Stuffin' 'shrooms!

Prosciutto Wrapped-Stuffed Mushrooms! 

Makes about 20 pieces

10 Medium Mushrooms, (Crimini)

• 1/2 White Onion diced
• 1pkg Low fat cream cheese softened
• 8oz Prosciutto (Seasoned preferably)
• 1 tsp Olive oil
• 1 tbs Minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp Cumin
• 1/4 tsp Cayenne
• 1 tsp Basil
• 1 tsp Thyme
• Pinch Curry powder

Non-stick cooking spray 

Toothpicks

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash Mushrooms and remove stems, then chop in half. Separate prosciutto pieces. Heat olive oil in sauce pan over medium. Add diced onion and minced garlic. Saute until onions soften and garlic slightly browns. Add cumin, cayenne, basil and thyme. Stir until well coated, and spices are aromatic. Mix into softened cream cheese. Spoon about 1 tablespoon scoop into mushroom half. Wrap with prosciutto strips then secure with toothpick through the mushroom. Place on baking sheet and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Cook in oven at 400 degrees or until prosciutto is crisp.


Alright! So this is something I came up with while wandering the grocery store one late evening. The stuffing also makes a great dip for veggies or a spread for crackers, etc. Delicious. 


So pretty simple, saute the diced onions in the olive oil along with the minced garlic until soft and slightly browned. Then add the spices and mix!  
I stirred the mixture until the onions were well coated and spices were mixed well. 


I had left the cream cheese out in a dish while prepping which seemed to be long enough for it to soften. If you haven't, I would say microwaving it (out of the foil wrap if you've got this kind- don't need any fires!)  for about 10-20 seconds should do the trick.


Spoon mixture on top of the softened cream cheese and stir until thoroughly combined. 

Now, if you would like to just make the dip, you're set!

Otherwise...

Next, spoon your filling into the mushroom halves. It takes only about 1 table spoon to fill each. You do not want them to be over filled because this can make a bit of a mess while baking. 

Once filled place cut side down on a strip of prosciutto. I found that they are easiest to wrap when I matched the curve of the mushroom with the rounded edge of the prosciutto. 

Roll the stuffed mushroom fairly tightly with the prosciutto. Do not pull to tight though as the prosciutto will tear.

Secure your wrap with a tooth pick stabbed through the end of the prosciutto, mushroom, and out the other side.

Place the wraps about an inch or so apart on a baking sheet that has been lightly covered with non-stick cooking spray. 

After all mushroom halves have been wrapped, lightly spray the tops to help crisp in the oven.

Bake the wraps in the preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes. If they are not yet crisp after that time has passed they may stay in the oven longer, I would say check on them every 3-5 minutes. 

Once crisp, cool for about 5 minute and they are ready to go!

They are best when fresh and hot, still okay if re-heated in microwave but they can lose the crispness.

 Garnish on a bed of greens with feta, and a drizzle of balsamic across the top. This will help cut down on the richness of the cream cheese and prosciutto while adding a nice contrast,

 flavor and presentation. 

Enjoy!

**My apologies for the final presentation** 

**Made the best out of the supplies at hand during office Christmas party**

Bublé and Brûlée

First attempt at Crème Brûlée!

Inspired by the lack of Brûlée while at HG Bistro I decided to attempt the ever so wonderful, and horrible for the waistline   

Crème Brûlée!!!

Ingredients

v  6 egg yolks

v  6 tablespoons white sugar, divided

v  1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

v  2 1/2 cups heavy cream

v  2 tablespoons brown sugar

Makes 5 servings

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Beat egg yolks, 4 tablespoons
sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl until thick and creamy. Pour cream into a
saucepan and stir over low heat until it almost comes to boil. Remove the
cream from heat immediately. Stir cream into the egg yolk mixture; beat until
combined. Pour cream mixture into the top of a double boiler. Stir over
simmering water until mixture lightly coats the back of a spoon; approximately
3 minutes. Remove mixture from heat immediately and pour into a shallow heat-
proof dish. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool
to room temperature. Refrigerate for 1 hour, or overnight. Preheat oven to
broil. In a small bowl combine remaining 2 tablespoons white sugar and brown
sugar. Sift this mixture evenly over custard. Place dish under broiler until
sugar melts, about 2 minutes. Watch carefully so as not to burn. Remove from
heat and allow to cool. Refrigerate until custard is set again.

**Make sure to preheat oven! I always seem to forget this!


The above recipe was the first I found, relatively simple ingredients and looks like one that I could tweak for fun in the future.


First off the separating of yolks from whites was a pretty easy task, and kind of nice to have egg whites ready for omlettes in the morning! Mix sugar and egg yolks along with the vanilla extract. Might be fun to try with other flavors too. I had thought about orange, but someone said that didn't sound too great. So... you pick!


The second step, heat the heavy cream until it ALMOST boils -for fun I added a bit of culinary lavender to mine :) 
If you are like me you probably would like to know how to tell when something is ALMOST boiling. After quite a while of stirring and waiting I noticed it to steam heavily. Then if you stop stirring you can notice that there appears to be some movement under the surface of the heavy cream. Evidently this is the ALMOST boiling that they refer to. I did however still wait seeing how I was skeptical about it really being done, and not wanting to ruin my first batch of these. Very shortly after this stage, it does boil. Now that you know, just stop at that first stage :)


*I strained lavender from mixture prior to adding to eggs.


Mix the ready cream with you egg mixture and stir with whisk until thoroughly disolved. Doesn't take to long, less than a minute I would say.


All around everything was relatively simple and was going well until I realized I was lacking a double boiler... after searching through cupboards I found that using a small metal mixing bowl that can fit into a pot/pan of water does the trick!


**side note make sure it doesn't fit perfectly otherwise removing the bowl to pour the mixture into the ramekins can be a painful and difficult task. I learned the hard way.


Next, I poured the egg and cream mixture into the top of my make shift double boiler which I had the water in the pan simmering already. Stir with wooden spoon until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon well. This really didn't take long maybe about 5 minutes. I did have a bit of a panic though when I couldn't get my metal bowl out of the pan! Just a slight burn, mess on the stove and a bit of curdling was the result., but I did it!


Now instead of pouring the mixture directly into the ramekins, I first poured it into a large glass measuring cup. This made pouring much easier and less of a mess!


I chose to arrange my glass ramekins onto a baking sheet for easy transportation in and out of the oven. I had noticed in some recipes that it suggests surrounding the ramekins with water as well, but I decided to follow this recipes directions and did not.


Now to bake!!!

I was very excited waiting for my little brulees to bake. I not so patiently watched with the oven light on while listening to my cooking friends Mr.Buble, Mr.Sinatra. and Mr.Cole. Very good, but would of been better with some bubbley. Then it could of been a Brulee, Buble, and Bubbly night!!!


Yeah, I tend to entertain myself while alone, thankfully for others I tend to keep my silly thoughts to myself. However I still like that idea...Might have to use it for the name of a cooking party...


Okay, back to the cooking!

After 30 minutes are up they should look about like this-->
Nice and firm looking with a bubbly texture. I let them cool on the pan for about 5 minutes prior to putting in the fridge. As I didn't want to risk breaking the glass shelf. 


Now wait an hour for them to chill! (Or overnight)


After they are chilled mix the brown sugar and white sugar together and put through a sifter. If you do not have one, try putting it through a mesh strainer just so there are no clumps. Then sprinkle this mixture atop of each brulee so they are thoroughly coated. Then broil. If you have the option for broiling high or low, chose high. It worked out well for me. 


Then I went back to watching. I would say carefully monitor them because while broiling they can go from perfect to burnt in no time. I think my broiling took about 7 minutes. 


Next back to the refrigerator!


They only need to be in about 10-15 min to firm up again, but I decided to wait overnight for mine as it had gotten quite late. 


I had one that very next morning for breakfast and they had turned out great! Not too eggy and had a nice creamy texture. One disappointment though was the lavender flavor did not come through. I will have to play with the lavender a bit more and see if I can't make it work. 




ENJOY!