Chicken Mushroom Stroganoff

I have a lovely red crockpot, that I very rarely use. I will make pulled pork, maybe once every two months, using my crockpot, but other than that, I am really not making much use of it. I frequently come across many slow cooker recipes on Facebook or Pinterest, but few of them grab my attention.

Last Friday, we celebrated a good friends' birthday at my house, and I decided that, instead of trying to cook something after work with people over and my toddler running around, I would remove that element of stress by making dinner in the crockpot.

Here are my modifications / things I would do differently next time:

• Mix the cream of chicken soup (I used an organic one, NOT the Campbell's chock-full of sodium version), dry French onion soup mix, and cream cheese more thoroughly, before pouring on top of diced chicken and mushrooms. The reason behind this is, I found that the sauce was a little lumpy after 8 hours of cooking on low heat. If the wet ingredients had been more thoroughly whisked beforehand, perhaps it would have all melded a little bit better together.
• Overall I enjoyed this recipe, but found it could have used some more spices or herbs to punch up the flavor a notch or two.

Recipe link here!

Mushroom Risotto!

I love risotto, and I love mushrooms, so this was a no-brainer to me. Risotto is truly a labor of love - you are essentially chained to the stovetop for a good 30 minutes, as you constantly replenish the risotto with ladlefuls of hot chicken stock for it to absorb and take on the creamy, dreamy consistency that we all know and love.

I used a recipe from Giada (recipe link here), but I would make a few modifications in the future.

• I used 1 diced yellow onion, so I forgot to cut the amount of butter in half. It was okay because everything cooked down well, but initially at least, there was too much butter.
• I'm honestly not sure that the dried porcini mushrooms that I re-hydrated in hot chicken stock, imparted any special flavor to the overall risotto. I would probably skip this step next time, and instead use a wider variety of fresh mushrooms.
• For the fresh mushroom component, I selected a box of sliced baby portabella mushrooms (instead of the boring white mushrooms Giada called for), and this was great, but in my haste, I forgot to dice them, so I would definitely chop them more finely in the future. Ultimately, the size of the mushrooms cooked down anyway so the final product didn't feature large chunks or anything, but to make a more cohesive dish, I can tell that dicing the mushrooms more finely would be best.
• This recipe called for way too much chicken broth. There was at least 3 cups of hot broth I ended up pouring down my sink. 
• The recipe didn't call for enough Parmesan! I doubled the amount, ultimately.

Asparagus: A Love Affair (Part One)

Why have I not noticed up until now how lovely asparagus is as a vegetable? A tray of gorgeous asparagus caught my eye in the grocery store yesterday, and I decided to search for a recipe that would suit my impulse purchase. I settled on these gorgeous roasted mushroom and asparagus tarts using puff pastry sheets from Bon Appetit!

My modifications:

• I cut off the asparagus spears, and put the stalks away in the fridge to use for soup later on (most likely tonight).
• I could not find creme fraiche anywhere, so I substituted half sour cream and half plain, non-flavoured yoghurt. 
• I used shiitake mushrooms, and roasted them for ten minutes in hot butter. The smell and nutty, buttery, meaty taste that came off of these was incredible!
• Puff pastry sheets are super easy to use! I thawed them for 40 minutes on my countertop, and then they were so easy to roll out and cut for the tarts.
• This recipe is very versatile and open to changes. Besides the veggies and cream, I added in grated Gruyere cheese, lemon zest, fresh thyme (chopped very finely), salt and pepper. Simple, but elegant and delicious!

Stay tuned for Part Two: Asparagus Soup!

Recipe Link: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/asparagus-and-mushroom-tarts

Happy Anniversary!

Christmas was very special this year. Not only was it the first one for my boyfriend and I as living together, but it was also our official one year anniversary. We didn't really celebrate on the day since we were with both of our families, but I decided to surprise him with a romantic dinner a few days later. I feel like I haven't been in the kitchen, cooking a meal in ages. Between my busy busy job and school, I have not had the time, nor made the time, for about two months. It felt so good to grocery shop in WholeFoods and come home and be a little housewife. I decided to keep it simple, with fresh flavors. I had some lovely tilapia filets, and I baked them in foil with diced cherry tomatoes, chopped garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon slices, salt, and pepper. To serve alongside, I decided to oven roast four different types of veggies and not serve a rice or pasta side. I diced butternut squash, yellow squash, zucchini, and portabella mushrooms and roasted them in olive oil, salt, pepper, and a bit of garlic powder. Everything came out fresh, delicious, and so healthy! I also made a simple chocolate mousse, using heavy whipping cream and melted Ghiardelli dark chocolate, to be served with raspberries. Yum!

Pesto, Spinach, and Mushrooms!

Thanks to so much Italian in my life, I've discovered a late-blooming love for spinach and mushrooms. I liked them before just fine, but now find myself absolutely devoted. Pesto has always been a favorite of mine, but only homemade! Store-bought pesto is atrocious. I'm also really into whole wheat pasta, more and more. The color is pleasing (as well as natural!) and tends to have more of a bite to it, something I appreciate as a total al dente fan. Last night I made a simple pesto (basil, pine nuts, walnuts, lemon juice, garlic, Parmesan, salt, pepper) and tossed it with whole wheat mini shells (conchiglie). I sauteed sliced white mushrooms in butter and olive oil until tender and wilted a big bunch of fresh spinach with it. I mixed everything together, sprinkled Parmesan on top, and voilà! Dinner is served :)

Made on 03/19/2012.