Win Sauce

 

That is no typo. This sauce is full of win.

Its also full of wine.

I asked Chris what he wanted for dinner tonight, and he said something along the lines of my Mushroom Chicken Bake dish. I'm plum out of milk or cream though, so I made something up with what I had available: cream cheese. This sauce is simple, and incredibly rich and delicious. I served it with veggie chik'n fillets, but it would probably be great with salmon too.

Win Sauce

3 Morningstar Farms Veggie Sausage Patties

1/3 cup cream cheese

1/3 cup white wine (I used Cupcake Vineyards Chardonnay)

2 tsp. fresh sage, chopped fine

Garlic powder

Cook the sausage patties in a pan with some butter or oil per the directions on the box. Remove from pan and dice. Return the sausage mince to the pan and add the wine and cream cheese. Cook over medium heat until the cheese is melted and everything is hot. Add the sage and garlic powder or other seasonings to taste, stir, and serve. Easy peasy!

Related recipes:

Mushroom Chicken Bake

Boozy Mushrooms and Fresh Pasta

Wine Sauteed Mushrooms

Tartlette's Quinoa, Roasted Pepper, and Avocado Cream Verrines

I like layers: in my hair, in what I wear (it is the Bay Area after all), and especially in my food. One of these days I'm going to make a 14-Layer Cake.

But layered food isn't just for dessert. I love lasagna, especially with well-defined layers. And I really liked Tartlette's Quinoa Verrines. I pretty much followed her recipe, though I used Greek yogurt and an entire avocado. So whip some up for dinner; life's all about layers.

Quinoa, Roasted Pepper, and Avocado Cream Verrines

1 cup quinoa
1-1/2 cups water
Salt
1 pepper, or a mix of baby peppers
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
1 avocado
Juice of half a lime
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon red onion, chopped
1/4 cup Greek yogurt

Combine the quinoa, water, and a pinch of salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil; simmer until the quinoa is tender, 15 to 20 minutes, and let cool to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Toss the whole pepper(s) with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and peppere, and roast until it starts to blister, about 20 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, then cut in half, remove seeds, and cut into smaller pieces as desired.

Mash the avocado with the lime juice, cilantro, onion, and yogurt in a non-reactive bowl until smooth.

Layer the quinoa, peppers, and avocado cream in glasses. Feel good about eating something healthy and pretty.

Related recipes:
Quinoa with Black Beans and Sweet Potato
Tempeh Provencal
Acorn Squash Tacos

Zu - Zu - Zu- cchini!

Is it just me, or is zucchini an awesome word? Say it out loud a few times and tell me differently. This summer squash cooks up fast and is quite versatile. I've been wanting pasta lately, but often feel like pasta can be a waste of calories. And Chris is back to limiting the amount of carbohydrates in his diet (he vacillates between eating them and not eating them, but notes that he just feels better overall when he avoids most carbs), which can be a bit of a challenge for a vegetarian cook. There's only so many meat and salad dishes I can make without losing interest, since I'm not eating the meat I make for Chris. And I prefer cooking something that we can enjoy together. Right in the nick of time, I saw zucchini noodles mentioned somewhere and couldn't wait to give them a try. Its really just a simple, quick method of preparing zucchini, and the "noodles" make for a healthy bed for a sauce of some sort.

So grab some zucchini and let's go! Two zucchini make a Chris-sized portion, so if you're cooking for a couple of people get three or four. Lop off the ends and use a mandoline slicer, zester, julienne peeler, or a knife to make julienne strips the length of the squash. There's no need to peel the zucchini first, and the variation in color makes the finished dish look nice anyway.

Put the zucchini noodles in a colander over a bowl, sprinkle with salt, toss, and let sit for 15 to 30 minutes. This softens the noodles a bit. Then toss the noodles in boiling water for a minute (that's right, one minute), drain, and serve.

I served these noodles topped with a mushroom chicken bake - pretty much the same as you'll find on the back of a can of Campbell's condensed mushroom soup. Mmm... comfort food. I made it in two pans, one with chicken for Chris and the other with a Quorn Naked Chik'n Fillet for me. If you go the vegetarian route, do not cook it in the oven for a full 30 minutes. The Quorn fillet will be fine, but the sauce will dry up and then you'll look longing over at your husbands bowl with creamy mushroom sauce over a bed of vibrant green zucchini noodles, wondering if it tastes as good as you had hoped it would while said husband declares it is fantastic and praises the invention of the zucchini. Not that that happened, or anything.

Here's the recipe for the chicken version.

Mushroom Chicken Bake

from Campbell's

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves  (about 1 pound)
Lemon pepper seasoning
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 can (4 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained (I used fresh sliced mushrooms)
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, crushed (I used 4 cloves, and my garlic press)
Ground black pepper

1. Season the chicken with the lemon pepper seasoning.  Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet.  Add the chicken and cook for 10 minutes or until well browned on both sides.  Place the chicken into a 2-quart baking dish.

2. Stir the soup, mushrooms, milk, cheese and garlic in a small bowl.  Season with the black pepper.  Pour the soup mixture over the chicken.

3. Bake at 350°F. for 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.  Serve the chicken and sauce with pasta, rice, or zucchini noodles!

Psst: Want a chance to win a gorgeous baking pan or pitcher? Then head on over to Cherry on a Cake and enter! I'm partial to the baking pan, myself...

Related Recipes:

Zucchini Bread 

Coq Au Vin

Simple Mushroom Stew

Boozy Mushrooms and Fresh Pasta

I bought myself a pasta machine. I've made fresh pasta once before, using a rolling pin and a pizza cutter, and didn't make it thin enough. Now I can make it extremely thin, and I can't wait to make a truly homemade lasagna.

The dough recipe I used this time comes from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman, which is a great compendium of all sorts of useful information. Its basically the same as the previous recipe, but I used fresh thyme and his food processor option to make it even easier: Put 2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon minced thyme, and a teaspoon of salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add 3 eggs and process until a ball begins to form. Add some water or flour, if your dough is too dry or too wet. Sprinkle with flour, cover with plastic, and let rest 30 minutes. Then roll, roll, roll, and cut with the pasta machine.

The rolling was a very cool process. You start on the largest setting and run a chunk of dough through, twice on each setting and sprinkling with flour if its sticky, until you get to the smallest (only once then). A few things I learned: Use a small chunk of dough, because it will get very long in the thinner stages, and difficult to deal with if you're doing this by yourself. And the thinnest setting, 9 on my machine, was too thin for me. The noodles came out soggy even after less than two minutes of cooking the first time. The second time I stopped at 7 or 8 and was much happier with the result.

Once you have your dough to the thickness you want, run it through the cutters, et voila! Fresh pasta. My machine has tagliatelle and angel hair, and you can use the uncut sheets for lasagna. You can then let it dry and store it, or cook it right away in boiling salted water.

I topped mine with Jaden of Steamy Kitchen's Whiskey Mushroom Cream Sauce. And oh my goodness, is this ever good! She uses it atop a steak (and manages to take a mouthwatering picture of it to boot!). I used regular button mushrooms and a ton more garlic, 'cause that's how I roll. This stuff is magic, and it is imperative that you go make this and pour it over whatever you want. Just get it in your pie-hole pronto! And go on over and say hi to Jaden while you're at it; she has a fantastic blog.

Related recipes:
Wine Sauteed Mushrooms
Stuffed Mushrooms

Making Stuff

I'll start off with an almost-fail recipe I made late last week. I had seen a recipe somewhere for Spinach Ricotta Dumplings with a Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce, and could not get it out of my head. I could not find the original recipe, so I cobbled it together with a couple of other recipes I found online. However, I substituted mozzarella for Parmesan in my dumplings and they turned out soggy. That was all overshadowed by the sauce. ZOMG, it was good! The sauce is from Chocolate & Zucchini, and it would be delicious over pasta or gnocchi.

Why yes, that is a lot of sauce

I also made a pizza that was one of my best yet. I made my usual dough, with 1/3 whole wheat flour, garlic, and red pepper flakes. I topped it with a mushroom basil cream sauce (I've been on a sauce kick lately), similar to the garlic sauce above; chopped marinated artichoke hearts, chopped spinach, grated cheddar, and vegetarian pepperoni slices. I had it for lunch today, and Chris had it for breakfast.

Acres of pizza

I've also finished the other front piece of my Soap Bubble Wrap. I'm already about four inches into the back too. This sweater is going very quickly! The lace pattern is simple and fun, and I've gotten through it with a minimum of problems, which makes me happy. A few more weeks and I suspect I'll have a finished product.

Soap Bubble Left Front