Friday, November 28, 2008

Groovy shrooms

No, it is not what you are thinking. You will not get to see a picture of me ingesting anything that causes a chemically-induced euphoria. I did; however, stumble onto an old favorite completely by accident the other day. In fact, it was one of those situations where I had completely forgot it was something that I used to eat at home until I realized I was going to make it for dinner.

Isn't that weird how your memory can just block something out until - wham - it comes right back to you like an old forgotten memory?

Well, mushrooms on toast isn't something particulary "dear" but making it did bring back a few memories about home. I am sure that Sandy will appreciate it when she makes it at home herself.

I actually started making a pasta sauce with mushrooms until the shrooms on toast overtook my plans... here is goes.

Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a saucepan. Saute about a half a cup of finely chopped onion in it for a couple of minutes. Add about a cup of sliced fresh musrooms and saute until tender. Sprinkle the entire thing with 1 tablespoon of flour. Add one can of mushroom soup. stir untill blended and warm. Add about a half a cup of milk (cream can be substituted if you feel you need the additional comfort). Stir again and add milk to the consistency you desire. It should be relatively thick... thicker than gravy - more like a thick chili.

THEN - get some nasty white processed bread - 2 slices - toast them and slather them with butter (you need the butter - it offers a hint of flavour that you would miss if you put the sauce on dry toast) Put on a plate and spoon sauce over top of each slice. Serve open-faced and eat with a knife and fork.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Shirley's Greek meatballs


This isn't really a baba recipe and likely would have counted as something exotic if made in the 70s but a good friend of ours invited Nathan, Grace and I over for dinner when Jason was away and this is what she served. Now I do not have the exact recipe and the one that I am posting is not exact in and of itself - but it is worth trying and was definitely good.

1 lb ground beef
1 egg beaten
1/2 to 1 cup soft, fresh bread crumbs
a good heaping tablespoon or more of greek seasoning (I used clubhouse brand)
Combine the above together until well mixed but don't over combine or meatballs will be tough.
Then add 1/2 to 1 cup of crumbled feta cheese (again, I lean toward more is better)

Form into meatballs that are about the size of a golfball or slightly larger. Put on a broiler pan or seasoned stoneware pan and bake at 375 until browned somewhat on outside and internal temperature reads 165 F.

Serve alongsige a greek salad and some greek potatoes if you like