Anytime we get mushrooms at the market, I make sure to grab a couple to bring home. Lately we’ve had two kinds: button and baby bella mushrooms. To me button mushrooms are the first mushroom we are introduced to. You’ll usually find these in your pizza or in your salad. Baby bella (short for Portabella) is a darker more flavorful mushroom which is usually cooked/grilled/baked in balsamic vinegar. I’ll have to do another post on grilling these with Parkesdale’s Balsamic Vinegar dressing. 🙂
Mushrooms are great in salads, spaghetti sauce or just cooked by themselves with Troyer butter. For last night’s dinner, I used the button mushrooms. I finally got the courage to try and make risotto at home with Arborio Rice. I’ve made “risotto” with orzo pasta a few times before and called it risotto. But to make authentic Italian Risotto, one must use Arborio. Arborio rice is easy to find, I just picked it up at our local Publix. The thing about making risotto is that you need to stir it constantly until all the juices are absorbed and keep adding more juice until the rice is “al dente”. It’ll continue to cook once you remove it from the stove. While cooking it last night, I couldn’t help but think of Chef Ramsay and his Hell’s Kitchen show. If there’s one thing I learned from Hell’s Kitchen, then it would be “risotto must flow like lava.”
Wanna make a quick sauce to glaze over your pork chops, chicken or fish? Grab a jar of marmalade! A while back I read a post from Closet Cooking about Pork chops in a balsamic fig sauce. At the time, I didn’t have fresh figs at home, but I did have our No Sugar Added Fig Jam. Ever since that day, I think all of our pork chops have had some kind of “jam sauce”! Last night, was no different. I sprinkled some Everglades Seasoning on both sides of the pork chops. Added the pork chops to the chopped onions on the pan and cooked them until they were done. Once I removed the pork chops from the pan, you can use wine/sherry/balsamic vinegar to deglaze your pan and add a heaping tablespoon of your favorite marmalade/jam. Last night I used our Palmalito Orange Marmalade. Cook until reduced by half and drizzle over your meat. Gourmet in minutes!
This was the first time I used the Orange marmalade and my husband mentioned it had a slight bitter taste. I’m thinking it might be from the orange peel in the marmalade. Everyone ate it, even the kids!
Do you often modify recipes? Are you successful?
Do you like mushrooms?
