Creamy Mushroom Fettuccine with Spinach

I am just starting to like mushrooms. I've always wanted to like them; I really did, but I found them slimy and weird. I mean, they are fungi. They are grown in poo. I know this because one winter day my dad took me and my brother to a mushroom farm to see the 15 foot pile of steaming manure because he thought it was funny (it totally was). I have persevered, adding mushrooms to lots of different dishes, and now I can proudly say that I like mushrooms. We're not in love yet, but they are growing on me [insert joke about me being full of shit here]. Even if you think you don't like mushrooms, please try this recipe. Perhaps it will be your gateway recipe to harder mushroom dishes.

Other mushroom recipes I have bookmarked that you may want to try:
Gnocchi with Mushrooms, Squash, and Chestnut Cream (see my previous gnocchi post)
Mushroom Cheese Log with Pecans
Flank Steak Spirals with Porcini and Red Wine Sauce
Green Bean and Mushroom Casserole
Mushroom, Butternut Squash, and Gruyere Tart

CREAMY MUSHROOM FETTUCCINE WITH SPINACH

Serves 2

• 175 g (1/2 package) fettuccine- white or whole wheat
• 1 tbsp butter
• 227 g sliced mushrooms, roughly chopped if desired
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1 1/2 tbsp flour
• 2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped, or 1/2 tsp dried
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 big handfuls baby spinach
• squeeze of lemon juice
• 2 tsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

Cook pasta to al dente according to package directions. Meanwhile, melt butter in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, saute until pan is dry and mushrooms are golden brown. Reduce heat to medium, add garlic and green onions, cook for 30 seconds. Sprinkle over flour, cook for 1 minute. Add milk, cream cheese and thyme. Bring to a boil while gently whisking. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce is thickened. Add sauce to drained pasta in the same pot the pasta was cooked in. Add spinach, Parmesan, lemon juice. Stir over low heat until pasta is coated with sauce and spinach is wilted. Serve with additional Parmesan and a sprinkle of parsley.

Cranberry Coffee Cake

I have had a bag of frozen cranberries in the freezer since the first appeared in season in the grocery store. In October. These cranberries even held up a line at the store and called the manager over (the bar code wasn't in the system and they didn't know the price, so eventually they made up a price. $1. Score!). Why did I let these hard won cranberries languish for so long in the icy depths of the freezer? I was daunted by the amount of butter in the recipe I had intended to use them in, since I would be the only one eating it as Tyler doesn't like cranberries.

Then I saw this recipe on The Hungry Housewife for Cranberry Crumb Cake from Tate's Bakery Cookbook and immediately got to work as I had all the ingredients on hand. This cake is delicious and I am now putting cranberries in everything. Remember these bran muffins? They've even better with cranberries.

The cake is amazing as is, but next time I make it I will half the crumb topping. I found there was too much of it and it overpowered the cake.

LINK TO RECIPE:

Tate's Bakery Cranberry Crumb Cake

Here are some other cranberry recipes that I have saved in my favorites to try:

Cranberry Curd Bars with Walnut Shortbread Crust
Spiced Cranberry Spice Cake
Cranberry Crumb Bars (the recipe I was originally going to make with the cranberries)
Nantucket Cranberry Pie

Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes

It sounds like an oxymoron, right? Healthy chocolate cupcakes. And get this- they don't taste healthy. The secret ingredient is: canned beets. I can't even stand the smell of beets, but you wouldn't even know they were there. We had friends over for dinner on Saturday and had these for dessert. I told them in advance that they were no ordinary cupcakes, and when I revealed the secret ingredient they were shocked. They fell out of their chairs and put both hands to the sides of their faces Home Alone-style.

K, everything I just said about the chairs and Macaulay Culkin didn't exactly happen, but these are some seriously good, virtuous cupcakes. Aside from being low-fat, read about why they are so good for you at Chatelaine Magazine. I made a few changes to the recipe, the biggest one being doubling the cocoa powder, so the nutritional stats from Chatelaine aren't going to be accurate if you follow the recipe below, but pretty close. Also, I didn't find that the raspberry-cream cheese icing in the original recipe tasted like much other than cream cheese, so I haven't included a recipe for icing below. Feel free to use whatever icing you'd like, and eat some raspberries on the side to get the health benefits listed in the article. Or puree them in a blender to make a raspberry sauce to go with the cupcakes. Last night I just mushed up some raspberries with a fork on my plate and put the cupcake on top.

Go ahead, make some chocolate cupcakes and trick your friends and family. Or if you don't want to share (understandable), eat three at a time- they're good for you, remember?

One Year Ago: Ricotta Gnocchi

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Makes 12 

• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 398-ml can sliced beets, drained and patted dry
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup safflower or canola oil
• 1 tbsp instant coffee powder
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake wrappers or spray with cooking spray. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt.

Puree beets in a blender or food processor until smooth. In another bowl beat sugar, oil, instant coffee until combined, about 2 minutes. Beat in egg, then beets and vanilla.

With beater on low speed, mix in 1/3 of flour mixture, then 1/2 of buttermilk. Repeat additions, ending with flour mixture. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake in center of oven about 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool in muffin tin 5 minutes, then to a rack until completely cooled.

Need a smile today?

This post has nothing to do with food, but I wanted to share my new favorite thing. Perhaps if you have children you already know that The Barenaked Ladies have a children's album, "Snack Time!". I discovered it yesterday, and I am listening to it right now while Parker is napping. That's how good it is. I am a huge lover of all music*, so to find a children's album to be good listening is a feat to be sure. It covers all genres of music, from a country-inspired song 7 8 9, to the reggae Pollywog in a Bog. True to BNL style, the lyrics are clever and funny both for kids and adults. Even if you don't have kiddlins, please head over to iTunes or Amazon and listen to the samples of at least the first three songs. It'll make your day.

*except techno music- I think you're demented if you listen to this somewhere other than a dance club, and even then it's questionable

One Year Ago: Chai Tea Mini Cupcakes and a baking disaster

Open Faced Steak Sandwiches

Hello good lookin'. That's what I said when I made these sandwiches. What, you don't talk to your food? Weirdo.

I won't go into much detail on how to cook steak- I'm sure if you Google "how to cook a steak" you'll get a million links (I just tried it: there are over 8 million hits). Here's how I cook steak: Heat a cast iron skillet over med-high heat. Dry meat with a paper towel. Just before cooking, add a pat of butter to the pan and season steaks really well with salt and pepper. Cook to medium rare; I used 1/2-inch thick beef tenderloin steaks so they took only about 3 minutes per side. Let rest on a plate covered with foil for 10 minutes before slicing. I think it is a travesty to not make a sauce when you have beautiful beefy browned bits stuck to the pan, hence the pan sauce pored over the sandwiches.

 I baked an amazing loaf of bread for this sandwich the day before. I'm glad I decided not to half the recipe because now I have a second loaf in the freezer. If you don't have a delicious homemade Rosemary and Garlic Loaf, be sure to use a good hearty bread. This is not the time, nor the place, for Wonder Bread folks.

One Year Ago: Baked Fish and Chips, Olive Bread, Birthday Dinner Menu

OPEN FACED STEAK SANDWICHES

• steak, cooked to your liking and sliced thinly
• two slices of bread per person
• shredded cheese (I used this kind)
• baby spinach or arugula
• caramelized onions (see below)
• balsamic pan sauce (see below)

Preheat broiler and move oven rack to top position. Place bread on a baking sheet. Top with steak, then onions, spinach, cheese. Broil until cheese is melted. Top with balsamic sauce. Eat with a knife and fork.

CARAMELIZED ONIONS

Slice onions into thin half moons (I use a mandoline). Saute over medium-low to medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper until onions are very soft and golden (you don't want them to brown at any point though). Extra caramelized onions can be kept in the fridge- I always make lots so that I have left overs.

BALSAMIC PAN SAUCE

While steaks are resting, turn pan down to medium heat. Add a small pat of butter, a big splash of balsamic vinegar, a dollop of Dijon mustard, and pepper. Whisk to combine and get all the nice bits off the bottom of the pan. Simmer until slightly thickened and keep warm over medium heat until ready to use. Add in any juices accumulated from the steaks resting or when you cut the meat as well.

Goat's Milk Mozzarella

Just a quick share today. I discovered this cheese a few weeks ago and have bought it every week since. Put it on pizza and you'll have the best pizza ever. I've also used it in lasagna in place of half the regular mozzarella cheese and that was delicious too.

A Tale of Two Banana Breads

I'm sure every blogger is starting their first posts of the new year with apologies for not posting for a couple of weeks. I'm not. We're all busy over the holidays. It is what it is.

This post could also have been titled "Pre and Post New Years Banana Bread" or "Angel and Devil Banana Bread". Do you see where I'm going with this? One is healthy and one is less healthy... but both are delicious. The "bad" banana bread is the banana bread of your dreams- tender, moist (I really just can't avoid that word), and banana-ey. This recipe has been my go-to for a few years. You can make the batter in the time that the oven heats up.

The "good" banana bread is a recipe I discovered yesterday. I wanted to make a lower-fat (read: less butter) banana bread with whole wheat flour. I have learned my lesson with playing fast and loose with baking, so being wary of free-handing a healthier loaf I looked to Cooking Light. Excellent choice. This may be the new standard in our house even though I prefer the "bad" banana bread. When faced with both options that are almost equally as good, why wouldn't you choose the one that's better for you? Next time I will add another banana to see if that will make it moister (ugh) and more banana-ey. Now that I've tried the recipe I feel confident that an addition won't be it's undoing. I'll report back with the results.

Bad but Oh So Good Banana Bread via Simply Recipes

Hearty, Healthy Banana Bread via Cooking Light
*Update Jan 20, 2010: Add one more banana than called for in the recipe. I find 2 medium bananas equals the cup called for in the recipe- add one more medium banana and the bread will be even better.

One Year Ago: Tex-Mex Lasagna, Egg Nog Panna Cotta, Homemade Gifts, The Big Salad