Stewed Mushrooms + Polenta

I'm so glad I got over my hatred of mushrooms. Between you and me, I don't think I really had an issue with their taste or, as I often complained, their spongy consistency.  The real reason, I've come to accept, was because my sister loved them so much. Therefore, I had to hate them.  Makes sense, right?  The funny thing is that I ate everything as a kid.  I never turned away food.  Except, that is, if it contained mushrooms. I'm not sure when I decided how silly it was that I said I didn't like them. I guess I started giving them a chance as a teenager, especially when I stopped eating meat. Their texture, the umami notes... all the things I missed from eating a steak... I found I could get all of that from mushrooms.

Sometimes the best dishes come when focusing on a single ingredient. I started with an assortment of fresh mushrooms and built off that.  A bit of butter and red wine helped to build a flavorful and very satisfying sauce.  The creamy polenta, rich and comforting. Nothing wrong with a little fat this time of year.  We'll get back to salads later.  Right now, this is what we need.

Creamy Polenta with Stewed Mushrooms

Yield 4 servings

Ingredients

2 lbs fresh mushrooms (such as oyster, cremini, chanterelle, and shiitake), cleaned, trimmed and sliced 2 shallots, peeled and sliced thinly lengthwise 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped 2 teaspoons fresh tarragon, chopped 3 tablespoons butter 1.25 cups red wine Kosher salt Black pepper

6 cups water 1.5 teaspoons salt 1.5 cups corn meal 2 oz fresh grated parmesan cheese 2 tablespoons butter (make it 3 tablespoons if not adding creme fraîche) 2 tablespoons creme fraîche (optional)

Instructions

1. In a skillet, heat the butter over medium heat.  Once the butter has melted and started to foam, add the shallots and garlic and cook for one minute, stirring occasionally.  Add the mushrooms, rosemary and tarragon; season with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for a couple minutes. Add the red wine and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the majority of the liquid has evaporated.  Taste for seasoning and, if necessary, season with a little salt and pepper.

2. To prepare the polenta, bring the 6 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan.  Once it reaches a boil, slowly whisk in the corn meal.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 12 minutes, making sure to stir frequently. Remove from heat, sprinkle parmesan and whisk in the butter and creme fraîche.

3. To serve, plate the polenta and top with mushrooms and shallots.  Sprinkle some chopped tarragon on top.

Dandelion Green and Citrus Salad

Dandelion Green and Citrus Salad // A Thought For Food

Dandelion Green and Citrus Salad // A Thought For Food

Dandelion Green and Citrus Salad // A Thought For Food

Dandelion Green and Citrus Salad // A Thought For Food

Dandelion Green and Citrus Salad // A Thought For Food

Dandelion Green and Citrus Salad // A Thought For Food

I'm pretty good at keeping secrets.  However, this one was hard to hold in. But now... finally... I can make the announcement: after months of looking at properties, Eric and I have purchased a house. Our home.

Since the fall, our weekends have been spent going from open house to open house looking at places, many of which were out of our price range or in a bad location or in complete disrepair. Eventually, we got pretty good at going through these quickly, but it took a lot of time and energy and left us feeling like there wasn't much on the market.

A couple of weeks ago, we were sent a listing from our agent that looked promising.  The location was great and the pictures presented it well enough (though you can never tell how a place is until you've seen it in person... photos can be deceptive). As soon as we saw the house, though, we knew it was the right one for us and immediately got an offer in.  That weekend was a roller-coaster of emotions; the excitement of waiting to hear if our offer had been accepted, the let down when we heard that we'd been outbid.  By the time Sunday came around, we were totally exhausted and spent the afternoon distracting ourselves from thinking about houses for a bit.  We ran errands and got makings for a nice dinner.  That evening we cozied up on the couch with Maki and zoned out on some TV. And that's when we got the call informing us that the initial offer had fallen through.  Were we still interested in the house?  Yes... yes we were.

Everything since then has gone smoothly. The report from the inspection presented exactly what we'd expected.  The house was in wonderful condition and was obviously well loved.

We now begin the process of packing and figuring out what we take with us and what's left behind.  Until now, I've just been relishing in the excitement of purchasing a home, planning exactly how we'll decorate each room (Eric's been a sport and has gone along with most of my ideas). But there's lots of work to do and the time between now and the closing will be here before we know it.

Amidst all the house activity and photo projects, I spent a little time digging into some recipe development. While we've been seeing a lot of root vegetables and citrus, there have also been substantial amounts of greens in our CSA box.  Now, if you've never had dandelion greens, you should know that they're bitter. Like, really bitter. Which I don't have a problem with, but I just wanted to prepare you.  I've seen a lot of recipes that call for sautéing them, and while that's fine, I really had my heart set on a salad. I found that by dressing the greens and letting them sit for a little bit, it cures them and removes some of that bitterness. The dressing is sweet as well and, once the whole salad is topped with bright citrus, you almost enjoy the bite from the greens.

Dandelion Green and Citrus Salad // A Thought For Food

Dandelion Green and Citrus Salad // A Thought For Food

Dandelion Green and Citrus Salad

Yield 4 servings

Ingredients

1 bunch dandelion greens, washed, dried and trimmed 1 pink grapefruit, segmented 1 orange, segmented 2 tsps honey 1 organic lime, juice and zest 1/4 tsp smoked paprika 1 tsp salt 2 tbsps olive oil Pecan halves 1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. In a bowl, whisk together the honey, lime juice, lime zest, smoked paprika, salt and olive oil.

2. Cut the dandelion greens in half and transfer to the bowl with the dressing.  Toss the greens with the dressing and let sit for 10 minutes.

3. Transfer the dandelion greens to a platter and top with grapefruit and citrus segments, pecan halves, and red onion.

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Breakfast Skillet

Breakfast Skillet via A Thought For Food

Skillet4

Skillet2

I haven't worn a jacket at all this week. Or a scarf. Or mittens. Despite the rain, I'm close to pulling out my shorts and flip flops, but I know that as soon as I do we'll get nailed with a blizzard.

Y'all might be wondering how I can handle 40 or 50 degree weather without a coat. Well, let me tell you, I'm kind of weird. Unlike other Bostonians who bundle up in enormous puffy jackets fit for a trip to Antarctica, I have been sporting a five year old smoker's jacket from H+M. I like to think that it makes me a stronger person, someone who can handle anything... the freakin' Polar Vortex.  But the jacket is barely a jacket anymore.  There are holes all over... and I know it'd probably be a good idea to upgrade to something more substantial.  I'm just hoping it'll last until spring.

This breakfast skillet came about an in attempt to use up some root vegetables from our CSA (It didn't quite work... we still have a few bags of potatoes).  There have been a few alterations that I've made since the first time I tried it a couple weeks ago, but overall the concept has remained the same: a ton of sautéed veggies, a couple of eggs cracked on top, and then loaded with avocado and fresh herbs.  I decided to include some (very slightly) pickled jalapeños on top, but, of course, those could be left off. Or you can just douse it with hot sauce if you don't feel like going to the trouble of cutting up jalapeños.

Breakfast Skillet

Vegetable and Egg Breakfast Skillet

Yield 2 servings

Ingredients

1 jalapeño pepper red wine vinegar 2 parsnips, peeled 2 carrots, peeled 1 large (or two smaller) red potato, peeled 2 celery stalks, chopped 1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half 1/2 onion, sliced lengthwise salt pepper butter 3 eggs 1 avocado, pit removed and flesh sliced Cilantro Bread Lime

Instructions

1. Cut stem end off of the jalapeño.  Using a paring knife, scoop out the seeds and veins from the jalapeño.  Once this is done, slice the jalapeño into rings (approximately 1/4" wide).  Place rings into a bowl and cover with red wine vinegar.  Set aside.  

2. Cube the parsnips, carrots, and potato.  Transfer to a bowl.

3. In an 8" inch skillet (preferably a cast iron skillet), heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat.  Once the pan is hot enough, add the sliced onion and season with salt and for a minute.  Add the root vegetables to the pan, season with additional salt and black pepper and cook for 3 minutes, making sure to stir often.  Add tomatoes and celery and stir to combine.  Cook for 2 minutes and then add 1/4 cup of water to the pan. Season with salt and black pepper and let cook for another minute.

4. Make a well in the center of the pan and add the three eggs.  Cover pan and cook for 8 minutes, or until the egg whites have set. (Note:  You may want to check the eggs after 5 minutes and, if necessary, reduce the heat to low).

5. Once the eggs are cooked, season the dish with salt and pepper and top with avocado slices, jalapeño slices, and cilantro.  Squeeze some lime juice over the dish and serve.