Simple Steakside Mushrooms

I originally copied this recipe down from one of my mom's collections of things to make before leaving for college. It's been about 6 years since then, and this is my first time finally getting around to making these steakside mushrooms. As the name implies, these mushrooms go wonderfully served with a juicy steak, but they can be applied to other things as well; I made mine with some hot sausage, and eventually took those leftovers and made sandwiches.

The sandwiches were easy enough to put together - I just used whatever I had lying around, since I was short on time and didn't want to make a trip to the store. I layered some thinly cut spicy chicken sausage on sourdough, then covered with some of these delicious mushrooms. Topped with slices of cheese and toasted, the sandwich was a surprisingly delicious treat. Funny how sometimes things exceed your expectations in such a way as to surprise you.

Recipe:
1 1/2 lb. Crimini mushrooms, sliced lengthwise
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
Seasoning salt of choice(I used Lawry's)
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup water

In a large skillet over medium heat, sweat mushrooms until almost all the liquid had been evaporated from them. Add the butter and increase heat to medium-high. Saute mushrooms until brown, then sprinkle liberally with salt to taste. Add Worcestershire sauce and simmer until almost all the sauce is absorbed. Add water and bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer until mushrooms are tender. Serves 8.
Don't be afraid to be very liberal when adding the salt in this recipe. The mushrooms will thrive in the seasoning. I still haven't gotten around to trying these mushrooms as they were intended to be made - served with a slab of beef. However, seeing how well this recipe turned out, it will be on the top of my list of sides next time the urge to cook steak comes along.

Vegetable Strudel

The May Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prauge by Rick Rodgers. However, I took another turn on this dessert and decided to make a more savory dish, using some vegetables I had leftover in the house. What I ended up with was an onion-based vegetable strudel.

The recipe for the strudel dough itself is easy, and after you let it sit for a sufficient amount of time it's simple to pull extremely thin. I washed off a flat table in our living room and went to work stretching it ever-so-gently. I made sure to get the center thinned out first, so there was extra dough around the edges as I pulled further, giving me more to work with.

You can see that the edges are a bit thicker, so they can still be pulled further. Working from the center out, using hands on both sides of the dough (one on top and one on bottom), going in a circle from the center, I was able to get the dough roughly 2-feet by 3-feet. At that point, it was tissue-paper thin. Enough so I could clearly see my hands through it.

Then I simply topped with the ingredients I had on hand, rolled, and baked. I threw in a few extras to make sure it'd be good and tasty, but I was surprised at how easily strudel could come together - it always seemed much more complicated to me.

Recipe:

Strudel dough:
1 1/3 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to coat the dough
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Knead together all the ingredients, smacking harshly on a flat surface occasionally to get rid of any air bubbles. If the dough feels too dry, add water by half-teaspoons. After everything has come together, continue kneading until a soft ball with a rough surface forms. Shape into a ball and lightly oil the surface, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and allow to sit at room temperature for 90 minutes. After it's sufficiently rested, lightly flour a clean, large working space (at least 2-feet by 3-feet wide) and begin pulling the dough from the center out. There are some videos online that can demonstrate this better than words can.

Filling:
3 large onions, sliced thickly
2 large shallots, diced
Large bell pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 lb. carrots, sliced thickly
6 medium stalks of celery, sliced thickly
4 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded
2 fresh sprigs of oregano, leaves pulled and chopped
Worcestershire sauce to taste

Preheat an oven to 350ºF. Top the pulled strudel dough on one side with the filling, working in layers to ensure that all the slices will have a little bit of everything. After adding it all together, carefully fold over the dough with filling inward towards the remaining dough. It's okay if a few holes appear in the dough here - they'll be covered up by the remaining layers of dough as you continue rolling. Continue rolling the dough onto itself until it has all been used up, then shape so it can fit onto a baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the outside begins to turn golden brown and the vegetables inside have softened. Remove from the oven and cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

This can easily be either a main or side dish, and the variations you could make on it are nearly endless. You can fill it with choice vegetables of your own, and different varieties of cheese. You could add some pre-cooked beef, or even put in some sauce. Whatever you feel like putting into this, a strudel is a great way to combine all your ingredients into something that comes out with a flaky crust, and becomes easily transportable.

Spinach and mushroom lasagne al forno

This month's Daring Bakers challenge was to make spinach lasagne (the pasta), then to create a lasagne al forno (the dish) using the homemade lasagne, along with a bechamel sauce, and additional ingredients of the cook's preference. The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge. However, as usual, I made some adjustments (from sheer laziness? maybe) to make this dish my own.

Recipes:

Spinach Lasagne:
3 large eggs
10 oz. chopped spinach, thawed and dried
3 cups all-purpose flour

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until everything comes together. Use your hands to incorporate any dry pieces that aren't going in. Attach a hook to the stand mixer, and knead the dough for 10 minutes, until satiny and elastic. Add flour if the dough is too wet, and water if it's too dry, each by the teaspoon to make sure you don't add too much. After it has been kneaded thoroughly, wrap in plastic wrap and set aside to rest for 30 minutes. Cut the dough into quarters and slowly roll out until thin. I found it helpful to roll one side until it didn't seem it could stretch any further, then flipped the sheet over and rolled the other side. Continue rolling until the pasta is very thin, to the point that you can readily see light through it. Cut into 4-inch by 8-inch slices, then set aside until you're ready to assemble the lasagne.

Bechamel Sauce
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 2/3 cups milk
A pinch of nutmeg
Salt and pepper

Melt butter in a heavy pan over medium heat, then add flour and stir with a whisk until combined. Continue stirring until the roux begins to darken and releases a nutty smell. Add the milk, then bring to a boil and continue stirring until thickened. Add nutmeg, then salt and pepper to taste. I added quite a bit of pepper, giving the final Bechamel the appearance of country gravy.

Lasagne al forno:
1 recipe Spinach Lasagne
1 recipe Bechamel sauce
15 oz. Ricotta cheese
1 lb. Button mushrooms
1 lb. Crimini mushrooms
3 ounces basil, chiffonade
1 1/2 cups Parmigiano-Reggiano

Preheat oven to 350ºF and butter a 5-quart baking dish. Bring at least a gallon of heavily salted water to a boil, then boil your lasagne pasta for 2 minutes (only do 4-5 at a time). Gently remove from the boiling water and set onto paper towels to wick away extra water. Repeat until all the pasta has been cooked. Spread a thin layer of bechamel sauce across the bottom of the baking dish, then add a layer of cooked lasagne, overlapping slightly. Top with 5 ounces of Ricotta cheese, and 8 ounces of mushrooms (you can mix them together, or keep the different varieties apart). Add 1 ounce of basil, 1/4 cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano, and 1/4 cup of the bechamel. Top with another layer of overlapping spinach lasagne, then press down gently, yet firm enough to make the surface relatively flat. Repeat two more times. To the top of the outer layer of spinach lasagne, spread the remaining mushrooms and bechamel. Cover with a generous amount of Parmigiano-Reggiano. Cover with a tented piece of foil, taking care that the foil doesn't touch the lasagne. Bake for 40 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for an additional 10. Turn off the oven and wedge the door open with the back of a wooden spoon, and allow to gradually cool down for another 10 minutes. Remove the lasagne from the oven and serve warm. Serves 8-12.

This dish could easily include different flavors, maybe with a ragu sauce and Italian sausage. Lasagne is one of the great dishes to play around with, so feel free to adapt this to however your tastes may be.