Mushroom Bruschetta

Some friends are crazy over mushroom bruschetta. Indulgent as they are, aside from the pizza, they finished two orders of it at Tinder box. That's 6 servings for about P300 per order. So they decided to ask a common friend to cook for us. The latter unselfishly is willing to show his culinary skills but is never generous to share those techniques. So he asked us to prepare the following ingredients:

• dried Porcini mushroom
• white button mushroom
• shallots
• garlic
• fresh basil
• salt and pepper
• parmegiano

This evening, I tried to figure out how to cook it with the ingredients I have on hand at home, it tastes good enough; I finished about 6 pandesal bread from french baker with it.

Ingredients:

• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• shallots (substitute with garlic and onion)
• 15 grams of dried porcini
• chopped fresh basil
• 1  tbsp  virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 5 slices french bread/baguette
• 2 tbsp dry white wine
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 tbsp grated pamesan cheese
• 1 chopped tomato (optional)
• truffle oil (optional)
• parsley (optional)

Mushroom mixture:

1. Soak dried mushroom in hot water for about 15 minutes, then slice.
2. In a sauce pan, saute garlic and shallots in olive oil and butter.
3. Add white wine and reduce.
4. Add the sliced mushroom, saute for about 5-8 minutes until cooked.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Toss in chopped fresh basil*, tomato and cheese while hot.
7. Remove from fire.

* in the absence of fresh basil, i substituted it with pesto sauce.

Variation: instead of wine, add a dash of steak seasoning and worcestershire sauce when the mushrooms are almost cooked.

Prepare the bread:

1. Slice and toast french bread.
2. Remove from toaster, while hot: rub fresh garlic and brush with extra virgin olive oil.
3. Spoon the mushroom mixture on the bread, drizzle a few drops of truffle oil and garnish with basil/parsley and cheese when ready to serve.

Porcini mushroom are available in:

Santy's for P146 per 20 grams
Werdenberg Intl for P2888 per 500 grams.

Roka Salata ala Cyma

I'm definitely not the only one crazy over the Roka Salata in Cyma. I'm not a salad lover but with this one, I'm fine having it as my main dish. The explosion of various flavors all in one salad is amazing - the sweetness of the candied walnuts, the sourness of the Greek vinaigrette, the salty taste of the cheese, and the peppery-mustard flavor of arugula.

After feasting over the holidays, I ought to go on a diet and eat more green. Not only the weighing scale is mocking me, the measuring tape too! So I decided to hit the grocery on New Year's Day and yes, I found fresh roka or otherwise known as aragula. I got a bottle of balsamic vinaigrette off the shelf too, it's good enough but I proceeded to do my own version:

Greek Vinaigrette:

serves 1 -2

2 tsp red wine vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)
garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoon fresh chopped basil (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1 teaspoon fresh chopped oregano (or 1/4 teaspoon dried)
1 tsp lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
1/8 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp honey

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk in oil until blended or better yet, mix in a food processor. Season with salt and pepper. Cyma's version is quite creamy (consistency). Adding dijon mustard and honey should do the trick.

Alternatively, you might want to try Natural Directions' Balsamic Vinaigrette.  I've tried too many kinds, this comes closest to cyma's version although lighter.  Found them at Rustan's Supermarket, but they don't have it on the shelf for some time now.


Preparing the salad:

fresh roka (arugula)
lettuce (baguio/romaine/ice berg, etc)
sun-dried tomatoes or dates (or slice apples or pears)
candied walnuts**
parmesan cheese (and blue cheese)

Roka Salata with honeyed almonds, parmesan and blue cheese

Wash the veggies with cold running water, cut into bite size, soak it in cold water and keep refrigerated until ready to serve. When ready to serve, remove excess water using a salad spinner.

**To make candied walnuts, buy shelled walnuts. On low fire, heat honey for about 10-15 minutes, then dip in the shelled walnuts. Viola, you have your own version of candied walnuts. Walnuts can be substituted with honeyed pili nuts.  But I normally make a short cut, by simply coating the walnuts with honey (you will only need a little honey to coat it).

Simply toss the veggies, sun-dried tomatoes, candied walnuts with the vinaigrette, top with paper thin parmesan cheese. You may add sliced apples or pears for variety.

Buying tips on aragula:

Look for dark greens leaves of a uniform color. Avoid yellowing leaves, damages leaves, wilted leaves, or excessively moist-looking leaves. A bit of dirt is fine - it is likely the result of recent rain or watering.

Smaller arugula leaves tend to be milder, while larger leaves tend to have a more aggressive, peppery kick. Similarly, wild arugula - sometimes available from foragers in the late spring and again in the fall in temperate regions - is much more peppery than most cultivated leaves.

Godfather Chops

Happy New Year! Finally cooked something new today after my younger brother's insistent demand to replicate the godfather chops served in a local restaurant. He has been complaining how bland our cook's version of simply frying pork chop. He wanted something grilled served with herbs in olive oil.

Today we head to the grocery to buy some herbs.

Ingredients:

slices of pork chop
worcestershire sauce
fresh oregano leaves (dried will do)
pesto sauce
minced garlic
salt and pepper

Marinate slices of pork chops with worcestershire sauce, hand mashed garlic and fresh oregano leaves. Add salt and pepper when almost ready to cook.

It's my first time to handle fresh oregano leaves, oh boy, it does smells good! :D

Heat cast iron griller. Brush griller with olive oil. When the griller is hot enough, put in the pork chop, cook about 3 minutes on each side. Remove from fire.

Prepare the sauce. While the griller is still hot, put in the remaining marinade, add pesto sauce, olive oil, chopped garlic, chopped oregano and add salt and pepper to taste. Then quickly remove them and garnish it on the cooked pork chop and place the rest on a saucer.