Tasty Stuffed Mushrooms

There are days when we look in the fridge and there is absolutely nothing to eat except for a big box of mushrooms. When we use mushrooms, they are usually used in small amounts for stews and stuffings and things. More times than not, we always end up with a box full of leftover mushrooms. The question arises…’what do we do with those leftover mushrooms?’ Ah ha! STUFFED MUSHROOMS! We’ve been making these for a quite a long time now, and no joke, they are super easy to make in a super short amount of time. They are also quite the beauty for appetizers for parties and things, ain’t they?

What You Need:

White whole Mushrooms

olive oil

Cheese –(best if using cream cheese and Parmesan cheese (may be the kraft powdered one)

1/4 cup red onion

diced garlic about one tbsp

bread crumbs (we used italian bread crumbs)

parsley, paprika to garnish

*sadly we didn’t have any cream cheese that day so we used shredded mozzarella. cream cheese works best!

What to Do

*preheat oven at 350*

First wash the mushrooms really well. You can do this by using a damp cloth and rubbing the dirt off the mushrooms. Next de-stem the mushrooms. Leave the stems on one side and the mushrooms caps on another side.

Using a knife or a food chopper, dice the mushrooms stems. Next, dice the onion and the garlic. Combine the two with the mushrooms and mix the mixture with a spoon.

Now get the small package of cream cheese and slightly melt it in the microwave. Take it out, and mix it into the mushroom stem mixture. Add in the Parmesan cheese (however much you want to put in) and mix. Note: in the picture, we didn’t use cream cheese bc we did not have any. instead we put in mozzarella cheese (pictured).

Next, put in a scoopful of bread crumbs into the mixture. Drizzle in some olive oil into the mixture after that.

Your mixture is done. Now comes the fun part. On a clean plate, pour some bread crumbs onto it like so:

Next, with a spoon, spoon the mixture into the mushroom caps. It’s ok if it’s a little overflowing. Make sure though, that you pack it in there well. You can do this by using the back of a spoon and patting it in. This is to ensure that the mixture will not pop out for the next step you’re about to do. Oh yes..and more than not, you’re going to end up with lots of leftovers of the mixture. You can later use these as a topping for bread…freeze it for stuffing mushrooms later…whatever.

Now, bring your mushrooms to the the bread crumbs on the plate and quickly dip it into the crumbs like so:

Wasn’t that fun? On an aluminum foil lined baking pan, set that mushroom aside.

Do the same with the rest of the mushroom caps

Next drizzle on some olive oil.

Next for garnish, sprinkle on some parsley and paprika.

The last step is to stick the mushrooms in the oven on 350 and cook for about 15-20 minutes. Enjoy!

 

Korean Bean Paste Stew 된장 찌개

Korean Bean Paste Stew (dwen jang jjigae) is a classic Korean dish that is equally, if not more, popular than the Korean Kimchi Stew . It is commonly served with rice at the end of a Korean BBQ meal in a small stone pot. It is a delicious meal, but for foreigners, may be an acquired taste. Partly the reason is because of its smell. We got to admit, it is not the most pleasant smelling dish out there. However, if you can get past that, you will discover its rich flavor and become hooked on this stuff! To sum it up, think of this dish as a Korean Miso Soup/Stew. Give it a chance, and try this recipe out.

What You Will Need

• Korean Bean Paste (this can be found in a Korean grocery store) Japanese miso will not taste the same, so do not try to buy that!)
• Tofu (we used silken tofu, but you can use any kind of tofu)
• Korean Red Pepper Flakes (optional)
• Green Pepper/Fresh or jar Jalapeño
• Green Onion
• Asian Squash or zucchini
• Mushroom (any kind is fine)
• Garlic
• Mussel/clam/beef–Optional; you can use any one of those
• Dried Anchovies and Dried Seaweed

What to Do:

The first thing we need to do is make a broth for the stew. We used about 5-6 pieces of dried anchovies (can be found in Asian market) and 2 pieces of dried seaweed. If you don’t have this in your pantry, you can use just water and hon dashi, but we recommend investing in anchovies and seaweed because they are used as a base for broth for many Korean dishes. So, start by putting those in a pot with about 1 1/2 cup water and boil. After a few minutes into boiling you will definitely start to smell a ‘fishy’ smell. That’s exactly what you want.

While the water is boiling, you can start prepping your other goodies. Start by slicing the squash/zucchini into half moon shape. It really doesn’t matter how you slice it, but we like ours like this.

Also, slice your green onions and and mince the garlic (we used about 2). After that, slice your mushrooms (we used about 4) and mussel (if you’re using clam, we recommend you using the ones still in the shell and just putting them in whole).

Once the water has boiled for about 2-3 minutes, take out the anchovies and seaweed with a slotted spoon. Discard the anchovies and seaweed, we are done using them.

Now, take a big generous spoonful of the bean paste, and using the slotted spoon, put it into the water. You are trying to break the bean paste up, so that you won’t have clumps of bean paste floating in the water.

Now let that come to a boil and then insert the mushroom, zucchini/squash, garlic, half of the green onions, and mussels into the pot. Lower the heat to a simmer.

Now, we like to add in a little spice into our soup, and to do that, we sprinkle in some Korean red pepper flakes as well as some good ol’ jalapenos from a jar. Trust us, just do it.

Let the pot simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, chop a little of the tofu. We used this much.

Now put the tofu in. You don’t want to boil it for long because the tofu will start to enlarge like crazy. So, insert the tofu about 1 minute–right before you are about to serve the soup. Also put in the rest of the green onions.

Stir it up a little bit with a spoon and you are ready to serve! Enjoy!

 

Ceviche!

This recipe is our interpretation of the famous ceviche. I am obsessed with this yummy thing. It is tangy, salty, spicy, and sweet all at the same time. I can just sit down with this and a box of crackers and eat eat and eat. We personally love it on whole wheat crackers like Triscuit, but our friends also love it on a slice of french bread. It doesn’t matter how you eat it..just eat it…I actually had it with FRIED RICE this MORNING…figure that one out!

Instead of using raw fish, we actually used (ready for this?) imitation crab *gasp*! As crab lovers, we are shamed in having admitted that. K wanted to use fresh fish, but me, I happen to also LOVE imitation crab…so, go figure. HOWEVER! This recipe may be and really should be used with real raw fish.

OH yeah, one more thing. This recipe also excludes cilantro. HOWEVER! This recipe can and really should be used with cilantro too. I happen to hate cilantro (one of the few things I hate), so that is why there are none used in this recipe. Thus, this ceviche recipe is tailored to my stubborn taste buds. Feel free to make it your own!

Things You Will Need:

• Package of Imitation Crab (or raw fish/crab)
• 1 lemon
• 1 lime
• 1 tomato
• 1/3 of small red onion
• 5-6 green olives
• 3-4 jalapeño slices from jar
• olive oil
• sugar
• salt & pepper to taste
• optional: cilantro

What To Do:

Remove the crab from package and shred the crab with your hands. Place the crab in a large mixing bowl.

Next, slice the lemon and lime in half and squeezeeeee the juices onto the crab.

Like REALLY squeeze the LIFE out of them. Like so:

Next, if you are using raw fish, cover the bowl with plastic and let it marinate in the fridge for 2-3 hours. The juice from the lemon and lime not only adds flavor to ceviche, but it also serves to ‘harden’ the fish so that it seems like the fish is somewhat cooked. In our case, since we used imitation crab, we skipped this step.

Now, in the meantime, de-pulp the tomato and slice and dice.

Slice and dice the onion, pepper, and olives. We used our handy dandy food chopper from this point on.

We’re almost finished. Transfer the onion mixture into the crab bowl. Give a good drizzle of olive oil and mix. Put in about 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and continue mixing. Lastly, salt and pepper to taste.

Done! Serve it as a topping to your favorite cracker/bread. This will make a great appetizer, snack, finger food for a party, etc. Enjoy!