mushroom toast with shrimp and peas

these mushroom toasts are one of my favourite snacks. they're quickly made, but have a bit of fancy feel to them. this time i paired them with shrimp, but usually an egg, sunny side up or poached, takes first place. i made this for lunch today, deadly tired of pasta or rice or soup, which in zhara's book seem to be the only acceptable choices. she likes mushrooms, but for this meal she had soppy toast. that's right, i drew my line in the sand, and refused to negotiate with the little terrorist. [can you tell i'm hooked on 24?] no mushroom toast, no food at all. i made pasta for dinner. again.

1 french demi-baguette

6 oz mixed wild mushrooms, (shiitake, oyster, crimini)

4 slices gypsy bacon

2 tb butter

2 tb cream

12 shrimps

handful of peas

fresh parsley

gypsy bacon is a roulade. it's just bacon rolled up with herbes and red pepper flakes. you can substitute pancetta, and add some heat to it. start with an empty cold skillet -the widest one you have. line up the bacon, then place on medium heat. the bacon will curl less this way, you'll be left with crisp, beautiful slices. turn once, and when it's evenly browned remove to paper towel to blot excess fat and tent with foil to keep warm.

add 2 tb butter to same pan - you'll have almost no fat if using gypsy bacon; if using pancetta discard all but 1 tb. when the foaming subsides add the mushrooms, roughly sliced. give the pan a shake and cook undisturbed for 5 minutes. you want a wide pan so that the mushrooms are well spaced out, so they can sear. shake the pan to turn them and cook 2 minutes more. add the cream, the parsley, and season with salt and pepper. within a minute the mushrooms will be moist, but no liquid is visible in the pan. remove to hot plate and tent to keep warm. in the same pan, add the shrimp in a single layer. these go very fast, 3-4 minutes on each side should do it. sprinkle the peas around them and cook over medium high heat. while the shrimp cook, split and halve the baguette to obtain four equal pieces. toast them in the toaster oven or under the broiler. put one slice bacon on each, then divide the mushrooms. place 3 shrimps on each toast, and sprinkle with peas. in our house my husband gets most of them, he's the only fan. i always want to cheat and give him less mushrooms, since he gets more peas, but i restrain myself. i'm a martyr, i know.

fried bay scallops

i honestly thought i was done with food braised, fried or sauced. we had a few warm days, very conducive to light fare, salads dressed brightly in lemony vinaigrettes, grilled fish and vegetables. zhara welcomed the absence of scarfs, mittens and winter boots, and the arrival of the first spring flowers. which were promptly burried in snow yesterday.

yet even before the weather turned, i only cooked comfort food. matzo ball soup, hungarian goulash over spaetzle and these cheese pastries with plump raisins that zhara loves.  we did have fish one night, but pan-fried with vegetables drowned in balsamic buttersauce. perhaps it's understandable, considering the week we had. and speaking of which: thanks again to everyone who called or wrote, it was all very kind of you.

 tonight i'll try to keep things light, but first these scallops: sweet and crunchy, with a slight kick. we absolutely loved them.

1 lb bay scallops

4 tb all-purpose flour

1 ts ground ginger

1/2 ts smoked hot paprika

1/2 ts garlic powder

salt, pepper to taste

1 egg

2 tb milk

1 cup panko, possibly more

heat oil in the widest pan you have. no olive oil, something neutre like canola, sunflower or vegetable oil. mix the flour with the condiments. beat the egg with a glug of milk and a pinch of salt. line up the plates of flour, egg and panko. pat the scallops dry. put them all in the flour at the same time, but only lift a handful at a time and shake them well to remove any excess. put them through the egg, roll around in panko and fry till golden. they go very fast, about 3 minutes on side one, another 2 after they're flipped. you want the oil to come up half-way around them so you only have to turn them once. do not crowd the pan - you have to be able to see it in between the scallops. you shouldn't fry more than two batches in the same oil, panko will fall behind and burn, so use your widest pan. remove to paper towel. they're absolutely delicious, great hot or room temp. goes great with baked fries or rice. plum sauce really puts it in context. when you dip, you get a layer of crunchy spicy sweet panko, then mild scallop, almost creamy against the breading, it's a great contrast and a nice pairing of tastes.

zucchini stuffed mushrooms

lately dinner with the princess involved games and tricks, begging and imploring, threats and tears, and enough bribery to make the sopranos look like innocent kittens. i'm concerned she's not getting enough nutritive elements, since all she wants to eat is yoghurt and fruit. and crackers. so i do what any good mother does: find a weakness and exploit its full potential. as it happens, my daughter has three: pickles, mustard and tortilla chips. and it turns out, she'll eat anything if it's perched on a chip or pickle slice or it's sitting in a blob of mustard. i made these stuffed mushrooms and she wouldn't even look at them, but when i put them on tortillas, that was a new story entirely.

typically i make these with spinach, but i wanted something new. i used zucchini instead, finely grated. you end up with about the same texture. first i panfried some bacon, and in the fat rendered i sauteed a mountain of onion. then i added a bit of garlic and some red and green peppers.

my mushrooms were medium sized portobellos, which seemed thick to me, so i parbaked them while this was happening. when the pepper was slightly softened i added the finely grated zucchini, gently drained, and seasoned with white pepper and very little salt. off heat i crumbled in the bacon and some feta.

i mixed in chopped parsley and after i stuffed the mushrooms i sprinkled grated parmesan over the top. since everything was half cooked it took no time at all to finish in the oven. and i must say, they go well quartered and balanced on tortilla chips. now the drama accompanying the dish, not so good for the digestion.

roasted onion bacon dip

when i was a kid my mom got me a puppy after weeks of begging, promises i'd look after it, and threats to run away if she wouldn't. yes, i was quite stubborn and generally awful like that (in fact i often wonder how my mother survived my teenage years) but to get to the point: it was the cutest little black-and-white puppy, with a wet pink nose and a little tail that went crazy when i paid him attention. my first pet, how i loved him! i wanted to include him in all my activities, i spoiled him with treats and felt like he was part of the family. one day he was gone. we were playing in the yard, i went in for a minute and when i got back he'd dissapeared. i cried for days and never wanted another dog.
i then discovered bacon and i've been ok ever since. bacon and i go way back. i love it and i will eat anything that is wrapped in, stuffed with or balanced on bacon. it's really too bad i'm married... bacon is happy though with being just friends. onion is another one of my sympathies, especially when caramelized or roasted. this, for me, is the uber-dip, bar none.

preheat oven to 375F. cut 3 yellow onions in half, crosswise, and put them on a baking sheet lined with foil. cut an inch-deep slit in their tops. roast about half hour, until the juices are brown and bubbling underneath and they're soft all the way through.

use a spatula to loosen them and when they're cool enough peel them. in the meantime fry 4 or more strips of bacon until crisp and crumble them in a food processor. add the onion and pulse until you have a smooth paste. by all means chop them for a rustic feel. transfer to a bowl and stir in 1/3 cup mayo, 2/3 cup sour cream, 1 tb dijon mustard, 2 ts lemon juice and a handful chopped chives. season with salt and pepper to taste. you can serve it immediately if you must but it's best after a few hours in the fridge. in fact, it's best the next day. and look at my child, who did not eat a single bite all day. even though she was offered about a dozen different foods.

spanakopita

we love this little treat as an appetizer or for lunch with a salad. i used to buy it prepared in those aluminum trays that you just bake, but the last ones i got were just so oily i was put off. the filling was fine, but that tray had a puddle of fat in the bottom, and the dough was anything but crispy, laden with it. not to mention you save a lot if you make it yourself.

the only important thing to remember is phyllo dough dries quickly so you have to work fast. plan to make this when you'll have no interruptions. i made the filling while my daughter was drinking her milk before the nap, thinking that'll be enough to finish. it's like she knows when i need her to be good and take a long nap - she slept for a half hour. so i just baked one dozen and froze the rest. it's great, actually. cause then you can just bake it on a whim.

1 pack phyllo

2 packs frozen spinach

5 strips bacon

4 medium onions

5 garlic cloves

1/2 lb feta cheese

1 ts herbs de provence

salt, pepper,

defrost the phyllo overnight in the fridge or 5 hours at room temp. the bacon was an incidental discovery. one day as i was making this i realized my favourite saute pan which i use for the onion was occupied by some bacon i was frying to make a turkey club for my husband. i figured, how bad can it be, to fry the onion in the rendered fat? so now that's how i always make it. i always have a million uses for bacon, that's never going to waste. so fry 5 strips and remove. finely slice the onion and add to the hot fat. add a pinch of salt, pepper and herbs. saute over low heat for about 10 minutes. while that's happening, defrost the spinach in the microwave and drain very well. mince the garlic or use a press if you've got one that actually works. add it to the onion and mix. cook two minutes. mind that you don't burn it, you'll have to toss everything because it gets very bitter. [taps pen against teeth: don't ask how i know that.] in goes the spinach, mix and turn off the heat. crumble the feta and mix it thoroughly in the spinach. let cool completely.

while that cool, set your work space for the assembly. line a surface with plastic wrap and place the phyllo dough on it. immediatly cover with wrap and moist paper towels on top. melt some butter and have it ready. your workspace needs to be clean and completely dry. if you have 7mm dough 2 sheets are enough. if you 5mm use 3. so take the sheets and lay them flat, its lenght parallel to the counter. (be sure to cover the rest.) brush the edges with melted butter. cut in 5 strips and place a dab of spinach on each.

bring the left corner over the filling to form a triangle. then you just keep 'rolling' the triangle upwards and you get a pocket sealed on all sides. that's how long ago a dear friend taught me to roll up shopping bags so i'd always have on in my bag. read the picture right-to-left:

i started on the right.the one on the left has a single upward turn to be complete.

preheat oven to 400F. brush with eggwash or melted butter and spinkle some sesame seeds. bake for 20 minutes. serve hot or room temp. to freeze, put them on baking sheet and put the whole thing in the freezer until they're frozen solid. you can then transfer  to a bag. bake from frozen at 425F for 25 minutes. freeze any leftover dough, just roll it up as is in the plastic wrap. it'll be easy to unroll when you defrost it.

i really like this, throw a green salad with it and it's a nice meal. spinach and feta were just made for each other, and the garlicky backdrop doesn't hurt one bit. and it's all stuffed in a crispy, light pocket. yum.