Stuffed Mushrooms, just time time for NYE !!

Here's another  easy appetizer, just barely in time for tonight.

In stuffing mushrooms you can be very flexible. See what you have in your fridge, chop it up and stuff it into the cap of your mushroom. Bake and eat !!

It's almost that easy. Since I used very large mushrooms, I baked them top down at 400 F for 10 minutes before stuffing them.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:
12 large mushrooms, washed and stemmed
1/2 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
2 cloves minced garlic
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or Italian parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
2-4 tablespoons olive oil

1) Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with foil.

2) Pre-bake the mushrooms for 10-15 minutes, if they are large.

3) Chop all the fresh herbs.

4) Grate the cheese.

5) Mince the garlic.

6) Toss all the ingredients except the olive oil,  together in a bowl.

7) Add two tablespoons of olive oil and mix well. If the mixture isn't moist enough add more olive oil or a little water.

8) Stuff the caps and place on the foil covered baking sheets. I stuffed them quite full.

9) Drizzle each cap with the remaining olive oil.

10) Bake for 25 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and the mushrooms are tender.

11) Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Notes: try chopped mushroom stems sauteed with onions, or add walnuts, or sunflower seeds, goat cheese, ground meat, etc...

Devils on Horseback

Oh my, I first tasted these amazing appetizers at Misfit in Santa Monica.
Dates stuffed with goat cheese and almonds wrapped in bacon, my idea of heaven.
And just in time for New Year's Eve !!!

For Christmas Eve we decided to do an all appetizer meal, both hot and cold.
Here was my excuse to try my hand at these delectable treats.

I was amazed at how many versions there are of devils on horseback. You can use a variety of cheeses: blue cheese, Stilton or asiago for example. Prunes can be used instead of dates, which would limit the number consumed. Some recipes use soy sauce, sherry or brown sugar and smoked almonds.

Here is the way I made them.

Devils on Horseback

Ingredients

soft goat cheese
whole almonds
sliced bacon
large dates, (medjools work well)
wooden toothpicks ( soaked in water)

I have not given amounts because it depends on how many you want to make and the size of your dates.
For each date you will need: one almond, about a 1/2 teaspoon of goat cheese, a half slice of bacon and one toothpick.
You do the math ;-)

I will give you lovely photos of the process.

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

1) Remove the pits from your dates.

2) Stuff with goat cheese and an almond.

3) Wrap in a half slice of bacon and secure with the toothpick.

4) Place on a foil lined baking pan.

5) Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the bacon is crisp. Remove onto a paper towel to drain.

6) Serve after allowing to cool for 5 minutes.

Most of the recipes did mention how hard it was to get a photo that makes them look appetizing. Oh well, you will just have to trust me on that.

I plan to make these again for New Year's Eve !!

How to search this blog.

This is my Christmas gift to those of you have had trouble finding recipes on this blog.

I am going to use a technique we employed when preparing high school students for the international science fair. They had to be able to explain their complex projects to a third grader. With computers it's more like can I explain this to a 60 year old...

First type in "Laurie Little Kitchen" to your browser or Google.

When the page opens for this blog, you should see the search box with the little magnifying glass.

This is where you can type in whatever you are looking for: a specific recipe or an ingredient or a category like dessert :-) 

Once you type it in, click either little magnifying glass or the return key, you should then see all the items that fit your search.

If you don't see this search box...you may need to try a different browser.
Browsers are the search engines you use like Firefox, Chrome, and Safari.

Or you may need to update whatever browser you use.
To do, this type in your browser's name and the word "update".
Hopefully this will get you to a page that will walk you through the process.
Or go ask your teenager.

Here's another way to go about finding a recipe: using Google, type in the recipe you are looking for AND the words " Laurie's Little Kitchen". That's what Genna does.

If all else fails, email me, I can send you the recipe directly from my blog which I am happy to do.

Let me know if this helps. Merry Christmas.

Coming soon: recipes for New Year's Eve appetizers !!

Last Minute Holiday Gift Ideas

Food makes great gifts, plain and simple.
Food doesn't have to be the right size or color and does not need to be dusted or displayed.
Food gives comfort.
The only caveat is to know your recipient.
These days some folks have food allergies and preferences, or are on special diets, there are still a lot of food gifts you can give.
If this time of year seems too "foody", consider giving your friends or family a coupon for a pot of soup, home cooked meal, batch of cookies or fancy dessert.
These coupons can redeemed later, when the flush of holiday food is a distant memory.

If you are inspired and want to make some easy food gifts, here are ten of my favorites.

1) Infused oils and vinegars

2)Granola

3) Ice cream toppings

4) Brown sugar

5) Citrus simple syrups  

6) Fruit syrups

7) Homemade chili powder and pie spice blends.

8) Homemade curry spice

9) More spice mixes: Moroccan, jerk and ranch.

10) Hummus with homemade crackers.

That busy time of year !!

I have only posted twice this month, both about Thanksgiving, I apologize.
This is the busy time for Laurie's Little Store. I am currently in the middle of a three day holiday boutique in a friend's yurt . Today I will be there from 5 to 9 PM and Saturday from 11 AM to 3 PM, it's at 329 Rigg St. In Santa Cruz.

I have also been busy with special orders for almond toffee and sunrise marmalade.

It's not like I haven't been cooking, this week I made squash soup, Potage St. Germain and curried chickpea soup. I also made Asian peanut slaw, Laurie's potatoes and massage kale salad with Fuyu persimmons and Granny Smith apples. I did most of this cooking in the early part of the week, so I could slide now while I am doing the show.

I do have a gluten free thumbprint cookie I need to share...but it takes time to post new recipes. I will get to it after this show is over.

I plan to post about making food gifts for the holidays.
Here's a starter from last year, making your own spice mixes.

It's always fun to do this year's 12 favorite recipes, too.
I would love to hear from you.
What did you make from my blog that you loved ??

Great Stuffing: the last Thanksgiving post...

I know almost a week has past since that exquisite meal...
I do promise this will be the last post concerning Thanksgiving.

This year we decided to cut down and only do one stuffing, usually we do a cornbread stuffing and a bread stuffing, so we made up this hybrid version.

It was so good, I needed to preserve it here for posterity and next year's meal.
I may not be able to wait that long to make this stuffing again. It would be a nice addition to any roasted chicken dinner.

Laurie & Genna's Best of Both Stuffing

Ingredients

1 8X8 pan of cornbread, cubed and staled
1/2 loaf of sourdough whole wheat bread, cubed and staled
3 cups broth, vegetable or fowl
6 tablespoons melted butter
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 chopped red bell pepper
small onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fennel bulb ( optional)
3/4 cup chopped tart apple, Granny Smith or Pippin
1 1/2 cups chopped mushrooms
fresh sage and thyme sprigs
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1) Make an 8 X 8 pan of cornbread, cool, cut into cubes and allow to become stale. Or to speed that up heat the cubes in a low ( 225 F) oven for an hour or so.

2) Cube the whole wheat sourdough bread and allow to become stale or add it to the cornbread cubes in the oven.

3) Preheat the oven to 350 F and butter a 13 X 9 inch glass baking dish.

4) In skillet, saute the onions, fennel and fresh herbs in the olive oil until soft.

5) Add the chopped pepper, celery and apple, continue to saute until the whole mixture is soft. Set aside in a large bowl.

6) Saute the mushrooms in the same pan with a little more olive oil until most of the moisture has cooked out of them. Add them to the bowl.

7) Toss the bread cubes into the bowl with all the cooked vegetables, add the broth,melted butter, salt and pepper and toss to combine. Make sure all the bread is moistened, feel free to add more broth if it looks dry.

8) Fill the glass baking dish with stuffing.

9) Cover with foil, bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil cover and bake for another 15 minutes.

Serve with roasted bird or just by itself.

Pecan Pie: it's still legal after Thankgiving

I know Thanksgiving is over but I still have a few related recipes to share.

 

I have been searching for a really good pecan pie recipe, I wanted one that doesn't use corn syrup. I make my famous almond toffee without it, why not my pecan pie. Agave works beautifully for both.

We found this recipe from the Food Network, Genna made it for Thanksgiving.

She has already requested that we make it again at Christmas, that's how good it is.
The orange zest is such a great accent, it helps cut that heavy sweetness.


Pecan Pie

Ingredients

6 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon brandy
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup agave nectar
3 large eggs
1/ 3/4 cups pecans, some broken up

1 pie crust

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with a baking sheet on the middle rack.

2) Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small, heavy saucepan over medium heat.

3) Add the brown sugar, whisking until smooth.

4) Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla,brandy,orange zest, salt, and agave nectar.

5) Lightly beat the eggs in a medium bowl, then whisk in the butter and brown sugar mixture.

6) Put the pecans in the pie shell and pour the butter and brown sugar mixture evenly over them.

7) Place on the hot baking sheet and bake until the filling is set, 50 minutes to 1 hour.

8) Cool for 1 hour before slicing and serving.