Gleanings of Wheat

At last, a real post about food! Tonight for dinner I grilled some chicken breasts after seasoning them with salt, pepper, and a touch of cilantro. For sides, I cheated and used Uncle Ben's Santa Fe rice, sliced some potatoes and threw them in the oven till they were a bit crispy. By the way, those were seasoned with salt, pepper, cilantro, and thyme. To top the chicken I sliced 3 cloves of garlic, mixed them with some sliced mushrooms, and threw that in a skillet with about a cup of milk; cook those puppies over medium heat until the milk is thick like a sauce. If it won't thicken, add a tablespoon of flour. Here's how it turned out: The chicken? Yum. The potatoes? Yum. The rice was a tad dry, and the mushrooms were nothing to scream over.

So tonight I decided to use some mushrooms up before they went bad, but didn't have an actual recipe or any real inspiration. I added about a table spoon worth of butter to a skillet over medium-high heat, tossed in my pre-cut mushrooms and a few table spoons of white wine and let it cook down until the wine evaporated. Once the mushrooms cooked down I removed them from the skillet, added some more butter & wine, & added my tilapia filets that I previously seasoned with salt, pepper, & minced garlic. The outcome? Fish - nice. Mushrooms - blah.

I got this one from Food Network too. I forgot to pick up more sun-dried tomatoes so they lacked a bit of color, but over all I was thrilled. I made enough of the filling that I was able to fill some green bell peppers with it in addition to the portobellos. It was a light, easy meal. Very nice. Cooking spray 2 cooked chicken breast halves, diced 10-ounce package frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and undrained 1/2 cup diced oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, with 1 tablespoon oil from jar 2 tablespoons seasoned dry bread crumbs 4 large portobello mushroom caps, stems removed Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with coo king spray. In a medium bowl, combine chicken, broccoli (with liquid from package), sun-dried tomatoes with oil from jar, and bread crumbs. Toss to combine. Arrange mushroom caps, stem side up, on prepared baking sheet. Fill each mushroom cap with chicken mixture. Roast 20 minutes, until filling is golden brown and mushrooms are tender.

I found this one at Epicurious. I served this over steak that I had prepared with the salting method and some rosemary. See my notes at the bottom for my alterations. 1 pound mixed fresh white and exotic mushrooms such as cremini, oyster, or shiitake (discard shiitake stems) 4 large garlic cloves, minced 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 onion, chopped fine 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1/2 cup dry red wine 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 1/2 cups cold water 1/2 teaspoon sugar 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves Slice mushrooms. In a 10-inch heavy non-stick skillet cook garlic in butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until pale golden. Add onion and cook, stirring, until softened. Add mushrooms and soy sauce and sauté mixture over moderately high heat, stirring, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated and mushrooms begin to brown. Add wine and vinegar and boil until liquid is evaporated. Stir cornstarch mixture and add to skillet ...

Ok, to be honest I didn't actually enjoy the mushrooms but my mother said she did so I'll give you the recipe anyway. I'm still trying to figure out if she was just being nice or not. Steak of your choosing Durkee Kansas City seasoning 2 packages of pre-sliced portobello mushrooms 4 tbsp butter 1/2 red wine Fire up your grill, coat the steak in the seasoning and grill until desired done-ness (my steak was cooked 3 minutes then flipped and cooked for another 2). While the steak is cooking heat the butter in a large skillet over medium to high heat. Add mushrooms and cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add wine (watch for flare ups!) and cook until the wine reduces by half.

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray Show: 30 Minute Meals Episode: Commuter Consolation I saw this one last night and thought it looked yummy. This recipe is a modern take on the ol' Cream of Mushroom Chicken. This one is more healthful and almost as easy as pouring that condensed, salty mass out of a can. It will heal a long day! Salt 1/2 pound orzo pasta 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 6 ounces Pepper 2 tablespoons butter 12 cremini or baby portobello mushrooms, sliced 12 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced 12 white mushrooms, sliced 2 large cloves garlic, chopped 1 tablespoon thyme leaves, a couple of sprigs, chopped 2 large shallots, thinly sliced 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups chicken stock 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, eyeball it 3 tablespoons heavy cream or half-and-half, a couple turns of the pan 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, a generous handful Heat a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the ...