canning shelves 2014_opt_opt
Posts Archives
All posts with mushrooms tag.
In , , on January 6, 2017 with No Comments

Pressure Cooker Creamy Chicken with Spinach and Mushrooms

Chicken is probably one of the most fun proteins to cook with because you can do anything with it. Whatever cuisine you’re hungry for, there’s a recipe out there to satisfy your craving. Since I’m still in the honeymoon stage with my new Instant Pot, I’m on the lookout for different ways of making everything, and I was inspired by a couple of different recipes I’d seen on Pinterest about making chicken breasts in the Instant Pot. After looking through my pantry and refrigerator to see what ingredients I had on hand, I came up with the following recipe.

You can cook your chicken breasts in the Instant Pot if they are still frozen, but mine were thawed, so that helped speed up the process a little bit. Feel free to use whatever seasoning your family likes—Italian seasoning would be good, as would some herbs de Provence if you’re feeling a little bit French. I stuck to the basics—salt and freshly ground black pepper—to season my chicken breasts as I knew I’d be adding different flavors in the cream sauce.




You’re really simply poaching the chicken in some cooking liquid. After the chicken is cooked, you can top it with whatever sauce you wish. I had mushrooms, spinach, and heavy cream on hand, so that was my inspiration.

Again, the ingredient amounts are approximate, so feel free to experiment. I usually cook without recipes, so it’s a little of this and a little of that—taste and adjust seasonings and ingredients accordingly.

 

Creamy Chicken with Spinach and Mushrooms

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup good chicken stock

Salt and black pepper

2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

1/2 stick butter (not margarine)

8 ounces sliced mushrooms

2 cups fresh spinach

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Liberally season the chicken breasts with salt and freshly ground black pepper and place them in the Instant Pot. Add the cup of chicken stock and the smashed garlic cloves. Place the lid on the cooker, remembering to set the valve to seal, and select the Manual setting. Cook for 10 minutes on high pressure.

When the cooker beeps, turn off the Instant Pot, and do a quick release to bring down the pressure. Remove the chicken breasts from the cooking pot, and set aside, keeping them warm. Pour out the chicken stock and save for another use if desired.

Select the saute function, and melt the butter in the cooking pot. Add the sliced mushrooms, and saute for approximately 5 minutes or until they start to soften. Add the white wine, and scrape to remove any browned goodies at the bottom of the pot. Add the fresh spinach, and continue to saute for a few minutes until the spinach wilts. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

In a small bowl, combine the heavy cream and the grated Parmesan cheese. Add this to the cooking pot, and cook for a few minutes more until the sauce thickens to your desired consistency. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if needed.

Serve sauce over poached chicken breasts.
Visit Canning and Cooking Iowa Style’s profile on Pinterest.

Continue Reading
In , on July 3, 2016 with No Comments

Paleo Broccoli Slaw

I’ve finally come to the realization that I’m not a healthy person. I’ve always thought I ate a healthy diet. I ate plenty of vegetables and fruits. I ate chicken breast, usually without the skin (but not always!), and I tried to bake or roast other meats rather than deep-frying, although I would do that for a treat. I baked my own bread. I canned the fruits and vegetables that we grew in our garden. Basically, I was eating what I thought was a fairly well-balanced diet.

Then I went to the doctor. Yes, I’ve put on some weight over the last few years. I work from home on the computer, so I do have a fairly sedentary lifestyle, although I would try to get out and do yard work and walk on a halfway regular basis, though I know it probably was not enough. While I was definitely not happy about my weight (and subsequent BMI numbers), the thing that woke me up was my blood work.

I’ve had hypothyroidism for years, as well as undifferentiated connective tissue disorder and fibromyalgia. I’ve been prediabetic for just about as long. My blood work numbers finally screamed at me that it was time to take drastic action. How or what I was going to change I still wasn’t sure about, but I knew that something needed to change. Just so you know, my thyroid is completely out of whack. Conventional medicine says that a normal thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) range should be between 0.5 and 4.5. I later found out that the functional medicine range (more about how I found this out below) for TSH is between 0.5 and 2 or 2.5. Well, I blew both of these ranges out of the water, as my TSH came back at a whopping 20!

Knowing what I know about the thyroid, I knew this was bad news. The thyroid regulates what goes on in the body—so with this huge TSH number, it’s no wonder I was putting on weight, and it’s no wonder my blood sugar (A1c) finally jumped into the diabetic range. But I still wasn’t sure how to fix this. My doctor put me back on a higher dosage of levothyroxine said come back in three months for retesting. And that was it. I love my PCP because he always listens to me, but really? That’s all the advice you had for me?




Around the time I got this news from my physician, I picked up a new client out in California for some transcription work. The client was doing this online class and podcasts and needed some transcription work. I started listening to his class lectures, and when I started working for him, he was on a section about supplements and the HPA axis, which is the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. While it was interesting material, it didn’t really seem like it pertained to me. I kept doing the work and going about my business.

Then he did a lecture about thyroid dysfunction and the differences between lab ranges of conventional and functional medicine and when each would probably decide to treat a patient. This was a lightbulb going off for me. This clinician said he would probably treat a patient, depending on all the factors of course, if her TSH was in the 2 to 2.5 range. And here I am with a TSH of 20. He also described different things that can influence thyroid dysfunction, so I decided to delve a little deeper into what other things this clinician talked about.

I decided to look up this clinician who I was working for and discovered that he was a leading expert in the Paleo movement. I read about his background, saw that he himself battled an unknown illness for years but found a way to improve his own health, and then I bought his book. If you’ve followed a Paleo diet or have done any research about it at all, you’ve probably heard of him or maybe have even read his book. It’s Chris Kresser, and the book that finally made everything click for me is The Paleo Cure.

I’d looked at the Paleo diet several times over the past few years, but I never really truly decided to do it because I love bread. I love pasta. I didn’t think I could go without these favorites and be able to cook or eat the way I wanted. After these past few months, however, I’ve decided that I can’t afford not to change and do this diet, so I’ve jumped onto the Paleo bandwagon with both feet. On July 1, I started doing Chris’ 30-day elimination/detox diet. I completely eliminated all sugars, dairy, alcohol, and gluten products. I threw out all the foods in my cupboards and refrigerator that are banned for the first 30 days. My youngest son, who has had GI issues of his own over the past year, is also doing this diet with me, although he’s complaining a bit about going dairy-free for 30 days, but he realizes he too needs to figure out why he’s ill when the specialists he’s seen over this past year have no idea what’s wrong with him.

I believe, although I don’t have any proof in terms of blood work, that both my son and I are intolerant to gluten. I do know my son does not have celiac disease, as this was confirmed by biopsy during his two EGD procedures. However, after listening to Chris’ transcriptions and reading his work, I believe my son and I may be intolerant to gluten, which may or may not show up on any lab test. The only way to determine if this is the case is to do an elimination diet.

So here we are. I have to re-learn how to cook. I have to find tasty substitutes for things I’ve always taken for granted: ketchup, soy sauce (for my son), bread, pasta. I’ll actually learn to make my own mayo, something I’ve wanted to do anyway but have been too lazy because Miracle Whip is right there on the grocery shelf. I’ll probably be fine with going sugar-free, although I do love to bake and will need to come up with acceptable substitutes for my favorite recipes to make them Paleo-friendly. But going without bread and pasta will probably be the hardest, but it’s the one thing I must give up to see if that is where my problems originate. Studies have shown that gluten may interfere with thyroid functions, and that really makes sense to me now.

On the plus side, my son is happy that this is a protein diet, and he can still eat steak and liver, two of his favorite foods. I’ve told him after the first 30 days we’ll gradually see if he can tolerate milk again, which is his biggest vice. If any reader has a favorite Paleo recipe they’d like to share, please feel free to drop me a line to share. Or if you have a favorite Paleo website, you can share that too. I’ve been all over the Internet and have found some good sources, but all new sources are welcome, especially if they have tasty, family-friendly Paleo recipes.

Our first few Paleo meals were nothing spectacular by any means: steak and mushrooms. Not that my son minded a bit!

 

paleo steak and mushrooms 2

 

I simply seared up the steak (grass-fed) and topped each steak with some mushrooms and onions that I’ve sautéed in a little bit of ghee (clarified butter) and seasoned with some garlic powder and black pepper. I’d normally saute the mushrooms in unsalted butter, so switching to ghee wasn’t hard to do, and quite frankly, I couldn’t taste a difference.

The next night everyone was together, so I decided to cook a Paleo meal for everyone. Unfortunately for my youngest son, he was forced to eat steak and sautéed mushrooms again (poor kid!), but I threw in a quick broccoli and carrot slaw to go with, and the meal was finished off with a nice chilled slice of sweet watermelon. Here’s the recipe for that salad, which was super easy to throw together since I used packaged broccoli and carrot slaw. Now some Paleo purists may say that honey is a no-no, but it’s on the “eat occasionally list” that I’m following, but feel free to eliminate this if you choose. Easy peasy, delicious, and Paleo-friendly.

 

broccoli slaw paleo

 

Quick Broccoli and Carrot Slaw

2 packages broccoli slaw (contains shredded broccoli, red cabbage and carrots

2 apples, cored and chopped (I left the skin on mine but you can peel if you prefer)

1/2 red onion, diced

1 package toasted sunflower seeds

3 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon raw honey

1/3 cup good olive oil (I used regular olive oil not extra-virgin)

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

 

In a large bowl combine all the vegetables and the sunflower seeds, and mix together. In a small bowl (or a small Mason jar with a lid), whisk or shake (if using the jar) the mustard, honey, olive oil and vinegar together until completely incorporated. Pour dressing over the veggies, and stir until everything is nicely coated.

You can serve this right away, or you can chill it in the refrigerator while you’re getting your steaks and mushrooms ready.

Yield: About 6 servings
Visit Canning and Cooking Iowa Style’s profile on Pinterest.

Continue Reading
In on December 8, 2015 with No Comments

Mushroom Dressing

I hope everyone had a terrific Thanksgiving this year. We did, as we visited my parents for a short weekend. Lots of good food and conversation.

I’m late getting these recipes posted, as work has been a crazy, busy mess. I’m not complaining a bit, though. Being a freelancer, you take the work when it presents itself. It just has kept me too busy to blog this past month.

One of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes is mushroom dressing. I’ll admit I’m not a huge stuffing fan, probably because most recipes use celery. I like celery – just not in my stuffing thank you. About 20 years ago or so, I found a recipe for mushroom dressing in the Des Moines Register. I’ve made this recipe hundreds of times and have tweaked it along the way from the original one I first saw. My family likes this version, and I hope you do too.

mushroom dressing

mushroom dressing 2

 

Mushroom Dressing

1 pound fresh mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
8 tablespoons butter
3 cups chicken stock
2 packages of stuffing mix (plain, herbed or use day-old homemade bread cubes), about 5 cups
1 8-ounce can water chestnuts, chopped
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning (omit or reduce amount if using seasoned bread cubes)
Salt and black pepper to taste

In a large skillet, melt the butter. Add the sliced mushrooms and sliced onions. Cook over medium heat until the mixture reduces and the mushrooms and onions are soft, about 15 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the bread cubes (or stuffing mix) with enough chicken stock to thoroughly moisten the bread. Add the cooked mushrooms and onions, the poultry seasoning if using, and the chopped water chestnuts. Stir until well combined and everything is moistened. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Place dressing mixture in a greased 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned.

Continue Reading
In , on October 11, 2015 with 1 Comment

Canning 101: Mushrooms

Today my husband decided to take a little stroll in the timber, and he came back with a really nice hen of the woods mushroom. We forage both in the spring and in the fall for wild mushrooms, and hen of the woods can be found in late fall, usually right before frost, providing the conditions are right.

The one he found today is a really nice one at 10 pounds. Not the biggest he’s ever found, but also not the smallest. It will take a few jars to get this sucker canned. 🙂

 

These mushrooms are pretty much solid all the way through. You do need to trim off the bottom where it sits on the ground, and check for bugs and other critters as you cut it up and clean it. If you find them fresh like this one is, there’s a lot of good eating.

While I realize that the current edition of Ball Blue Book doesn’t condone canning wild mushrooms, older versions of this publication had no warnings against it, which is when I learned how to can what we would find. You have to know what you’re foraging for, as there are mushrooms out there that may look similar but are deadly, not so much the hen of the woods but especially other types of fall mushrooms that we like to look for. My husband and I have hunted wild mushrooms for decades, so we know what is good to eat and what will kill you, and we’ve researched all kinds of mushrooms in various publications. That said, if you’re going to hunt for wild mushrooms, if you’re a newbie take someone with you who has experience and knows what the good ones look like.

Mushrooms must be pressure canned because mushrooms are a low-acid food, and these aren’t being pickled (pickled mushrooms can be water bathed). A water bath canner doesn’t get the temperature high enough to kill off any potential bacteria (botulism). Again, this isn’t an approved Ball Blue Book recipe, so proceed at your own risk, but I’ve pressure canned mushrooms this way for over 20 years, and I’m still here. I found these instructions in my Mirro canner manual, which I purchased over 20 years ago. Use half-pints or pint jars only, as using quarts isn’t recommended.

For this 10-pound mushroom, I ended up with 25 half-pints of canned mushrooms. Nice return for a stroll in the woods. 🙂

Canning Mushrooms

Wild mushrooms
Water
Canning salt

Trim mushrooms of any debris, and soak in cold water for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse mushrooms. For hen of the woods mushrooms, dice mushrooms into bite-sized pieces.

In a large stockpot, cook mushrooms gently for 15 minutes.

Pack hot mushrooms into prepared hot jars, and cover with boiling water, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Add canning salt to each jar (1/4 teaspoon for half-pints, 1/2 teaspoon for pints). Adjust lids and rings.

Process jars in a pressure canner at 10 pounds of pressure for 30 minutes (same time for both half pints and pints).

After processing, remove jars from canner, and let sit undisturbed for at least 12 hours before moving.

To use: You can use these mushrooms in any recipe that you would normally use store-bought canned mushrooms.

Continue Reading
In on October 2, 2015 with No Comments

Jaegerschnitzel – Pork Cutlet with Mushroom Red Wine Gravy

In honor of my family’s German heritage, I decided to make a German-influenced dinner. While most people first think of sauerbraten, which I’m not crazy about, or brats as something they would have during Oktoberfest, I decided to search for a schnitzel-type main course. While searching through the mountain of saved recipes I have on Pinterest, I came across a recipe for jaegerschnitzel from Bacon, Butter, Cheese & Garlic that sounded scrumptious. I think my German grandparents would have approved of this recipe, as it’s fantastic. To round out the meal, we also had Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage and Kirschenmichel (traditional German cherry cake).

 

Jaegerschnitzel

4 boneless pork chops
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Black pepper
Seasoned salt
Dried parsley
Olive oil
2 eggs
1/2 pound bacon, chopped

Sauce Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, chopped
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup red wine
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 cups beef stock
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Cook the bacon until crisp. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease.

Pound the pork chops to about 1/4-inch thickness. Mix together the flour with some garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, seasoned salt and dried parsley. (Amounts of spices are up to your family’s taste – start with 1 teaspoon of each and adjust as needed.)

In another bowl, whisk the 2 eggs together with a splash of water.

In a third bowl, mix the panko with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon each of garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder, seasoned salt and dried parsley.

Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil in a large skillet. Dip the pork cutlets in the flour, then into the egg, and finally into the panko mixture, pressing down to coat. Fry the cutlets in the olive oil until browned and crispy on both sides and done through. Drain them on paper towels, and keep warm in a 200 degrees Fahrenheit oven.

For the sauce, put the reserved bacon grease and butter into a large skillet, and melt the butter. Cook the shallots and the mushrooms over medium-high heat until tender. Deglaze the pan with the red wine. Sprinkle the flour over the mushroom mixture, and stir to combine. Cook for about 3 to 5 minutes, to cook off the taste of the flour and allow the roux to form. Add in the beef stock, garlic, salt and pepper to taste, and sour cream. Whisk everything together to combine. Continue cooking and whisking until thickened and bubbly.

Serve the sauce over the pork cutlets, and garnish with the bacon the chopped parsley.

Continue Reading
In , on September 19, 2015 with No Comments

Canning 101: Pickled Marinated Mushrooms

One of my goals with this blog is to keep track of recipes I’ve already tried or that I want to try but haven’t gotten around to yet. This marinated mushroom recipe is one I haven’t tried yet, but I love pickled mushrooms. I have so many different canning and preserving books and recipes, and I don’t want to try to remember where I put the recipe when I’m ready to make it.

This recipe comes from The Home Preserving Bible by Carole Cancler. This book contains multiple terrific-sounding preserving recipes that I’m itching to try, but this marinated mushroom recipe caught my eye first. The book is available on Amazon (both the print and Kindle versions), and it’s one I highly recommend to both newbie canners and seasoned canners alike, as it has a wealth of preserving information, not just canning but other various methods such as how to cure meats, fermentation, salt curing and more.

ETA: I made the recipe today, and while the recipe says it makes 7 half-pints, I ended up with 14 half-pints. I followed the recipe exactly, but perhaps the mushrooms I used were larger than the recipe author’s. Just wanted you to know you may end up with more than 7 half-pints.

 

 

 

Pickled Marinated Mushrooms (raw pack only)

5 1/2 pounds small, whole button mushrooms
6 tablespoons bottled lemon juice
2 quarts water (or as needed)
1 1/2 cups olive or salad oil
2 cups white vinegar (5%)
6 tablespoons finely chopped onions
3 tablespoons diced red bell pepper or hot chilies
2 3/4 teaspoons oregano leaves
2 3/4 teaspoons dried basil leaves
2 3/4 teaspoons pickling salt
21 black peppercorns
2 garlic cloves, cut in quarters

Select fresh, unopened mushroom caps less than 1 1/4 inches in diameter. Wash in several changes of water until no more grit remains. Trim stems, leaving 1/4 inch attached to the cap.

In a saucepan, combine mushrooms, bottled lemon juice and water to cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Drain mushrooms.

In another saucepan, combine mushrooms, olive oil, white vinegar, onions, red bell pepper or chilies, oregano, basil and pickling salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and keep mixture hot while filling jars.

 

 

Before filling a hot jar with mushrooms, add 3 black peppercorns and 1 piece of garlic to each jar. Evenly distribute mushrooms and oil-vinegar brine between the jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.

Process mushrooms in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes.

Makes 7 half-pints

Continue Reading
In on June 16, 2014 with No Comments

Stuffed Mushrooms

A sleepless night had me surfing the Internet, and I stumbled on so many delicious-sounding recipes. We love stuffed mushrooms, and I found this keeper at www.sweetsugarbean.com

Sausage & Asiago Stuffed Mushrooms with Balsamic Glaze

20 large mushrooms, cleaned with damp paper towel, stem removed and saved for later use
2 links Italian sausage
1 tsp dried rosemary OR 2 tsp fresh, finely chopped
1 tsp dried fennel seed
1 onion, diced small
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 ounces (120grams) cream cheese 
3 ounces (90grams) Asiago cheese, grated
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

In a large bowl, toss the mushrooms with the balsamic vinegar and 3 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper.  Place onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and place in a preheated 350* oven for about 30 min.  Stir once or twice.  Remove from oven.  Meanwhile, in a large skillet, over medium high heat, squeeze the sausage meat out of the casing  and cook until no longer pink, breaking it apart with the back of a spoon.  You want it fairly crumbly and in small pieces.  Stir in onions and garlic and spices, and cook a few minutes longer, until onion is softened.  (If you find that your sausage filling is too greasy, drain it on paper towel first before adding the cheese.) Remove from heat and place into a bowl, along with the cheeses (save some of the Asiago for topping).  Stir well to combine.   Take a teaspoon and fill each mushroom cap.  Sprinkle with  remaining Asiago.  Bake at 375* for about 30-40 minutes, until golden.  Can easily be doubled if feeding a large crowd.  




The next stuffed mushroom recipe I stumbled across was on www.italianfoodforever.com for Ricotta Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms. These sound very similar to ones we had while in Des Moines, so I’m hoping to try these out very soon.

Ricotta Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

6 large mushrooms
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoons finely minced onion.
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
3 Tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
1 red hot chile pepper, minced (optional)
3 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
1 cup full-fat ricotta cheese
Salt and Pepper
5 Tablespoons freshly grated pecorino or Parmesan cheese
Olive oil for brushing

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Remove the stems of the mushrooms and chop them finely.

In a heavy frying pan, heat the olive oil and then add the mushrooms and onion. Cook until softened. Add the garlic and chile pepper, if using, and cook another minute or two.

Allow the mixture to cool and then add the parsley, tomatoes, and ricotta cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Lightly oil a baking sheet and place the mushroom caps cut side up. Brush the caps lightly with olive oil and then spoon the filling in.

Sprinkle with the grated cheese and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the mushrooms are tender when pierced with a knife and the tops are lightly browned.

Serve immediately.



 

Continue Reading