Mushroom Pizza

This will satisfy your mushroom cravings.

Mushroom Pizza

1.5 cups white flour (plus additional as necessary for working the dough, plus 3 tbsp)
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1.5 tsp active dry yeast
3/4 cup very warm water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp olive oil
8 oz portobello mushrooms, sliced
1/2 large onion, diced
2 tbsp butter
1 cup skim milk
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup Swiss cheese, cut into small cubes
Spinach leaves

Mix the yeast and the warm water in a glass. Mix the flours (1.5 cups of each), salt, and olive oil in a medium bowl. Add the water and mix until blended. Set aside in a warm place.

Heat the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook about 5 minutes, until partly translucent. Add the mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have released their liquids and smell very good (about 5-7 more minutes).

Preheat the oven to 450. Add the 3 tbsp flour to the mushrooms and onions. Stir very well and cook, stirring, about two minutes. Add the milk and stir thoroughly. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until quite thickened -- about 5-7 minutes. Turn off the heat, and stir in the Parmesan cheese. (This would also make an excellent pasta sauce.)

Flour your hands and stretch (and/or pat) the dough out to fill a small cookie sheet covered in parchment paper (approximately eight by thirteen?) -- dough should be fairly thin, but this won't be a thin-crust pizza. Cover the dough with the mushroom sauce. Scatter the Swiss cheese over the top.

Put into the oven; turn the oven to 400. Bake 10-15 minutes, until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly. Scatter spinach leaves over the top. (NB: in the photo, I had scattered the spinach prior to baking -- don't do that.)

Serves 4+.

Chicken Soup with Rice and Vegetables (aka Alternate Chicken Soup)

Usually, when I say chicken soup, I mean this one. That's the one I usually make. But today I had different vegetables on hand and thought that some major ginger and garlic would go a long way towards fighting this cold that I've got. So here's an alternate chicken soup -- one that might become my go-to.

Chicken Soup with Rice and Vegetables (aka Alternate Chicken Soup)

4 cups chicken stock
5-7 cups water
1 cup brown rice
5 chicken drumsticks (or a similar amount of other bone-in cuts)
1.5-2 cups sliced carrots
2 large onions, diced
4 large cloves garlic, diced
3 tbsp olive oil, divided
2 small acorn squash, cut into pieces (or 1 brick frozen cooked squash)
1.5 tsp powdered ginger (I only intended 1/2 tsp, but the top fell off the can... and it's good this way)
1 tsp dill weed
salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 400. Grease a baking pan with 1 tbsp olive oil. Lay the squash pieces on the pan cut side-down and bake about 30 minutes or until soft. (Alternately, you can use frozen squash -- I prefer acorn for this soup because of the color. If using frozen, add it about 1 hour in.)

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they have begun to color, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook three or four more minutes. Add the stock, chicken, rice, ginger, and water (if you have frozen stock and chicken, like me, just add them without thawing). Bring to a boil. Stir, and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours. When the squash is done, scoop it out of the peel, mash, and add to the soup -- it thickens the soup and adds a great flavor. Make sure to keep stirring towards the end as it's a very thick, almost porridge-y soup and may stick to the bottom of the pot. Add more water if you prefer a thinner soup. Before serving, add dill and salt to taste (probably about 1 tsp).

Serves at least 6.

Braised Cabbage Gratin

Serious comfort food: warm, sweet, and soft. The Swiss cheese has a nuttiness or bitterness that goes very, very well with cooked cabbage. Yum.

Braised Cabbage Gratin

1 medium head Savoy cabbage
1/2 large onion, diced
3 tbsp butter
Scant 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce + enough water to equal 1 3/4 cups
1/2 tsp garlic powder or 1 clove minced garlic
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
Pepper
1 cup grated Swiss cheese

Finely slice or shred the cabbage. Combine the soy sauce, water, garlic powder, and smoked paprika. Preheat the oven to 350.

Melt the butter in the bottom of a Dutch oven (or other oven-to-stove safe pot) over medium heat. Add the cabbage and onion. This will entirely fill your Dutch oven and threaten to overflow. Don't worry -- it will be hard to stir for a few minutes but will decrease in volume as it wilts. Stir frequently until wilted and just beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the soy sauce/water combination. Turn up the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer; simmer about two minutes.

Cover the pot and put in the oven for 40 minutes. Uncover, and cook 20 minutes longer, until most of the liquid is gone. Top with the cheese; cook 15 more minutes.

Serves 4-6 as a main dish; many as a side dish.


Inspired by a Molly Stevens recipe from All About Braising.

Ben's North African-Spiced Lamb Shoulder Chops

Ben made this for two Shabbat dinner parties in a row. Yum. Let's hope lamb keeps being on sale!

No photo... we were in too much of a rush to eat.

Ben's North African-Spiced Lamb Shoulder Chops

1/2 to 3/4 cup dried Mission figs
1/3 cup hot water
4 shoulder lamb chops, trimmed of excess fat
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 + dashes cayenne (important!)
1 cup canned no-salt-added diced tomatoes and their juice
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp dried basil
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar

Soak the figs in the hot water, 15-30 minutes. Remove figs from water; reserve water, and quarter the figs.

Salt and pepper the lamb to taste. Heat 1 tbsp oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet or Dutch oven (to prevent splattering). Brown the lamb on both sides, about 4-5 minutes, working in batches if necessary to keep the meat from being crowded. Open your windows and turn on the fan to avoid setting off the smoke detector. Remove the browned lamb from the pan and set aside on a plate.

Pour off the fat from the pan. Return the pan to the heat. Add 1 tbsp oil, and saute the onions until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and all spices except basil, and cook about 1 minute or until fragrant. Deglaze the pan with the reserved fig soaking water, and cook until reduced by half, about 2-3 minutes, stirring to loosen browned bits. Stir in the tomatoes, honey, and figs. Return the lamb to the pan. Simmer, covered, over low heat until the lamb is cooked through but still tender, 20-30 minutes.

Remove lamb from the pot and place on 4 plates. Stir in the basil, and simmer about 2-3 minutes until the suace has somewhat thickened. Spoon sauce over lamb. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Inspired by: http://www.valleyfig.com/c_recipes/maindishes/braised_lamb_a.htm