Cooking along

Wild Mushrooms and Artichoke Pasta Gratin

This was my contribution for yesterday's Thanksgiving feast in my friend Margarita's house. It's our first time celebrating this festivity and even though I didn't eat the traditional Turkey, this pasta dish was awesome and went well with the rest of the food. Especially with the green beans and tomato salad (recipe coming soon). Thank you Margarita for such a wonderful time we had yesterday, the food was delicious but the best part was the company. I'm thankful for my friends!

Ingredients

• 2 leeks, well clean and finely chopped (only white part, save the greens for stock!)
• 4 shallots, finely diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 pound white button mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 pound Trumpet Royale mushrooms, or any other kind of wild mushrooms like chanterelle or oyster, sliced
• 1 oz dried porcini mushrooms, or any dry wild mushroom, soaked in 1/2 cup water for 15 minutes
• 4 fresh artichokes hearts, finely sliced (keep them in water with lemon juice after you peel them so they won't turn brown)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 12 basil leaves, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus extra 3/4 cup to finish the dish
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pound penne pasta
• 12 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat the oil and butter in medium heat. Add the leeks, shallots and garlic and cook until translucent for about 10 minutes. Add the sliced artichoke hearts and the sliced fresh mushrooms and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes. Add the soaked dry mushrooms (saving the liquid for later) and cook for 2 more minutes, mix in the white wine and cook until almost evaporated. Add the saved mushrooms liquid and the cream, cook for 10 minutes. Add the basil leaves, parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Take it out of the heat, the sauce is ready!. Preheat the oven to 350°. Cook the pasta following the package directions until "al dente" (be careful to not overcook, the pasta will finish cooking in the oven). To arrange the dish: mix 3/4 of the sauce with the pasta. Place 1 cup of the leftover sauce in the bottom of an oven proof large baking dish (about 13x9). Add 1/2 of the pasta mixture and cover with 1 cup of sauce and 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese. Add the rest of the pasta, cover with the rest of the sauce and mozzarella cheese and top it with the parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes to melt the mozzarella and broil for 3 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Serve with a nice salad!

Cheese Fondue

Fondue is one of my Mom favorite dishes, growing up we used to go to a very nice and cozy Swiss restaurant in Caracas called "Guillermo Tell". But to my knowledge it doesn't exist anymore. Fondue is a very romantic and satisfying meal to share with your loved ones. What can go wrong with a lot of melted cheese and some wine?. I like it with traditional crusty bread, like French Baguette or Italian style ciabatta, but you can enjoy it with vegetables like broccoli or carrots. You will need a fondue pot to keep it melted and warm. Nowadays you can buy fondue pots in many stores at a fairly good price.

Ingredients:

• 1 garlic clove, peeled and cut in half
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 8 oz Gruyere cheese, shredded
• 12 oz Emmentaler cheese, shredded
• 3 oz Parmesan cheese, grated
• 4 tablespoons corn starch
• 1 tablespoon Kirsch liquor
• pinch of nutmeg and ground white pepper

In a mixing bowl mix together all the cheeses and corn starch. Rub the garlic clove into the inside of the cooking pan and discard leftover garlic. Add wine and lemon juice to the pan and heat until they're barely boiling. Add the cheese and corn starch mixture little by little to the hot wine until all is incorporated and melted, be very careful not to boil. At the last moment add the Kirsch and ground nutmeg and pepper. Transfer to a fondue pot and enjoy with pieces of bread or vegetables.

Falafel

Falafels are very important at our house. It's a delicious way to enjoy your protein and feel good about it. Although they are fried, they are a naturally low carb food so it's good for you. Once you try this homemade version you will be hooked. You can eat them in sandwiches with pita bread, tomato and parsley salad and hommus, or drizzle them with tahini sauce (recipe follows).

Falafels:

• 2 cups dried chick peas or garbanzo beans, soaked overnight
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1 onion, peeled and cut in four pieces
• 1/4 bunch parsley, washed
• 1/4 bunch mint, washed
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
• salt to taste
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• oil for frying

Drain the chickpeas and put in a food processor along with the rest of the ingredients, except the sesame seeds. You may have to do this in batches, usually I just put a little bit of everything in each batch and process until very fine. Get all the batches together in a bowl and adjust seasonings, add the sesame seeds. You can "test fry" one little ball to see if it needs more salt. Heat the oil and make small discs with the mixture (don't worry if you think it needs something extra like flour or eggs, it doesn't) and try to compact them as much as you can in you hand, they can be about 1 1/2 inch wide and 1/2 inch thick. That varies according to you taste, you can make them a little bigger or thicker. Fry in both sides until dark golden brown. Serve immediately. You will often serve them with tahini sauce.

Tahini Sauce

• 1/2 cup tahini (ground sesame paste, found in most middle eastern grocery stores)
• juice of 1 lemon
• 6 tablespoons of water
• 1 garlic clove peeled and crushed (optional)
• salt to taste

In a small bowl mix the tahini with the lemon juice, the sauce will thicken but don't worry. Add the water, salt and optional garlic and stir until all the lumps disappears, you can add more water if it's too thick. Enjoy with your falafels!

Arepas con Perico

Arepas are Venezuela's national bread. They are made of pre-cooked corn meal, so they cook very fast. We eat arepas any time of the day, but especially in the mornings with fresh cheese and butter. Everybody has their special way of making them and all my friends says that the best Arepa in town is made by their respective mother. It's the equivalent to the Mexican tortilla. You can fill Arepas with almost anything, from cheeses, to any kind of meats (veggie meats in my case). "Perico" means parakeet and it's our way to say scrambled eggs with tomatoes and onions. In the breakfast is often served along side the arepas. I will make some other recipes of vegetarian fillings for the arepas, like veggie Latin American "ground" meat or black beans. For now enjoy our family's favorite breakfast: Arepas con Perico.

Arepas

• 2 1/2 cups of warm mater
• 2 cups of PAN corn meal (It's has a distinctive yellow package, and is found in most Latin American groceries stores)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon corn oil
• 1 tablespoon butter (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a large bowl mix the water, salt and oil. Add the corn meal slowly in a steady stream, mixing constantly with a spoon so you don't get any lumps. Knead the dough until smooth, here I like to add a tablespoon of butter, but that is optional. Knead a little bit more and form balls, about 2 to 3 inches wide, then flatten the balls into discs. Heat a cast iron pan, or any frying pan, and sear the arepas for a few minutes on each side (this will form a nice crust) then transfer the arepas to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Serve immediately with butter, cheese and Perico (recipe follows).

Perico

• 1 tablespoon corn oil
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1 to 2 roma tomato (depending on their size) diced.
• 5 eggs, lightly beaten
• salt to taste

Cook the onion and tomato in the oil for about 10 minutes over medium heat until translucent. Add the beaten eggs and salt. Finish cooking until the eggs are cooked trough (if you take them out of the heat just before they're done, when they're still creamy, they will end up perfect). Enjoy with the arepas.

Rice stuffed Swiss Chard

When I want my daughter to eat her greens, rice and beans all in one this is the perfect dish. She really loves it!. I like it drizzle with some lemon juice or with some yogurt sauce. Also the potatoes that are used in the bottom of the pan are delicious, because they absorb all the juices. You can use any kind of rice, basmati and brown rice are my favorites. You can also substitute cabbage leaves for the Swiss Chard.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch Swiss Chard
• 1 cup rice, like basmati
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 6 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup cooked garbanzo beans
• 1/2 bunch chopped parsley
• 1/4 bunch chopped mint
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt to taste
• 1 large peeled and sliced potato

To prepare the filling, first wash the rice and then mix in the rest of the ingredients (except the Swiss Chard and the potato) adjusting the seasonings at the end. Let it rest. To prepare the Swiss Chard, first cut the white stalks and save them for another occasion (I like to cut and boil them and add little butter and salt). Blanch the green leaves in boiling water for a few minutes to soften them up, so they would not break when rolling. Let them cool briefly. Meanwhile arrange the potato slices in the bottom of a pan. Start filling the leaves like a burrito, this mean extend the leave in a fat surface, arrange 1 to 2 tablespoons of the filling and fold the sides, roll the leave and put them in the pan side by side, doing one layer at a time until the leaves and stuffing are finished. At the end collect the leftover juices of the filling, mix with 2 cups of water and extra salt and add to the pan. Cover the leaves with an overturned heatproof plate to prevent them from open up. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to medium. Cook for about 45 minutes or until the rice is done, you can taste one leave to be sure. Let them cool before transferring them to a plate, otherwise they will break. Serve at room temperature, with the potatoes and some yogurt sauce on the side.

Mushroom and spinach Quiche

Ok, this is what I made with the rest of the pre-made pie dough I bought. It's a basic quiche, but is so simple and delicious that you would like to make it again and again. The quiche usually contains 2 whole eggs per cup of liquid, but when the mushroom are cooked they render some liquid so I increased the ratio a little bit, and used the mushroom flavorful liquid into the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 pre-made pie dough
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 1/2 pounds of mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 bunch fresh spinach, washed
• 1 cup of whole milk
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven at 350°.Transfer the dough to a pie pan, make some decorative trimmings in the edges and freeze it for 5 minutes before baking.  Using dry beans as weights, pre-bake the pie crust for about 30 min or until light golden brown, let it cool. Cook the garlic in the olive oil for 1 minute, add the sliced mushrooms and cook them for about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the washed spinach and salt and pepper to taste, cook for another 5 minutes. In a separate bowl mix the milk, eggs and Gruyere cheese. Add the mushroom mixture to the milk and eggs, adjust seasonings. Pour it into the pre-bake pie crust and bake it for another 45 to 60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. I like to accompany this with a fresh green salad and some white wine.

Eggplant "no pasta" Lasagna

This is one of those low carb choices that I really like. Is loaded with flavor, vegetables and protein. It's also good to entertain a group of friends, and after they taste it tell them:"hey, guess what? there is no meat or pasta in this dish". I hope you like it as much as my family.

Ingredients

• 2 Eggplants
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 oz meat substitute crumbles (I like the Morningstar Farms Grillers Burger style recipe Crumbles, it's about half package)
• 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 7 fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
• 15 oz Ricotta Cheese
• 1/2 bunch fresh spinach, cooked, drained and chopped
• 1 egg
• pinch nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil
• 2 + 3 oz Parmesan cheese

First preheat the oven to 350°. Then cut the eggplants lengthwise about 1 inch thick, I like to leave the skin on, but you can take it out if you like. Brush the eggplant slices with olive oil and add salt and pepper. Bake in the oven until soft, about 20 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile cook the onion and garlic in a little olive oil until translucent, then add the meat substitute and cook for 5 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes and cook for about 20 minutes over medium-low heat, adding the basil after the first 10 minutes. In a separate bowl mix the ricotta cheese, spinach, egg, 2 oz of parmesan cheese, pinch of nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. When everything is ready it's time to assemble the lasagna!. In a ovenproof dish first add a little tomato sauce, then a layer of eggplant slices, then 1/3 of the ricotta mixture and 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat with tomato sauce, eggplant slices, ricotta mixture and cheese, and so on. At the end  top it off with the rest of the parmesan cheese and bake for about 40 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!!

Asparagus and mushrooms risotto

This recipe was inspired by my sister Mirtha one afternoon that I asked her: What should I do with some asparagus that I bought today? she promptly reply: Risotto of course. So I got inspired and develop this delicious and hearty risotto dish. The secret is to stir constantly while adding the broth, so the final consistency would be creamy and silky. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 TB butter
• 2 TB olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1/2 oz (about 1/4 cup) dried porcini mushrooms, or any dry wild mushroom, soaked in 1/2 cup water for 15 minutes
• 1 lb asparagus, ends trimmed, chopped in 1 inch pieces and tips saved in a separate bowl
• 2 cups arborio rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• about 6 cups vegetable broth
• 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat the broth, and keep it warm in a separate pan.

Cook the garlic and onion in the butter and olive oil until translucent(do not brown, if starts to brown lower the temperature), add the chopped asparagus (saving the tips for later) and the drained mushrooms (save the liquid). Cook for 5 minutes and add the rice, cook for another 5 minutes and add the wine. Cook stirring constantly, when the wine is absorbed add the mushroom liquid, when this liquid is absorbed add the asparagus tips and add the vegetable broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring and adding more when the rice absorbs the broth. Cook until the rice is tender but not too mushy, do not over cook!. This will take around 20 minutes. At the end add the cheese and salt and pepper to taste (this will vary according to the saltiness of the broth and the cheese) serve immediately. At the table arrange a little serving dish of grated Parmesan cheese so you can top it with extra cheese.

Pasta with creamy gorgonzola sauce and roasted cherry tomatoes

This is the kind of dish I create on a Sunday afternoon for a quick dinner. The sauce is rich and creamy and the roasted tomatoes burst with sweet juices and tangy flavors.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz spinach fettuccine
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2-3 oz crumbled Gorgonzola, or any blue cheese that you like
• salt and white pepper to taste
• 1/2 pound cherry tomatoes
• olive oil and salt
• grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven at 350°. Drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil and salt, and layer them in a cooking tray. Roast for 20 minutes or until tender. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water according to package instructions. Heat the cream over low heat, add the Gorgonzola and slowly melt, when melted adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Mix the drained pasta with the cream sauce, then add several tomatoes to each plate. Sprinkle with a generous portion of Parmesan cheese. Serve with slices of rustic bread.