Posts Tagged ‘holidays’

A Special Easter Brunch Menu

Easter Sunday was always one of my favorite holidays while growing up. As a child, I would get decked out in my finest Easter attire to go to the sunrise church service: white shoes, hair pulled back in a perfect pink bow and a little pastel-colored purse that perfectly matched my outfit. Following service there was an Easter egg hunt (I was usually the champion) and a large family brunch, served with coffee and dessert. Brunch would take place at my family’s house or a nice restaurant if it was a year when no one wanted to clean up, and it was an aspect of the Easter tradition that I genuinely loved.

I can picture the brunch spread now – eggs with morel mushrooms, ham, bacon, toast, hashbrowns and pancakes! Did I mention that I come from a large Italian family that always served an abundance of food?

Some of the most special family memories come while breaking bread together, so here are some delectable Easter brunch menu ideas sure to please the ones you love!

  1. Roasted Portabella Eggs Benedict – This recipe is an Easter brunch must-have and requires three main ingredients: portabellas, hollandaise sauce and eggs. Bring them together and “Voila!” you have a gourmet meal.
  2. Tip O’ The Mornin’ Omelet – Don’t let the name mislead you, this isn’t an Irish omelet! It mixes asparagus and morel mushrooms, which are plentiful in the spring, for a truly satisfying start to the day.
  3. Mushroom Scramble – This is a great option for a more traditional morning menu. Serve several mushroom lovers by doubling the recipe, which calls for eggs, crimini and oyster mushrooms, unsalted butter, thyme and kosher salt. Pretty simple.

What is your favorite Easter tradition? Is it brunch, like mine?

Recipes of the Week: Holidays Are Here

I write this hoping that today finds you all fully recovered from a feast with friends and family alike. And by “recovered” I mean plotting menus for the next several weeks.  This is always an interesting week in the kitchen for me because on the one hand, there are inevitable glorious leftovers but on the other, I’m a little over them and  ready to start trying a few new flavors.

If you feel similarly then today is the ROW of your dreams because we’ve got something for everyone!

Photo Credit: The Kitchn

The Kitchn has a hot list of soups to make with your turkey stock  and other Thanksgiving leftovers.  You’ll notice that the vast majority of them have mushrooms including Hot and Sour Mushroom, Cabbage and Rice Soup, Mushroom Soup and traditional Hot and Sour Soup.  If you’ve never made turkey stock, here is a great instructional post. You will thank yourself later.

Photo Credit: Serious Eats

If you’ve got more leftovers than some straightforward stock, check out the recipe for Turkey Fricassee with Mushrooms at Serious Eats. Leftover meat, with fresh herbs, mushrooms and wine cooked with a rich broth > potpurri.

Photo Credit: Coconut Lime

If you’re done with turkey but not the cold weather comfort food, Coconut Lime has a divine Chicken and Mushroom bake with your name on it. She has a great trick using fresh mushrooms and evaporated milk that cuts down on the fat in standard cream-based soups.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Perrillo for The Family Table

Jennifer Perrillo has quickly become a favorite read around here…in all of her various nooks including her personal blog, Gourmet Unbound, and Food 52. She has a new project called The Family Table focused on healthy, delicious eating for parents and kids alike. Not only do we love the idea but we already love the approach- she leads with Mushroom Bolognese and great advice on helping kids get used to new ingredients…like mushrooms.

Photo Credit: Pink Parsley

Speaking of family-friendly, that’s my hunch for Cooking Light’s Pesto, Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna as executed by Pink Parsley.  That is a slew of my favorite things in one place and I’ve had a number of great experiences with Cooking Light’s recipes. Experiences that leave me full but feeling svelte nonetheless.

Photo Credit: Evil Shennanigans

Last but not least, there are those of you out there who barely saw the last guest’s taillight turning the corner before you started planning the next gathering. For those of you in this camp, consider Evil Shenanigans and her Bacon Jalapeno Stuffed Mushrooms. This essentially combines my two very favorite Pioneer Woman appetizers and somehow  manages to improve on the fat factor (these still aren’t light, but improved). The lovechild of bacon wrapped jalapenos and brie stuffed mushrooms? Don’t mind if I do.

Weekly Links: Mushroom News from Around the Web

Get healthy Tri-State: Keep the comfort, lose the calories The Herald-Dispatch knows that cold winter has many of us reaching for warm comfort foods like chili, pasta and beef dishes. While that sounds like the right food to trigger a warm feeling, consuming so much saturated fat isn’t your healthiest option. If you swap out mushrooms instead of meat in your comfort dishes you’ll find yourself with a source of ergothioneine—a compound that helps prevent plaque from forming in arteries. Now that’s comforting way to warm up this season!

Where to trim fat and calories at the Thanksgiving feast During and after your Thanksgiving feast, cutting the fat and extra calories from your holiday meals doesn’t mean cutting the taste. Many of us try to feel less guilty by eating vegetable or fruit side dishes, but forget that adding a stick of butter for flavor doesn’t help our waists much. The Dallas Morning News shares ways to enjoy your holiday and weekend indulgence, like delicious stuffing, while still being conscious of where its going.

Morels are very special mushrooms With such a wide variety of mushrooms to choose from—porcinis, trompettes, chanterelles, maitake and morels—it can be hard to pick a favorite. It can be even more daunting to find some of the more rare varieties that come with a higher price tag. If you do happen to use these special varieties while cooking or enjoy them while dining out, Olive Nation’s blog can help you choose the right pairing for each type. They offer suggestions for using the right sauce, vegetable or wine. The blog also includes tips for handling and preparation.

Tuna and Mushroom Potato Pot Pie Does your family have a favorite pie recipe that’s become a tradition around the dinner table? Bits of Taste was introduced to traditional pies by her mother-in-law and took a chance on making a modern version that not only added fiber to her family’s diet, but was also suitable for a picky eater. For fans of the traditional shepherd’s pie, this recipe is similar except that she has swapped minced mutton or beef for a healthier tuna.

Preventing The Swine Flu: A Comprehensive Approach There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to keeping everyone healthy and immune to influenza according to Mark Hyman, MD, at the The Huffington Post. Not everyone will find the same results from vaccines and treatments, thus the best approach is one that involves keeping healthy through a variety of means.  Hyman provides an overview of things to consider when getting a vaccine and offers alternative ways that support your immune system naturally, such as immune-enhancing mushrooms.

Second time around: What to do with those Thanksgiving leftovers If you find yourself in abundance of turkey leftovers don’t think that the most exciting use for a turkey is over. Silive.com has plenty of ideas for re-using leftovers that will still be as good as the original holiday meal. Whether you want to bake, throw together a quick pasta or warm up with soup, Silive.com has you covered through the weekend of leftovers.

Weekly Links: Mushroom News from Around the Web

Barbeque mushrooms: An incredible edible egg-cup We typically don’t think of including mushrooms in our everyday breakfast meals. When we see mushrooms at breakfast, its usually the “meat” of a breakfast burrito or a savory addition to an omelet. Well, its time to spruce up your mushroom breakfasts with this barbecue idea from The Home of Eggs. This barbecue mushroom egg recipe even includes a YouTube clip to show you how easy it is to grill a mushroom on your own.

Nature’s Hidden Source of Vitamin D Why is Vitamin D so important to our health? Is the sun the only source of Vitamin D? The Seattle PI answers these questions in their latest post and shares an alternative way to find Vitamin D when we’re limited on sun exposure. The post even includes a recipe for ginger shiitake rice adapted from Gourmet Magazine. Yum.

15 best (and worst) foods for immunity It’s officially cold and flu season—so how are you keeping yourself healthy? Have you thought about how  your diet may make you a germ magnet? MSNBC listed the 15 best and worst foods for your immune system based on their germ-killing abilities. Check them out and stay healthy everyone.

Seriously Meatless: Wild Mushroom Stuffing Thanksgiving is a week away! If you’re having food safety concerns or stressing over making a meal that’ll please a crowd of both vegetarians and omnivores, check out Serious Eats’ stuffing. It’s made outside of the turkey and serves up to 8 people.

Recipe ideas that use your Thanksgiving leftovers Some say that the best part of Thanksgiving is the leftovers. If you find yourself with plates of extra food after the holiday, check out My San Antonio’s ideas for what to do with those leftovers. It’s recipes for using up turkey, potatoes, cranberries and stuffing which sound just as delicious as the original meal itself!

Weekly Links: Mushroom News from Around the Web

Seasonal Influenza and H1N1 Today As H1N1 becomes more prevalent all around us, many people look for ways to boost their immunity to protect themselves. While basic measures can be taken to prevent the seasonal flu as well, Healthy News Digest reports on the extra steps that can be taken to strengthen the immune system. Dr. Cheri Quincy also shares a little background on how far we’ve come in fighting the flu since a pandemic in 1918 that killed 50 million people in twelve months.

‘Eat on $30 Challenge’ proves it’s possible to keep grocery costs low Kristina McLean took an interesting challenge to live on a $30 per week grocery budget while still eating well balanced meals. Using up food she already had, growing items in her garden and incorporating local ingredients was eye-opening, but more importantly, she learned to change recipes to fit her budget. Calculating everything down to cost-per-ingredient, McLean put together a low-cost Mushroom Barley Soup recipe you can totally afford to try.

Family Meals Matter: Meatless meals are healthy meals The Wichita Eagle reports on economical ways to eat and provide food for the whole family. Now it’s suggesting an economical and healthy way to stay full without the meaty ingredients we know and love.  It reports “even planning one or two meatless meals per week can help families save money without sacrificing taste or nutrition.” Best of all you can swap out meat for their recipe of cheese and spinach stuffed Portabella mushrooms.

Marvelous mushrooms Have you ever tried a “steak-like” mushroom the size of a saucer? The Portabella mushroom, a meaty variety perfect for adapting to many ways of cooking, is just that. Although its exotic looking, the Courier Journal explains that its simply a white button mushroom with “big size and flavor.” It’s large size is nothing to be afraid of however, it allows for more varied uses like stuffing. The Courier Journal includes their pick for Portabella use: KT’s Portabella Pasta. Enjoy!

Just Asking… Alicia Silverstone How many of our followers were once avid watchers of “Clueless”? Alicia Silverstone has come a long way since that time making a big change in her life in order to go vegan. The Wall Street Journal interviewed Silverstone about her new vegan cookbook which definitely includes mushrooms. She says, “one of my favorite dishes to serve at a party is the leek, pesto, mushroom crostini.” If any of you pick up her book, let us know if you test out her crostinis!

In Season: Stock up on fresh mushrooms Did you know that mushrooms have a season? Well, that season is now. Whether you’re into picking up produce at the local farmers market or the supermarket it’s always best to pick up what’s in season. The Dallas Morning News is telling us to stock up now on fresh mushrooms for upcoming occasions like Thanksgiving where they become a nice addition to side dishes and dressing.