Portabella Mushroom Burgers

This was rated a 10 by Nick and a 9.5 by Manda. It was pretty amazing.

We bought humongous Portabella mushrooms from the grocery store. We brushed them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (and some garlic... garlic powder would work too) and grilled them about 4 minutes on each side. Grilled some onions too to go on top. Wow. What amazing flavors! To top it off, we topped the grilled buns with herbed goat cheese. Wow... again. It was so tasty! Better than any hamburger I've ever made. I definitely recommend trying this!

Portabella Mushroom Burgers
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
4 large Portabella mushrooms
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
1 large red pepper, sliced into rings
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 fresh buns

Herbed Goat Cheese:

about 1/4 cup goat cheese

2 Tablespoons fresh cut basil

2 Tablespoons Olive oil

Directions:
Drizzle garlic, balsamic vinegar and olive oil over mushroom caps.  Place on preheated grill.  After about 3 minutes, flip and grill on the other side.  Meanwhile, grill sliced onions, red peppers and buns on both sides.  You may want to spray some olive oil to prevent sticking. 

To make goat cheese spread, mix together the goat cheese, fresh basil and olive oil until smooth.  

To assemble burgers, spread the goat cheese mixture on the top of a bun.  Place a mushroom cap, onion slice, and red pepper and top with the bun.  

Ghana, Red Red Dish

When I read this recipe it reminded me of a dish that my grandma used to make. It was a salad with iceberg lettuce, mayonnaise, and bananas. Sounds gross right? It's actually pretty delicious. So I thought I'd give this one a try. It's called Red Red Dish (I think) and its from Ghana. They actually use plantains and they probably pick them fresh. I was close though, I bought a pack of bananas from Target today, despite having banana trees right outside of my office.

Anyway... From what I've read and tried to cook, it seems like African cuisine consists of a lot of stews. I have no clue though. This dish was more like a stew. I'm sure if I made it with fresh tomatoes and not canned it would have had a whole different flavor. It was still good. Better than I thought. Funny that I'm explaining this meal and if you haven't clicked on the recipe you're probably thinking, "what? bananas? tomatoes? stew?" Maybe I should figure out another system for these blogs. Oh if only I had time. Anyway... Here goes! Enjoy!

Red Red Dish
Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon expeller-pressed canola oil
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (15-ounce) can black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 firm bananas, halved lengthwise and cut into chunks

Directions:

Heat oil in a large high-sided skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook about 10 minutes or until golden and tender, stirring frequently. Stir in garlic, ginger and cayenne and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add tomatoes and peas and bring to a simmer. Cook 15 minutes or until peas are tender and flavors blended. Stir in salt.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a separate skillet over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, add bananas and cook about 5 minutes or until browned on both sides, gently flipping halfway through cooking. Serve alongside black-eyed peas in a shallow bowl.

Butter Mochi

Butter Mochi... a very delicious dessert.

I made this dessert once for work, while living in Hawaii and everyone enjoyed it and surprised the little girl from Minnesota could make such a delicious butter mochi... woot woot for me!  

When we first got to Hawaii, we had no clue what mochi was.  We tried some prepackaged stuff from the grocery store filled with red bean paste and thought "really? this is what all the fuss is about?", but then we discovered butter mochi... which is completely different.... sweet, gooey, crispy and delicious! 

You'll be able to find mochiko flour at your local Asian grocer if you're on the mainland.  You can pretty much find it at any store in Hawaii for about a buck or two. Enjoy!

 

Butter Mochi

Serves: 24

Ingredients: 

1 lb. mochiko flour (glutinous rice flour)

2 1/2 cups white sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup butter, melted

3 cups whole milk

5 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup sweetened, flaked coconut (oooo I bet it would be good toasted too!!!)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla and milk. In a separate larger bowl, stir together the rice flour, sugar, and baking powder. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir to blend. Mix in melted butter and coconut. Pour into the prepared pan.

Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven. Cool completely, then cut into squares to serve.

Artichoke & Eggplant White Lasagna

mmmmm pasta. Artichoke & Eggplant White Lasagna to be exact. While eating this dish, I told Nick the one and only thing to make this meal better is if I made my own pasta, and I'll do that someday once I get my pasta roller (which I will be registering for!)

This meal was so amazing. Buying really good cheese (not kraft... or anything that comes pre-shredded or in a bag) is the key to this dish. We happened to get an awesome gift card (Thanks Jeannie & Terri!) to Whole Foods for my birthday (and by "we" I meant "I") so we went all out. We bought organic noodles, organic goat cheese, a real Italian cheese, and squishy mozzarella. Yum Yum and Yum.

I highly highly highly recommend making this dish. It's so flavorful and delicious. Enjoy with a glass of white wine (we had Chardonnay... and two glasses, which is why I waited until later to write about it).

Artichoke and Eggplant White Lasagna
Serves: 8

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 medium eggplant cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
9 dried lasagna noodles

Sauce:
1 Tablespoon butter
2 Tablespoons all-purpose organic flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup grated grana padano cheese, divided
1/2 cup goat cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 can water-packed artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese, divided

Directions:Lightly fry the eggplant for about 5 minutes or until tender.Cook noodles according directions on package, then drain and set aside.For the sauce, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Slowly whisk in milk until combined well. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of the grana padano, goat cheese, salt and pepper, and reserved onions and remove from heat. Stir just until cheese melts, then set sauce aside.Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray and spread 1/4 cup of the sauce on bottom of pan. Top with 2 noodles, then layer with half of the eggplant and artichoke hearts, 1/2 cup sauce, and 1/2 cup mozzarella. Repeat with a second layer and then place the last 2 noodles on top. Spread remaining sauce over noodles and top with remaining mozzarella and grana padano.Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for 5 minutes more. Set lasagna aside to let rest for 5 minutes, then slice and serve.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, 5 to 6 minutes. Set aside and wipe out skillet.