Mushroom Cobbler

Biscuit Ingredients

• 3 c flour
• 1 T baking powder
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 c milk
• 1 stick melted unsalted butter
• 2 c grated extra sharp cheddar cheese + 1 c reserved for later

Mushroom Filling Ingredients

• 1 pt cremini mushroom diced medium
• 1 pt whte button mushroom diced medium
• 1 pt shiitake mushroom diced medium
• 1 cup dried wild mush (I mixed morel, shitake, chanterelle and porchini)
• 1 large onion small diced
• 4 shallots diced
• 1/2 T dry thyme
• 4 c heavy cream
• 2 c water
• 4 T unsalted butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 F

Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats

Biscuits

Blend dry ingredients well.

Warm the milk in microwave.

Add butter and milk together to the dry mix and combine just until the batter comes together.

Mix in grated cheese.

Spoon 3-4 diameter blobs onto baking sheets leaving about 1 to 1 1/2 inches between.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until done (brown on the bottom, browned areas on top.)

Set aside.

Mushroom Filling

Spread diced fresh mushrooms on a baking sheet.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Break up dried mushrooms into a small saucepan. Add 2 c water.

Boil for 30 minutes.

When done, remove mushrooms and dice. SAVE the water.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a 2 qt saucepan over medium high heat.

Add shallots and onions.

Sweat onions for 5-10 minutes until transparent.

Add thyme.

Add baked fresh mushrooms and stir.

Add diced boiled dry mushrooms and stir.

Add boiled mushroom water.

Stir constantly for a few minutes.

Add cream and bring to a simmer, then reduce heat, stirring frequently to prevent burning.

Once thickened, remove from heat.

Butter 6-10 ramakins.

Spoon mushroom filling into each to within 1/2 inch of the top.

Cover with broken biscuit pieces.

Sprinkle with reserved shredded cheese.

Place ramakins on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until biscuits are browned and filling is bubbly.

Serve immediately.

This is my take on Mushroom Cobbler served at Brick & Fire Bistro by chef Jim Hughes

Anise Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients
1 c unsalted butter
1/2 c confectioners sugar
1 1/2 t ground anise seed
1/4 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla extract
2 c flour

Instructions
Cream together butter & confectioners sugar until fluffy.

Add ground anise, cinnamon & vanilla extract and mix thoroughly.

Stir in flour.

Divide dough in half and form each half into a 1 1/2 inch diameter log wrapped in parchment paper. Wrap tightly and evenly. Refrigerate in a bag for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cover two sheet pans with parchment paper. Remove logs of dough from the refrigerator and slice into 1/4" slices. Place on baking sheets 1/2" apart.

Bake for 5 minutes at 375, reduce temperature to 300 degrees and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Serve with a 1/2 t dollop of Nouveau Merlot Wine Jelly in the center.

Nouveau Merlot Wine Jelly

Ingredients
3 1/2 c Merlot
1/2 c lemon juice
1 packet Suregel Pectin
4 1/2 c white sugar

Instructions
Put wine, lemon juice and pectin in a large saucepan and heat to boiling, stirring frequently.

When wine mixture boils fully, remove from heat and add the sugar all at once. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Return to heat on high stirring constantly. Bring to a full boil for 1 minute.

Remove from heat.

Gently skim any foam from the top of the liquid.

Pour into sterilized jars leaving 1/2" headroom. Add new lids and rings. Process for 10 minutes. Allow to cool undisturbed for 24 hours. Make sure all jars have sealed.

Yields 4 - 12oz jelly jars + 1 - 8oz jelly jar or 56oz in total.

Springgate Nouveau Merlot 2015 Adventure

This week I was blessed by my friends at Springgate to get 2 whole gallons of this year's Merlot fresh from its first fermentation - before sulphates, oaking, blending, etc. Fresh, "raw" Merlot. While they were drawing the two one-gallon carboys, I got to have my first taste along with Trevor, one of Marty's winery minions. It was amazing - no acid, no bite, just pure grapey, fruity smoothness.

Now onto what I did first. The plan had been to get the Merlot two days earlier. I had gathered ingredients for a nice beef stew - a nice 7 pound boneless round roast, a couple pounds of carrots & onions, about 1/2 pound of Shiitake mushrooms. But at the last minute, I had to go with some Cabernet Franc instead because of timing and equipment issues to extract the Merlot. So the beef stew came off great, but sans Merlot (you can see details for the stew HERE).

So Wednesday night, I started my first round with the Merlot. I had determined to make 1 gallon into Wine Jelly. But by the time I had cleaned everything and was ready to make jelly (I made it in four smaller batches) I had time to make the first two - plus I needed to scrounge up more jars anyway. So the first night - success.

Last night, I started earlier, my wife managed to find enough jars and I finished off the jelly and the first gallon of Merlot.

Now what to do with the rest?

The plan is:
1 qt - mix with gelatin an whip over ice to make a "mousse". Combined with a dark chocolate mousse for parfaits. This is similar to something I've done before with Panna Cotta with Dark Chocolate Ganache & Merlot Wine Gelatin Whip

1 qt - Merlot Syrup to use over ice cream.

As for the other remaining quarts - stay tuned!

Moroccan Style Sausage Rolls & Red Pepper Hummus

Ingredients:

• 3 puff pastry sheets
• 1½ lb ground beef (use lamb if you can afford it)
• 2½T sundried cranberries
• 1½t ground coriander
• 1½t ground cumin
• 1T of lemon juice
• 1/4lb fresh spinach leaves, chopped
• 4 sprigs fresh coriander leaves, chopped
• 3 sprigs fresh parsley leaves, chopped
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 1 egg lightly beaten with 2T cold water (separate from above)

Instructions.

1. Remove the pastry from the freezer to defrost
2. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F
3. Put the chopped herbs and spinach, and spices in a bowl and blend well.
4. Put the ground meat into the bowl and mix by band until well blended
5. Add 2 beaten eggs and mix through
6. Split the mixture into three parts
7. One by one, layout each sheet of pastry on a lightly floured surface, rolling slightly to fix any splits and to make the pastry even.
8. Dab some of the egg/water mixture for about 1" along one edge.
9. Lay out 1/3 of the meat mixture along the opposit edge of the pastry and then roll the pastry up and over into a log, sealing with the egg dabbed edge.
10. Cut into 1" pieces
11. Put the pieces onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and brush with the egg/water mixture to glaze
12. Bake for 30 minutes
13. Remove from the oven and cool
14. Serve with Red Pepper Hummus

Puff Pastry Cheese Straws & Sweet-Savory Dipping Sauce

Puff Pastry Cheese Straws

Ingredients
1 pkg Puff Pastry (two sheets)
1/2 c Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Sweet-Savory Sauce

Ingredients
2 c sugar
1 c water
1 c red wine
1 t oregano
1/2 t rosemary
1 t smoked paprika

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare two baking sheets with a layer of  aluminum foil covered by parchment paper.

Thaw puff pastry per package instructions. Separate sheets. Coat counter or table top with parmesan cheese and unfold one sheet of pastry on it. Lightly cover the top of the pastry sheet with more parmesan cheese. Roll out to about 1/8" thickness. With a pizza wheel or long knife, slice the pastry into 1/2" wide strips. Twist each strip 6-8 times, fold in half and place on a baking sheet leaving about 1/2" between each strip.

Bake each sheet for 10-12 minutes until puffed and the cheese is browned. Remove from oven and cool.

In a large saucepan, put sugar in the pan over medium-high heat. Whisk constantly until the sugar melts completely.  Continue heating to caramelize the sugar to a mahogany brown color. Just when the first puffs of smoke start, remove from heat and CAREFULLY add 1/2 c water. THIS WILL BOIL AND SPLATTER THE HOT SUGAR. BE VERY CAREFUL! When you can safely begin whisking again, stir all of the water into the sugar.  Put the pan back on the stove to heat, whisking constantly.  When the mixture returns to a simmer, add the red wine and spices.  Simmer to reduce slightly for 20 minutes or so.

Serve both the pastries and sauce together. To serve, put a couple Cheese Straws on a small plate and drizzle sauce over them.

Hasselback Salami

 





Ingredients
1 lg salami

2 c orange marmalade
1 1/2 c Dijon mustard
4 T bourbon

3 T molasses
4 T ketchup

1 T ground Cayene pepper

Preheat oven to 350° F

Slice salami on a bias into 1/8" cuts leaving about 1/4" on the bottom (or set between two chopsticks and use them to stop each cut.)

In a sauce pan, mix remaining ingredients, whisking until well blended. Allow to come to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove sauce from heat and allow to cool.

Place salami in an oven-safe casserole dish. Pour sauce over top, slowly working in between each cut. Drizzle remainder over the whole salami coating all exposed surfaces.

Bake in oven for 45 minutes, basting every 10-15 minutes with pan juices/sauce.

Decant leftover sauce into a dish to serve along with assorted crackers & cheeses.

Based on recipe from http://www.busyinbrooklyn.com/drunken-hassleback-salami/

Pizza with Merlot & Cremini Mushroom Sauce Topped with Brie

Ingredients
1/2 wheel brie
8 oz Cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 lg shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper, to taste
1 cup unoaked Merlot wine
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 sprig rosemary plus more for garnish

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit

Heat the butter and oil in a pan and saute the shallot and garlic until fragrant. Add mushrooms and saute until the liquid evaporates. Season with salt & pepper. Deglaze the pan with the Merlot and simmer until reduced by half. Add the stock and rosemary and continue to simmer until reduced and thickened, about 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pizza dough to a 12″ diameter circle and top with mushrooms, and brie. Garnish with rosemary. Bake until cheese is bubbly and the pizza dough is crisp and golden, about 15-20 minutes.

Idea from http://www.busyinbrooklyn.com/brie-mushroom-marsala-pizza/

Crust Recipe is at http://foodiefunk.blogspot.com/2014/03/pizza-on-grill-crust.html

Double Dark Chocolate Brownies

3/4 c Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
1/2 t baking soda
2/3 c melted butter, divided into two 1/3 c containers
1/2 c boiling water
2 eggs
1 1/3 c flour
1 t vanilla
1/4 t salt
12 oz Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease/butter a 9x13 glass baking dish.

In a large bowl, whisk cocoa and baking soda.  Add 1/3 c melted butter and blend well.  Add boiling water and stir until well mixed.

Stir in sugar, eggs and remaining melted butter.  Add flour, vanilla and salt and mix.  Fold in chocolate chips.

Pour batter into 9x13 dish spreading evenly.

Bake 35-40 minutes until edges pull away from dish.


Cool completely before cutting.

Chocolate Fondue

Ingredients
12 oz dark chocolate chips
1 c heavy cream
pinch of salt
1/2 t vanilla extract

Pieces of fresh fruit (Apples, Strawberries, Raspberries, Bananas, Oranges) and/or dried fruit (Apricots, Apples, candied Ginger)

Heat cream over medium heat until steaming (do not boil).  Mix in chocolate and whisk until melted and blended.  Remove from heat and mix in salt and vanilla.

Pour directly into warm fondue pot.

Serve with trays of fruit.

If fondue begins to thicken, add cream one tablespoon at a time to keep soft.

Venison Roast braised in Merlot

4 lb lean Venison roast
2 c Merlot (un-oaked if you can get it)
2 c water
2 lb onions sliced
1 head garlic separated into cloves
3 lb carrots cut into sticks
1/2 lb cremini mushrooms sliced
3 bay leaves
1 tbsp sage
6-8 sprigs fresh rosemary

With a sharp knife puncture holes in the roast and insert garlic cloves evenly into the center of the meat. Spread onions on the bottom of the crock pot. Set the roast on top. Add wine and water to nearly cover the meat. Set crock pot on low and let cook for 6 hours.

Turn up to high and add bay leaves, sage, rosemary, carrots, and mushrooms. Cook three more hours.

Remove roast and set aside to rest 15 minutes. Meanwhile put other contents into a large pan and simmer to reduce and ensure carrots are cooked through.

Slice the roast thinly and place on serving dish.

Serve with veggies au jous.

Best eaten with a glass of good Merlot.

Panna Cotta with Dark Chocolate Ganache & Merlot Wine Gelatin Whip

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• Panna Cotta Ingredients
• 8 cups (1l) heavy cream (or half-and-half)
• 1 cup (100g) sugar
• 4 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 packets powdered gelatin
• 1/4c cold water

• Dark Chocolate Ganache Ingredients
• 14 oz Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Chips
• 10 oz Heavy Cream
• 
  
• Merlot Gelatin Ingredients
• 1 qt Merlot
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 2 packets powdered gelatin
• 1/2 cup sugar

Prepare Panna Cotta
1. Heat the heavy cream and sugar in a saucepan or microwave. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. DO NOT BOIL

2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a medium-sized bowl and let stand 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Pour the very warm Panna Cotta mixture over the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.

4. Divide the Panna Cotta mixture into 24 - 6oz clear plastic cups, then chill them until firm, 
which will take about two hours.

Prepare Ganache
1. Put heavy cream in a double boiler and warm until a single chip melts when put into it.

2. Add the rest of the chips and whisk slowly to melt and blend the Ganache.

3. Take off heat and allow to cool.  Whip occassionally to keep soft.

Prepare Merlot Gelatin
1. Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in a medium mixing bowl and let stand 10 minutes

2. Heat wine and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.

3. Mix gelatin into wine/sugar mixture and stir until gelatin is completely dissolved.

4. Allow to cool to room temperature.

5. In batches of about 2 cups, place cooled mixture in a bowl over an ice bath.  Whisk occassionally until it just starts to thicken.  Either whisk briskly or use a hand mixer to whip the gelatin into a dense foam.  Scoop foam off into a large container.  Keep the container refrigerated between batches.  Complete the process with all of the wine mixture. Should generate about 1 gal of wine foam.  Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Assemble
In each serving cup, place about 1 to 1 1/2 tsp of ganache on top of set Panna Cotta cream. l

Divide wine gelatin foam evenly into each Panna Cotta cup.  Chill immediately for an hour.

Inspired by Splendid Table (http://splendidtable.org) and Secrets From My Tuscan Kitchen by Judy Witts

Hot Fudge Sauce (just added - Merlot Wine-based version)

2 cups sugar
12 tablespoons cocoa
6 tablespoons cornstarch
4 dashes salt
2 cups water
8 tablespoons butter
4 teaspoons vanilla

Mix dry ingredients.
Stir in room temperature water.
Microwave 90 seconds--stirring every 30 seconds.
Blend in butter and microwave 30 seconds more and stir.
Continue to alternate microwaving for 30 seconds and stirring until it reaches desired thickness. (The longer you cook it, the thicker it gets.).
After microwaving stir in vanilla.

Serve warm.

Merlot variation:
Replace the 2 c water with 2 c Merlot and prepare as above.