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Posts Tagged ‘mushrooms’

This is a very quick and easy recipe to make. It uses lots of garlic which means you probably don’t want to have it for lunch just before an important meeting. However, garlic is a great aid to health. The active components are antiseptic and kill those cold and flu causing bugs. (Mind you, part of its effectiveness may be because no one comes close to you after eating it!)

Fettucini With Mushrooms

Ingredients:

400g mushrooms
4 – 6 cloves garlic
300 ml sour cream
400g fresh egg fettucini (if not available use regular packet fettucini)
salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying
chopped parsley for garnish

Method:

1. Clean and slice mushrooms. Some people like to wash the mushrooms, others like to just wipe them with paper towel.
2. Heat oil in a saucepan and add crushed garlic. Fry for about 30 seconds then add the sliced mushrooms.
3. Fry gently until the mushrooms are soft.
4. Add sour cream, mis through and heat gently. Do not allow to boil.
5. Cook fettucini in boiling salted water until al dente (usually 8-11 minutes depending on brand and how firm you like it).
6. Drain fettucini and add mushroom sauce. Serve with a sprinkle of chopped parsley.

Variations

You can use butter instead of the oil for frying. You could also use about 100g butter instead of the sour cream to make the sauce.

Polenta is a common Italian ingredient and is basically corn meal. For many years it was one of those things that I didn’t really like but thought I should eat more of as an alternative to the likes of rice, potatoes, pasta and bread. The problem was that the recipes I had were either bland (it is generally an accompaniment, after all) or required too much effort and time.

Then one day when I was buying some, the lady serving me asked how I was going to cook it. When I told I wasn’t really sure, she suggested cooking as per the directions on the packet and then at the end stirring in some sour cream and grated parmesan. So I tried that and found it to be very tasty and I have used that recipe many times.

More recently, I varied that to include mushrooms and onion and that essentially makes a quick and easy lunchtime snack. Here is the recipe.

Savoury Polenta

Ingredients

1/2  dozen mushrooms
1  medium onion
1  clove garlic
2  cups polenta
4 cups water
1  chicken stock cube
1  beef stock cube
300 ml sour cream
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
oil for frying

Method

1. Chop mushrooms into reasonable small pieces
2. FInely chop onion
3. Gently fry chopped onion, mushrooms and garlic
4. Remove from heat and set aside
5. Bring the water to the boil. Add the stock cubes and stir till dissolved.
6. While the water is boiling pour in the polenta stirring sonstantly.
7. When all the polenta has been added, continue to stir polenta frequently.  The water will be absorbed into the polena and as it thickens you will find that it causes large bubbles – be careful as the polenta can splatter and burn you. You may find it better to reduce the heat when it reaches this stage.
8. Once the polenta has been cooked, add the mushrooms, onion, garlic, sour cream and grated parmesan and stir into the polenta.
9. Heat through, and serve.  This can form a dish in its own right or you can serve it as an accompaniment to another dish.

Variations

If you just want plain polenta but with a bit of flavour, you leave out all of the other ingredients and just cook it in stock.

There is also nothing to prevent you using other ingredients such as chopped, cooked vegetables etc instead of or in addition to the mushrooms.

You can leave out the sour cream and once the polenta is cooked, put it on a baking tray in a 1 cm thick layer and bake in a moderately hot oven for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and cut into squares or slices. Again, this can be served as finger food or as an accompaniment to a main dish.

Tips

As I want to reduce the amount of washing up, I usually fry the onions etc in the saucepan I intend to use for the polenta. After removing the cooked onion, I put the water in the saucepan with out washing it out. It may look a little oily but all you are doing is allowing a little of the onion flavour to permeate the water you are going to cook the polenta in – and you are going to add the onion to it later anyway.

You may have to adjust the amount of water depending on how dry or moist you like it, and depending on the brand of polenta. Once you have made it a few times you will know how much to add according to your taste.

The preparation time for this recipe is a little long but the end result is worth it. Most of the time is taken up by simmering so, other than giving it the occasional stir, you can spend the time having a relaxing pre-dinner drink, chatting to guests or whatever takes your fancy.

While the recipe uses pork, there is no reason why you couldn’t use chicken or veal instead. As you will find with many recipes, you can vary them to suit your individual tastes and preferences. Just because it is written in the recipe doesn’t mean you have to use exactly that.

When serving, choose your accompanying vegetables according to what is in season. For example, in warmer weather you might serve it with a crisp green salad; in the cooler months you might have steamed vegetables.

Sherry Cream Pork Chops

Preparation Time: Around 75 minutes (easier than writing 1-1/4 hrs don’t you think)

Ingredients:

4 leg pork chops
1/4 cup seasoned flour*
1 tsp sage (chopped if fresh, otherwise dried is fine)
3 tbsp butter
1/2 chopped onion
1 x 300g tin Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup cream sherry (if you can’t find cream sherry, use sweet sherry)
1 cup sliced champignons
1 cup sour cream
chopped shallots (for garnish)

Method:

1. Trim the chops and coat in the seasoned flour and sage.
2. Heat the butter in a saucepan (don’t let it burn) and brown the chops.
3. Add the onion and saute until tender.
4. Combine the milk, soup and sherry and pour over the chops.
5. Cover and simmer 45-50 minutes. Stir occasionally.
6. Add sliced champignons and cream and reheat carefully. You do not want the cream to boil!
7. Serve with buttered noodles and sprinkle chops with chopped shallots.

Serves: 4

Tips

*Seasoned flour is just flour with salt and pepper (or other dry seasonings) added to it. An easy way to prepare it is to put the flour in a plastic bag, add the seasonings, close the bag ensuring a lot of air is trapped inside and then gently shake the bag to mix everything.

You may find you need extra butter when browning the chops so feel free to use extra. I usually always need extra oil, butter etc when cooking. The way I look at it is the quantity given is just a starting point.

Variations

As I said above you could use chicken thighs, chicken breasts or even veal for this recipe.

You could also serve it with rice instead of noodles if you prefer.

And, yes, you could use light sour cream instead in this recipe – but what’s the point? Rather, enjoy the meal and reduce your cream intake for the next few days. Having an occasional creamy sauce is not going to cause serious weight gain. The key is moderation.