Holy Shiitake Batman

As most of you know, we have a place up in West Virginia. We co-own that place with my parents. My parents have made friends with a couple Brian and Ocea and besides supplying us with free range eggs, raspberries, squash and other goods, they apparently had a bumper crop of Shiitake mushrooms that they generously shared. This was a hard decision for me. What to do with them.?? I also had a terrible time deciding on a picture. I never realized quite how lovely these little guys were before. So you are getting a few. As for how to prepare it, I decided this time, simple was best and to do something I thought would let the tender flavor of the shiitake shine. It doesn’t get much simpler than the below. Typically, I would have thrown in some white wine but we didn’t have any open and I didn’t feel like any so didn’t want to open a bottle. Again, typically I would rely then on dry vermouth, however for some reason when I opened the liquor cabinet to grab it the sweet vermouth called me. I am glad it did, the light sweetness and heavier herbal- ness (is that a word??) of the sweet vermouth was outstanding.





2 tbs butter
1 small onion
1 small clove of garlic grated or one large minced
2 cup sliced shiitake
3 tbs sweet vermouth
1 cup of milk, half-n- half or mix
1 tbs of flour
Salt
Pepper




Melt butter in a skillet and add onions and garlic and cook over medium low to sweat the onions. Add shiitake and cook covered for about 3 minutes. The mushrooms should have thrown off some water. Add about a tablespoon of flour, just enough to thicken but not form a roux. Add sweet vermouth (if you don’t have this vermouth or brandy could be nice) and milk (I used half skim and half -n-half and half, and it was great, however the more milk fat you have the richer and thicker it will be), cook until thickened.

Season to taste, toss with pasta and serve.

Just Another Plug

Okay, I have fallen off the blog wagon. However, October I should be back on. Tristan will be in preschool and that will free up 2 hours a day for me. Also, it will be getting cooler which means more cooking. We planted a fairly big garden this year, which meant a lot of fresh veggies… and not a lot of cooking.

That said, let me get to the point of this post. I have said it before and I will say it again….Bistro 27 is one of my favorite restaurants in Richmond. We went there last night for my mom’s birthday and yet again it did not disappoint. Last night we tried the escargot. The sauce had a touch of Pernod. Incredible. Unexpected. Unbelievable. The waiter tried to take the plate away and my father just about stabbed him with is fork and ordered…no demanded …more bread to sop the sauce up with. Fantastic. We all had the carrot soup, it a was a cold soup that had a great ginger flavor and a bit of heat. It was amazing as well. Everyone except me had the ravioli. Joel and my mom had the ravioli on the menu, my father had the special which was a seafood ravioli. They all cleaned their plates, all the while grunting…pigs. I had the Linguini with pesto and scallops. I am not quite sure how they did it but it was buttery. It was amazing. I ,however, have some waiting in the fridge for lunch for me…or maybe breakfast!!!

It was perfect. Really . Except one major, major hitch. When we arrived on the table was a announcement that they are having a wine tasting tonight (Thursday). They have brought in this vintner from Uruguay and are pairing the different wines with the most amazing courses. I believe there were 5-6 courses in all, all for $70. Nothing like starting you meal mad! Think it would be too much to go again tonight???? Sigh.

Also Richmonder’s go check them out on Twitter, they are offering an amazing deal. If you have never been it is good incentive!! I swear I don’t work there…but I would if they would feed me J

Stuffed Pattypan Squash

We grew Pattypan this year (among other things). The little bush squash seriously produce. I had three plants (one was small and to date has still only surrendered 2 squash) and they produced about 3-4 large pattypan a week. We have stuffed them various ways, because they are great stuffing squash, but this was my favorite. In this recipe I did not use the inside of the squash ( I cooked it up for the kids) but you could, just reduce the other ingredients or expect extra filling.

2 pattypan’s tops cut off and insides hollowed out
¼ large onion chopped
2 medium tomatoes chopped
1 small clove of garlic finely minced or grated
¼ c. Feta
Fresh basil
1 TBS olive oil.

Turn oven to 350.

Heat oil. Add onions to pan and let cook on low for 5 minutes. Add garlic and let warm for a minute. Add tomatoes and let cook for 5 minutes over medium low. Turn off the heat and add feta. Test seasoning. Add salt or pepper if needed.

I very lightly salt and peppered the squash, but you don’t have to. I really depends on how much salt you like. Me, I keep a salt lick installed to the wall of the kitchen. Fill the squash and put in the oven for about 15 minutes. The cooking time is going to vary greatly depending on the size of the pattypan and how much meat you scooped out. The squash itself should be fork tender but not mushy. Once it is close, to being done add the basil to the top and cook another 5 minutes.

Pesto Deconstructed

I will say that the measurements in this are approximate. I didn’t measure. I will also say this is one of my favorite dishes of late. Plus it is fast and easy. Score!


½ lb penne
¼ c. olive oil
2 cloves garlic grated
¼ toasted pine nuts
½ c. grated parmesan
Salt and pepper
1/3 c. ribboned or torn basil

Start pasta.

Grate the garlic in a skillet (I use my handy dandy micro-plane, you want it to be a paste for maximum garlic goodness, if you don’t have a micro-plane use more garlic). Put oil in skillet and warm. Meanwhile grate parmesan and add some salt and pepper to the cheese and set aside. One garlic and oil are warm (about a minute to two on medium low) add pine nuts and stir, warm for another minute and turn off.

Once pasta is done, drain, give a little rinse with cold water (but not too much you want the pasta to stay fairly hot for the next step). Put pasta in a bowl and add the basil, oil and cheese, toss and serve. Yummy.

BMTB or a Bacon Caprese Sandwich

Yard sale is done! Why I continue to torture myself doing these, I am not certain. Life willing, I will get back on track here shortly. However, I could not keep a very recent discovery of mine away from you.

I love a BLT. I mean…LOVE. Like the love of 1,000 sailors after a 6 month cruise. Love. Especially, especially when I have my own tomatoes from my own little garden. What could be better….right??

Well, by god I will tell you. Take that same lovely sandwich, ditch the lettuce, and put fresh mozzarella and some torn up fresh basil into the mix….forgetaboutit! It truly is a sailors delight.