Mushroom Marsala

Whenever I’ve had Chicken Marsala out at restaurants, it’s usually not that good. It’s always too creamy. They never use enough mushrooms and that is my favorite part of the dish! I decided to make the dish myself minus the chicken, so basically a Mushroom Marsala. I served mine over spaghetti but I think it would be really good over mashed potatoes too. Try the recipe and let me know what you think! If you want to make it vegan, skip the butter, use coconut milk instead of cream, and substitute the chicken broth with vegetable broth.

Mushroom Marsala (serves 2-3)

 Ingredients

·       1 lb of cremini mushrooms, thickly sliced

·       3 cloves of garlic, minced

·       ½ sweet yellow onion diced

·       ⅓ cup of heavy cream (½ cup if you prefer it on the creamier side)

·       1 cup Marsala wine 

·       1¼ cup chicken broth

·       1 tsp salt

·       pepper to taste

·       1 tbsp freshly chopped rosemary

·       1 - 1½ tbsp flour

·       1 tbsp butter

·       1 tbsp olive oil

Directions: Heat olive oil. Sauté onions until brown. Add butter and then mushrooms and ½ tsp salt. Add garlic and rosemary. Let mushrooms cook for a few minutes. Add ½ cup Marsala wine and 1 cup chicken broth. Add 1 tbsp flour. Stir. Let sauce reduce. Pour in another ½ cup of Marsala wine and ¼ cup of chicken broth. Let sauce continue to reduce. It might seem too liquidy, but once you add pasta or let it cool, it will thicken. Then add ⅓ cup of heavy cream. Sprinkle in remaining ½ tsp salt. Cook for a few minutes longer. Taste the sauce. Adjust w additional salt if necessary. Toss in pasta. Add freshly ground black pepper to taste. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Alternatively, you can eat with rice or serve over mashed potatoes.

Caramelized Onion, Mushroom, & Gruyere Puff Pastry Bites

A couple years ago, I ordered a mushroom-stuffed puff pastry at a French restaurant as an appetizer and I remember loving it. But then again, I love anything with mushrooms. Since then, I had been wanting to experiment with puff pastry sheets. It’s not something I’ve ever used before. The result of my experimentation were these delicious little bites! These bites work well as an appetizer because they are easy to pick up and munch on as finger food. The puff pastry is soft and flakey. The mushroom mix is light and flavorful and the cheese is goey. If you are a mushroom lover like me, you need to try this recipe. It’s easy to make and it’s so good. Next time, I might try making a puff pastry turnover since that might be a litte heartier.

CARAMELIZED ONION, MUSHROOM, & GRUYERE PUFF PASTRY BITES (makes 18 small rounds)

Ingredients:

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

½ tsp thyme

1 clove of garlic, diced

1 tbsp butter

¼ cup of white wine

1 tbsp olive oil

1 egg, whisked (for the egg wash)

2 puff pastry sheets

1 small sweet yellow onion, diced

8 oz cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced

3.5 oz shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced

5-6 slices of gruyere cheese or shredded gruyere/swiss cheese blend

chopped parsley for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Meanwhile, cut puff pastry into little rounds using a cutter. I didn’t have one available so I just used a small sauce bowl that is 2¾ inches in diameter and cut around that. If you prefer, you can cut your puff pastry sheets into squares, which would be even quicker. Set aside.

Add 1 tbsp olive oil into a medium frying pan. Saute diced onions over medium heat until caramelized. Add 1 tbsp butter and let melt. Toss in garlic and mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme. Cook until the mushrooms have shrunken. Pour in wine and let reduce.

On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, arrange puff pastry rounds. Brush with egg wash. Add a spoonful of the sauteed mushroom and onions onto each round, leaving space around the edges. Bake for about 14 minutes in the oven at 400 degrees.

Pull out baking sheet tray from the oven. Add small slices of gruyere cheese on top of each round. Return to oven and bake for about 4-5 more minutes.

Garnish with chopped parsley. And that’s it! Easy peasy and delish!

Pan-Seared Steak with Mushrooms & Asparagus

Sponsored by Aspen Ridge® Natural Angus Beef

I love a good steak and I especially love making it myself because it is super easy to do. It makes me feel kind of fancy and it looks really impressive too. I have partnered with Aspen Ridge® Natural Angus Beef to show you how to make a beautiful steak dinner at home. Their beef is Certified Humane®, has no added hormones, and no antibiotics ever. Because of its high quality, USDA Prime beef is generally sold in hotels and restaurants, but Aspen Ridge Prime beef is now available at your local Pavilions in Southern California!

I prefer a NY Strip cut and I like to cook my steak in a cast iron skillet to create a nice outside crust. It takes less than 10 minutes to cook the perfect steak at home! This is so much easier, more satisfying, and less expensive than dining out. Using Aspen Ridge Beef, you can create a delicious meal for that perfect date night in, special occasion, or celebration. In my case, it was a nice little weekend treat all for myself. My neighbor happened to walk past my door as I was cooking, and he immediately texted me to ask what I was making because he could smell my steak from outside and he thought it smelled so good! Even though I appreciated the compliment, I didn’t share my steak with him. I ate it entirely by myself! It was so delicious!

I paired my steak with a couple easy side vegetable dishes—sauteed garlic butter mushrooms and grilled asparagus. They cook quickly and complement the steak. If you have another vegetable you prefer or enjoy your steak with crispy roasted potatoes instead, that’s fine too. Pair your steak with whatever your belly craves.

Pan-Seared Steak with Garlic Butter Mushrooms & Asparagus (serves 2)

Steak Ingredients:

• 1 lb. of Aspen Ridge® Natural Angus Beef NY Strip, about 1¼ inch thick

• 2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed

• 2 sprigs of fresh Rosemary

• 2 tbsp butter

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

• salt

• pepper

Garlic Butter Mushrooms:

• 12 oz of mixed mushrooms (I use a combo of crimini + shiitake), stems removed and thinly sliced

• 2 cloves of garlic, diced

• 2 tbsp parsley, chopped

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• ·¼ tsp ground black pepper

• ¼ - ½ Tsp sea salt

• 1 tbsp butter

• 2-3 lemon wedges

Asparagus Ingredients:

• ½ lb of skinny asparagus spears, bottom stems trimmed

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• salt

Directions:

Place NY strip on a plate. Pat dry. Season generously with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. You may not need to finish the steak in the oven if your cut is no thicker than 1¼ inch and/or if you prefer your steak on the medium to medium-rare side. I like to have the oven on just in case the steak is thicker than I expected, or if the outside of the steak has already developed a perfectly brown crust but the inside is still not cooked to my desired temperature. Finishing the steak in the oven allows the steak to continue cooking without burning the outside.

Heat up a cast iron skillet over medium high heat with vegetable oil for about 5 minutes or until it starts smoking.

Place the steak gently on the hot skillet. Sear the steak for about 3-4 minutes on the first side, creating a deep brown crust.

Using tongs, flip the steak over and cook the other side for another 3 minutes. Add butter, garlic, and Rosemary to the skillet. Cook for another minute, tilting your skillet back and forth, so that the seasoned oil and butter fully coat the bottom of the steak. Turn steak onto its sides and sear all the edges as well. Flip the steak over a couple times. Repeatedly spoon the sauce over the top of the steak as it cooks.

Transfer steak to a cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes, loosely covered with aluminum foil, before cutting into it. This stove-top cooking method should yield a medium-rare to medium cooked steak.

However, if your steak has already developed a dark brown crust on the outside but the inside is still too rare for your taste, you can transfer the entire skillet to the oven and cook for about 5 minutes more. This is to avoid burning the outside of the steak on the stovetop while continuing to cook the inside. After 5 minutes, remove the steak from the oven. Transfer to a cutting board, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and let it rest for about 5 minutes before cutting into it.

Meanwhile, in the same hot skillet, heat up 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat for a couple minutes. Add trimmed asparagus spears. Sprinkle with salt and cook for about 2-3 minutes, flipping over halfway through. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a separate pan over medium high heat. Add mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Lightly cook for a minute. Drain excess liquid. Add butter and garlic. Cook for another minute. Toss in parsley. Turn off stove. When ready to serve, add freshly squeezed lemon juice and drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil.

Plate sliced steak with asparagus. Spoon over sauteed garlic butter mushrooms on top of the steak or serve on the side.

Note: According to foodsafety.gov, the minimum safe temperature is 145°F for steaks.

Braised White Wine & Soy Chicken Thighs with Mushrooms

In my early stages of learning how to cook, I made many meals from a cookbook that I think was called How to Cook Everything. It wasn’t mine. It belonged to my live-in boyfriend at the time and it was a huge book! Probably the size of a dictionary. From what I remember, it had some good recipes. It has been awhile, maybe 15 years since I’ve last seen that book but I remember making a chicken dish that I really liked that had white wine, soy sauce, and mushrooms. And that is really about all I remember from the recipe. This week, I wanted to try to recreate it. So I played around with some ingredients and came up with this recipe. I think it’s pretty good. It’s simple and easy to make and it only requires a few main ingredients.

BRAISED WHITE WINE & SOY CHICKEN THIGHS WITH MUSHROOMS (serves 2-4)

Ingredients:
• 1½ lbs chicken thighs (about 4 small, bone-in with skin)
• 10-16 oz of white button or crimini mushrooms, sliced (depending on how much you love mushrooms)
• 1 sweet yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, diced
• 4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme
• ½ cup of white wine
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• ½ Tsp salt
• ½ Tsp ground black pepper
• 1 Tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ½ cup of water
• parsley, chopped (optional)

Directions:

Season chicken w salt and pepper. In a braising pan, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat. Pan-sear chicken for a few minutes with skin side down, until golden brown. Then set aside.

Lower heat down to medium. Add another tbsp of olive oil. Brown onions and garlic. Add mushrooms and cook until they have shrunken.

Pour in wine and soy sauce. Add salt, pepper, sugar, and thyme and gently stir. Return chicken to the pan, skin side up. Cover pan, with lid slightly ajar, and cook for about 30 minutes.

Remove chicken and set aside.

Taste the sauce in the pan. It should be very flavorful and maybe even a bit salty. Add about ½ cup of water or less to dilute. Increase heat if need and let the sauce reduce and thicken for about 5 minutes.

Serve chicken over rice and spoon over a generous portion of mushrooms and sauce on top. Sprinkle w parsley.

Asparagus & Mushroom Stir-fry

Stir-fry is a great way to use leftover vegetables. You can throw in whatever protein or veggies you have in your fridge and then there ya go—instant meal. I don’t make stir-fry very often because I feel like I can never get the flavor just right. But this time, I really liked it! There’s a lot of flexibility w stir-fry recipes, but here is what I did below:

ASPARAGUS & MUSHROOM STIR-FRY (serves about 2-3 w rice)

Ingredients:

• a bundle of asparagus, trimmed and cut into diagonal 2 inch segments 

• 10 oz mushrooms, sliced

• 1 can of sliced bamboo

• 3-4 cloves of garlic, diced

• EVOO

• 1 tbsp vinegar

• 1 tbsp oyster sauce 

• 1-2 tbsp water

• 1 tsp sugar

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tsp soy sauce

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

• 1/3 cup of scallions, chopped

Directions:

Heat a frying pan with olive oil. Sauté garlic until it is lightly toasted. Add asparagus and let It cook for a couple minutes. Add 1 tbsp water. Toss in mushrooms and bamboo shoots. Stir thoroughly. Sprinkle w salt and pepper. Sauté for a couple minutes. Pour in vinegar, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. Continue to cook. Add 1 tbsp water and mix. Sprinkle w chopped scallions and cook for one last minute. Serve w rice. 

Creamy Wild Mushrooms & Asparagus Spaghetti

I know you’re not supposed to be going to the grocery store often or even at all during this pandemic, but I can’t help it. It’s my one simple pleasure during the lockdown and I need it for my mental health. I don’t like grocery delivery apps and I just find it challenging to buy groceries for 2 weeks. How do you know what you want to eat for 2 weeks? Plus, fresh produce doesn’t last that long and you can’t find everything at one store. I know that I’m fortunate to have the luxury of having food to eat (and getting to choose what I want to eat) and the health (and money) to buy my own groceries and for that, I am truly grateful. I take precaution when going to the grocery store. I get my walk in and I wear gloves and a mask.

I’ve been cooking almost every single meal and I had been getting kind of tired of it. This past weekend, I indulged and ordered delivery TWICE. Indonesian noodles with fried morning glory and Lebanese shrimp with rice and tabbouleh, in case you’re wondering. It was so nice to take a break from cooking and washing dishes. As you all may know, I have a tiny kitchen and I don’t have a dishwasher or a microwave. And somehow, I create so many dirty dishes throughout the course of the day at home. How does this happen?!

I decided to try a new dish this week. Normally, I’m a tomato sauce type of pasta girl. I often make a bolognese sauce or a light tomato sauce with shrimp or clams (ohhh, I need to to post that recipe). But I don’t ever make a creamy sauce. It’s just not my thing. I don’t usually order creamy pastas at restaurants. Anyway, I love mushrooms and wanted to do something with a mixture of mushrooms but also with a little green so I came up with this Creamy Wild Mushrooms & Asparagus Spaghetti recipe. I used four different types of mushrooms—maitake, cremini, shiitake, and oyster—but you don’t have to use that many. I did use butter but I skipped the cream and opted for coconut milk. You could probably skip the butter and the parmesan, and make this vegetarian dish entirely vegan if you want. And if you really want meat, I think this dish would taste great with chicken or even better, pancetta or bacon bits. Adding this new recipe to my rotation and sharing it with you below!

CREAMY WILD MUSHROOMS & ASPARAGUS (Makes about 3 servings)

Ingredients:

• spaghetti

• 12 oz of mixed sliced mushrooms (maitake, cremini, shiitake, oyster)

• 8-10 asparagus spears, thinly and diagonally sliced

• 1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced

• 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

• EVOO

• 2 tbsp butter (optional)

• 1/2 lemon

• 1/2 cup of white wine

• 1/2 cup of coconut milk

• 2 tsp salt

• 1 tsp pepper

• 1/4 cup of Parmesan, plus more for serving (optional)

• parsley, chopped for garnishing

• 1/4 cup of pasta water

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and slightly undercook the spaghetti and then set aside. Meanwhile, heat a frying pan w olive oil. Sauté onions until lightly brown. Throw in sliced garlic and lightly toast. Pour in mixed mushrooms and let them cook down for a minute. Sprinkle w salt and pepper. Add butter and stir. Let it melt into the mushrooms. Pour in white wine and let it simmer for a bit. Throw in asparagus. Stir in coconut milk and let it cook for a couple minutes. Lower heat. Using tongs, transfer cooked spaghetti into the frying pan. Add pasta water and mix pasta thoroughly into the sauce. Add parmesan and lemon juice . Top w more salt and pepper and toss again. The sauce may seem a little liquidy at first but it will thicken as it cools down. If you want it thicker, you can add more parmesan and maybe a little more coconut milk. If your sauce is too thick, add more pasta water. And that’s it! Upon serving, sprinkle w chopped parsley, a little EVOO, more parmesan, more salt + pepper, or more lemon juice—whichever flavor you fancy most!

Wood Ear Mushroom Salad

I pretty much love every kind of mushroom that exists.  I haven't met a mushroom I haven't liked.  And I love mushrooms in EVERYTHING. 

Wood ear mushrooms are a little bit new to me.  I've had it in a lot of Asian dishes at restaurants but I haven't really cooked much with it myself.  This week, I thought I would try something new so I picked up a package of fresh wood ear mushroom at the Korean market while I was doing my weekly Asian grocery shopping.  I have recently used these mushrooms in a stew, but this time, I wanted to make an appetizer salad similar to the Taiwanese version that I've had at Pine & Crane in Silverlake.  

Verdict: Pretty delicious!  Slightly sweet, slightly sour, with a lot of crunch!  My recipe could probably serve 4 as an appetizer, but I ate the whole thing myself!

Wood Ear Mushroom Salad (Serves 4 as an appetizer or side)

·      3 cups of fresh wood ear mushroom, cleaned and coarsely chopped

·      2 birds eye chili, diced

·      1 garlic clove, minced

·      ½ cup of cilantro, diced

·      3 tbsp rice vinegar

·      1 tbsp soy sauce

·      1 tsp sesame oil

·      ½ tsp sugar

Bring a pot of water to boil.  Throw in mushrooms and boil for 10 minutes.  Then rinse mushrooms off in cold water and drain.  Repeat this step a couple of times.  In a bowl, mix together the other ingredients with the mushrooms and stir thoroughly.  Let sit in fridge for about 30 minutes before serving.