Jamie Oliver's Cheesy Mushrooms

The Yummy Yummy Mushroom (who knew!)

My hubby and I have fallen in love with a new recipe that I have stumbled upon from Jamie's 30 Minute Meals where he creates a steak sarnie with a number of tasty sides.  One of the sides is a lovely grilled mushroom. Now I usually do not have much luck with cooking mushies - they usually end up watery and tasteless. This recipe has a bit of crunch and a whole lot of flavour. I hope you enjoy....

(Jamie Oliver's) Cheesy Mushrooms

original recipe can be found here

• 4 large flat Portobello or Field mushrooms (roughly 250g/ 9oz in total) 
• 2 cloves of garlic (I used Garden Gourmet squeezy tube and mixed this through the lemon before pouring over mushrooms)

• ½ fresh red chilli

• 2 sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley

• ½ lemon

• 1 or 2 tablespoons of lemon zest
• 50 to 100g crumbled feta cheese 
• A good splash of good quality olive oil

Lay the mushrooms, stalk side up, on a chopping board. Trim the stalks and place the mushrooms stalk side up in a small earthenware dish that they fit into fairly snugly.

Crush ½ an unpeeled clove of garlic over each mushroom. Finely chop ½ a red chilli and a couple of parsley sprigs, and divide between the mushrooms. Grate over the zest of ½ a lemon, drizzle well with olive oil and lemon juice and season. Crumble feta over the top of the mushrooms.  

pre-grilled cheesy mushrooms

Grill on the top shelf for 9 to 10 minutes, or until golden.  Serve immediately.

go to the facebook site and leave a recipe...

Jamie's 30 Minute Meals - Pinenut, Sun-dried Tomato and Cucumber Salad

This is the salad that Jamie Oliver creates with his Oozy Mushroom Risotto. Again, I have tried to write out what he has written and included some pics. They were for my use but thought I would share as the Mushroom Risotto is gorgeous and the salad is very fresh and zingy.

Ingredients

Pine nuts

Olive Oil

Balsamic Vinegar

Sundried Tomatoes

Lemon

Packet of Baby Spinach leaves

Cucumber (Lebanese)

Mint

Parmesan Cheese

Method

In a heavy based pan lightly toast 200 grams of pine nuts.

Add to 3 tbspn of olive oil to a large salad bowl. Add 1 tbspn balsamic vinegar. Add 5 or 6 sundried tomatoes roughly cut in 1cm strips, squeeze in half a lemon, add a sprinkle of salt and  give it all a gentle mix in the bowl with your fingers.

Cut a packet of baby spinach leaves into 1 cm strips (Jamie gently holds the whole batch in a ball and cuts with a sharp knife).  Place on top of the dressing the bowl but don’t mix through until you are ready to serve.

Score the outside of a cucumber (I used a Lebanese but I think Jamie used the really long one that comes in plastic) then cut in half and then cut on angle in centimetre cuts.  Place the cucumber in the bowl on top of the salad.

 

Rip up a few sprigs of mint and throw on top.

Now dress the salad by gently tossing everything through with your fingers.  Make sure everything is scrummy and coated.

Now add the hot toasted pine nuts.  Add a few scrapes of parmesan cheese (maybe a couple of tbspns) and enjoy:)

The salad is from Series 1, Episode 8 where Jamie Oliver makes Oozy Mushroom Risotto, this salad and a yummy lemon, raspberry and gingernut desert. I am going to try and make the desert at a later date and will add it to this site if it's a success:)

All pictures are taken from the television program - Jamie's 30 Minute Meals

Jamie's 30-Minute Meals - Oozy Mushroom Risotto

We had the TV on the other day (a rarity for us in our house) and were randomly channel surfing, when we happened upon Jamie Oliver’s 30 Minute Meals.  Jamie makes three meals in 30 minutes.  In this episode (Season 1, Episode 8) he was making a yummy risotto, salad and desert.  I thought I would give it a go:)  

I have tried to write down what Jamie has done word for word and tried to add some pics (originally for my own use - but thought I would share).  I then realised I had never made risotto before, in fact I had tried it once or twice at restaurants and hated it!!:) But this looked too yummy to let go.  So I gave it a go. I didn't have some of the ingredients but the result was yummy - yummy - yummy.  Here is Jamie's recipe with my little notes added in.  I hope you enjoy:)

Oozy Three Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients

One or two sticks of celery (I didn't use these)

One large brown onion

Handful of dried porcini mushrooms (I didn't have these)

Fresh rosemary (I only had home dried rosemary)

Chicken or Vegie Stock Cube

Boiled Water

500g of mixed fresh mushrooms (I used oyster, swiss brown, king brown and enoki mushrooms)

300g of arborio rice

glass of white wine (I used Chinese cooking wine - ha!, as that's all I had!)

fresh thyme (I had fresh lemon thyme)

clove of garlic

parmesan cheese

butter

fresh lemon juice 

handful of parsley (I forgot about this too!!)

salt and pepper to taste

Method (note I didn't use some of these ingredients but have added in Jamie's recipe, in case you wish to use it)

Destring some celery (click off the top section and pull off the outside stringiness)

Place in food processor.  Peel one large brown onion.  Quarter or halve and place in food processor with celery.  Place in a handful of dried porcini mushrooms.   Place in a fresh sprig of rosemary (destemmed).  Whazz.

Place 3 tbsns of olive oil into a pan (Jamie uses a casserole dish).  Warm through and then add the mix from the food processor.  Fry.  Add 300g of Arborio rice.  Add a glass of white wine.  Stir. Add one veggie or chicken stock cube.  Add a splash of freshly boiled hot water (I reckon half a cup maybe).  Turn down to a medium–low heat.  Stir very well.  You keep doing this for 18-20 mins – adding hot water and stirring well. 

Get 500g of a variety of three mushrooms.  Slice into big chunks. Half will go in the rice now, half will be grilled later.  Add your mushrooms to the rice mixture. Add a little bit more water and stir.  Season lightly with salt and stir.

Place the other half of the mushrooms in a baking tray or something that can withstand grilling.  Season with salt, pepper and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil.  Add in some fresh thyme and rosemary and crushed garlic.  Mix it all with your fingers like you are dressing a salad.  Place small nobs of butter in and around the mushrooms.  Put aside for grilling later.

Add some more hot water and stir your risotto well.

At the 15 minute interval Jamie makes a yummy looking desert.  I am going to try and copy this out later and see how I go with it. It is ginger nut and hazelnut base with Crème fraîche and lemon, raspberries and chocolate (drool)

Give the risotto more boiling water and have another stir (make sure it doesn't dry out and stays wet and almost sloppy).

Place your pan of mushrooms into a hot grill.  Jamie leaves this for about 8-10 minutes.  They have to be caramelised and soaked in the garlic, olive oil and pop in your mouth.  Not crunchy and burnt:)  I add some extra olive oil to keep mine ticking over.

At the 21 minute mark Jamie makes a yummy salad.  I gave it a go. It’s very fresh so would go well with the risotto. Pinenut and Sundried Tomato salad.

At about the 23 minute mark, take your risotto off the heat and add a couple of big knobs of butter and grate about 50grams of parmesan to taste.   The risotto must be oozy so add stock or water if needed.  It should be runny and able to fall off the mixing spoon easily. Taste and check if it needs salt or parmesan.   Add a small squeeze of lemon juice.  

Finely chop a handful of parsley and stir through the risotto.   Pop a lid on the dish and leave it for 2-3 minutes.

Serve with more parmesan cheese (if desired) and a scoop of grilled mushrooms on the top.  I added way too many grilled mushrooms. Be warned they taste very strong. You don't need alot.  Enjoy:)

All pictures are taken from Season 1, Episode 8 of Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals.

Super Tasty Zucchini Slice (thanks Sharon!)

Thanks to Sharon for sharing this recipe. I am going to make it during the week. If I remember I'll pop in a photo too:) 


I just made a super tasty zucchini slice.... I adapted it from one I found online to make it yummier. 

2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup grated carrot
1 large onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic
1 medium sized chilli, chopped
chopped basil to taste
handful of grated cheese
2 heaped dessert spoons of plain flour
6 eggs, lightly mixed with a fork
oil and salt.

Heat oven to 180 degrees


Cook onion in a frying pan till soft, add garlic and grated veg, cook until excess juice has evaported and vegies are soft, season well with salt. 


Transfer to a large bowl and leave to cool for 10 min, mix in cheese, flour, chilli, basil and eggs. Pour into a greased square cake/slice pan and bake until set, about 20min. 


Leave to cool slightly in pan, and slice into peices once warm. 


Makes about 8 serves.

Veggie Smuggling - Zucchini via Cheese Puff

Here is another success from the Vegie Smugglers website.  Cheese Puffs that contain lots of zucchini.  Again I was very dubious that my meat loving four year old would have a stress attack if she saw anything green on her plate however she nommed these up without any hesitation.  They are also great for lunch boxes and the Daddy Chook liked them so much he took them to work too:)

Here is the recipe...

Cheese Puffs

• ½ cup milk (soy is fine)
• 1 egg
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• 1 zucchini, wazzed in the food processor (peeled first if your kids hate green)
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped (I recommend wazzing them)
• 2 cups grated cheese (cheddar is best)
• 1 cup self-raising flour

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Line a baking tray.

In a large bowl, whisk together the milk and egg.

Add the paprika, zucchini, spring onions and cheese. Sift over the flour. Mix well (it becomes a thick paste).

Dollop out portions.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until deep golden brown and cooked through.

Store in the fridge in an airtight container for several days.

MAKES 16

Rasgulla - (steamed cheese (paneer) balls in sugar syrup)

This recipe was in our end of year pre-school booklet:) Yummo....can't wait to make them:)


One litre milk
250 grams sugar
One tablespoon flour
One teaspoon rose water
One tablespoon of lime/lemon juice

Boil Milk and when it boils reduce heat and add the lime juice.The milk will start curdling and the whey will separate. Let the milk stand for a few minutes. Then strain the mixture separate the  solid from the liquid with a cheese cloth. The solid is normally called the paneer(indian cottage cheese).

Hang the paneer in a place so by gravity all the water drains from it. This will take half to one hour.Then take it  squeeze any excess water remaining in it.Then place a heavy weight on it and let it rest for one hour.This ensures that the paneer is dry. Tjis will be in the consistency of wet bread crumbs when you handle it.

Transfer it to a container and knead softly with your palms. Then add the flour and continue to knead gently for a few minutes. Then make small round balls.You can make around 20 to 25 balls with the mixture.Keep it aside.

Place the sugar in a pressure cooker and add 3 cups of water and dissolve it.Wait for it to boil.When the syrup is boiling add the prepared paneer balls into it and also the rose water.Close the pressure cooker and steam it on a medium pressure for 5 to 7 minutes. Let it rest and open it. When it cools leave it in the refrigerator overnight and Yummy you will have tasty healthy rasgullas for the next day.

It can be had immediately after cooking  but will taste better if it soaks in the sugar syrup .This can be kept in the refrigerator for a week and Charu loves it.

PS.

For a different flavor instead of the rose water you can add powdered cardamom or vanilla essence

Food colouring can be added to the dough to make different coloured rasagullas

If you don’t have a pressure cooker you can use a container make the syrup and put in the balls and boil it on a low flame /reduced heat for around 15 to 30 minutes. The balls usually double up in size when you boil them.

Chickpea, fetta and coriander tarts

1 can chickpeas (about 400g)
1 cup of your fav pasta sauce
1 egg (optional#)
1/2 cup chopped Coriander Leaves (or Basil)
100g Feta Cheese
4 sheets of filo pastry

Preheat oven to 220 degrees.

Drain and wash chickpeas.  Mash chickpeas with a fork.  Add pasta sauce, crumbled feta and coriander leaves and mix through well. Taste and season with salt and pepper to your liking.  Mix in egg.

Lay a sheet of filo on the bench, kepping the remainder covered to prevent them from drying out.  Spary sheet lightly with oil and fold in half.  Repeat this once then cut in half, giving you a 2 rectangles of pastry.

Spray a muffin tin lightly with oil and line each mould with a filo piece, pressing it down around the base and edges.  Fill the moulds with chickpea mixture and bake in oven for 20 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.

Makes 8 tarts

** This recipe is from the biggest loser recipe book and everything is supposed to be low fat.  I do this a little differently.  I use puff pastry.  I cut the puff pastry into squares of four. (ie. one pastry sheet will can make four squares if you cut it or fold it into four).  Before I put the mixture in the tarts I bake the empty cases in the oven a little bit (for about 5 to 10 mins).  Once they are a little puffy and brown I take them out of the oven and then let them cool a little.  I then pop the mixture in and then put them in the oven for another 10 mins.

#I left the egg out the other night when I made this for Cynthy as she is vegie.  It didn't seem to make a whole lot of difference:)

Tomato & Red Lentil Soup

I kinda make my own recipes from other ones....so play with the soup and taste it lots and add extra water or vegie stock as needed

1 Brown Onion - halved and finely chopped
2 Garlic Cloves - crushed
2 cans of diced tomatoes
2 cans of tomato soup (plus 2 cans of water)
3/4 cup of split red lentils

Spray a big soup pot with olive oil.  Add onion and garlic and sautee until onion softens.  Add soup, water and tomatoes (juice and all).  Bring to boil.  Add lentils.  Reduce to low and cook for about 30 minutes or until the lentils are tender and the soup is yummy and thick.  Stir it occasionally while its cooking.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Serve it with crusty bread.  The little round 'cook in the oven' rolls are perfect with this.

You can freeze this soup.

You could also add crumbled or chopped up proscutio to the soup for a smokey flavour.

Sweet Potato & Tumeric Soup

This is my favourite soup in the world.  I sort of made it up through trial and error.  It's a bit time consuming if you allow the mixture to cool so you can blend it...but well worth it.

Tablespoon Olive Oil
A large golden sweet potato - chopped into small cubes
1 medium brown onion - chopped
2 crushed garlic cloves
2 cm piece of fresh ginger - grated
1 birds eye chilli - deseeded and chopped (be careful doing this - watch rubbing your eyes!)
1 heaped tablespoon of tumeric
1 litre of water (4 cups)
2 Massel Vegie Stock Cubes
1 can (400ml) Coconut milk

Warm a big pot and place in oil.  Wait about a minute for oil to heat through and throw in the onion, chilli, garlic and ginger.  Stir fry until onion is transparent.  Try not to burn the spices.

Chuck in the sweet potato and tumeric.  Fry this a little until aromatic.

Add litre of warm water with stock cubes.  Bring to boil.  Then lower to simmer for about 30 minutes or until the sweet potato is soft.

Take this off the stove and allow to cool.  Blend the mixture in a blender until smooth.  If you blend it while its hot it tends to steam up and pop the top off your blender! you do not want tumeric on anything as it will stain or hot soup on your face!  You can always use a hand blender while its hot - but it doesn't make it as fine and creamy.

Place blended mixture back in the pot on the stove.  Heat through until hot, then stir through the can of coconut milk.  Remove from heat and serve with crusty bread.

YUM. YUM. YUM.

Sweet Potato and Chickpea Salad - Healthy salad :)

Made a yummy salad last night and thought I would share.

1 large sweet potato (orange/gold) about 400g
1 large onion
1/2 cup of low fat natural yoghurt
2 tbs coriander
1 tbs lemon juice
1 x 400g of chickpeas
60g of rocket

Dice the sw. potato into 1.5cm cube. Cut onion into wedges.  Put on a baking tray and spray with olive oil and bake in oven (180 degrees C) for about 25 minutes or until cooked (when you can poke the sw. potato with a fork and its soft enough to skewer).

When this is cooked let it cool for about about 5 to 10 minutes then place in a salad bowl.

Drain can of chickpeas (rinse them with water if you like) then place them in the salad bowl as well.  Wash rocket and add to salad bowl.

Combine yoghurt, lemon juice and coriander (i use the squeezy tube of coriander but you can use fresh as well) in a bowl and then mix through the salad.

You are ready to serve and eat.

YUMMY!

Asparagus salad with lime dressing

1 bunch of asparagus

250g of frozen baby peas

½ red capsicum

½ red onion (or white doesn’t really matter)

½ cup of fresh lime juice

½ cup of fresh mint leaves

2 tsp brown sugar

Cut off the woody ends of the asparagus and cut into 2.5cm pieces.  Lightly oil a pan (spray it with olive oil) and stir fry the asparagus until tender

Transfer to a salad bowl

Cook peas as per instructions on pack (boil for 2-4 minutes) and drain in a colander and rinse them with cold water. Add to the salad bowl.

Finely chop the capsicum and onion.  Combine lime juice, mint and sugar in a bowl. Add in capsicum and onion.

Add mixture all together in salad bowl. Stir and Serve.

A yummy fresh spring salad:)  This one was taken from September AGT but I have modified it a little.

Potato, Parsnip and Horseradish Mash

4 desiree potatoes (about 750g), peeled and quartered
3 parsnips (about 500g), peeled and chopped
½ cup of skim milk
1 tbs extra light sour cream
2 tsp horseradish cream

Cook potato and parsnip in a saucepan of salted boiling water for 20 mins or until tender.  Drain and return to pan.

Add the milk, sour cream and horseradish to the pan and mash until smooth.  Add salt and pepper as desired.

This is a direct take from an AGT September magazine.  I don’t normally like mash but this was yummy as can be.  I add in more horseradish as I love it.

This makes a lot of mash

Two Potato Salad

I'm in love with this salad at the moment:) 

This serves six to eight people, often I halve the ingredients for home use.
750g boiling potatoes
750g sweet potatoes
1 cup mayonnaise
4 spring onions
1/3 cup of parsley
1/4 cup mint leaves
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice or to taste

Chop herbs finely and combine with all other ingredients except potatoes. Peel and cut potatoes into 2cm cubes. Place in separate bowls of cold water. Steam sweet potato for 8-10 minutes until just tender. Transfer to large serving bowl. Cover but don’t refrigerate. Steam other potatoes for similar period. Transfer to bowl. Toss with dressing and serve warm.

Taken from: Prahran Market

Ricotta & Spinach Cannelloni

This is my new favourite recipe as you can freeze it.  I am really getting into the frozen food thing due to bubs imminent arrival!

Serves 8 (we freeze most of it and have it for lunches or for dinner the next week)

Olive oil spray
250g pkt instant dried cannelloni tubes
1 x 700g btl passata (tomato pasta sauce)
125ml (1/2 cup) water
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, shredded
1 garlic clove, crushed
50g (1/2 cup) coarsely grated reduced-fat mozzarella

Filling800g low-fat fresh ricotta
250g frozen spinach, thawed, excess liquid removed
Pinch of nutmeg

Preheat oven to 180°C. Spray a 3L (12-cup) capacity ovenproof dish with olive oil spray to lightly grease.

To make the ricotta and spinach filling, place the ricotta in a large bowl. Use a fork to mash until smooth. Add the spinach and nutmeg and stir until well combined. Season with salt and pepper. Use a teaspoon to spoon the mixture evenly among the cannelloni tubes. Alternatively, spoon the ricotta mixture into a piping bag and pipe the mixture into the cannelloni tubes.  (I use a plastic bag and cut off one corner as I don’t have a piping bag).

Combine the passata, water, basil and garlic in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon 125ml (1/2 cup) of the passata mixture over the base of the prepared dish. Arrange the cannelloni tubes, in a single layer, over the passata mixture. Spoon over the remaining passata mixture.

Sprinkle the mozzarella over the passata mixture. Cover loosely with foil and bake in oven for 45 minutes or until the cannelloni is tender. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool slightly. 

I allow most of this too cool and then freeze.  The rest we have for dinnerJ

Taken from AGT – February 07.