the cooking oil, add the pieces of beef. Give it a good mix and then add the beef stock and Worcestershire sauce.

Cook covered on a slow heat for one hour or so, stirring continuously. The barley will plump up and soak some of the liquid. Add a little water if the stock is soaked up.

Check the seasoning one last time and adjust accordingly. Turn the heat off and add the chopped parsley to the soup.

Serve the Beef-Barley Soup hot with your favorite bread for a complete meal that is guaranteed to seduce your soul. And your spouse.

And guess what my husband is taking for lunch tomorrow!