Mushroom Pie

Up until the last year or so, I was a mushroom hater. They smelled great and tasted ok, but the texture was more than I could bear. But I was blessed with a mushroom-loving son. My 5-year-old will readily tell you that mushrooms are his favorite vegetable. I wanted to encourage this, so I started buying fresh mushrooms on a regular basis (there's nothing like hearing your son shout "MUSH-A-ROOMS!" every time he sees them in the store produce section) and I started cooking. And you know what? I'm sold! A little good technique is necessary and they're fantastic.

So today, when debating what to make for dinner, I shouted out to the family for ideas, with the category being anything that would use up the large crate of portabello mushrooms we'd bought from Costco. My son's idea: mushroom pie. So we searched online and found a recipe that looked too good to pass up, especially since I actually had most of the ingredients. It's terribly unhealthy (other than the mushrooms, of course), but one of those dishes that is good enough to be worth it and rich enough that you only need it once in a while to be satisfied. I might try to make it healthier next time*, but I have no remorse for this time as it was completely delicious.

Mushroom Pie

4 slices bacon, chopped
10 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, diced
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar or swiss cheese
1 tsp fresh dill
pepper to taste
1 package frozen puff pastry and 1 egg OR dumpling dough infused with dill

In a large pan, render bacon until there is just enough fat to saute in. Do not remove bacon from pan. Add mushrooms and onions and cook 5-10 minutes until tender and starting to caramelize. Reduce heat to medium and add cream and dill. Stir well, being sure to get up all of the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Cook for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a minute. Add cheese and pepper and stir until smooth. You shouldn't need to add any extra salt.

If using puff pastry, place one sheet of dough on a well-oiled baking sheet, pour the mushroom filling on top, then cover with a second sheet. Press the edges together to seal and make holes or slits in the top layer for the steam to vent through. Brush the top with the beaten egg.

If using the dumpling dough (less fancy, but easy to whip up if you don't have puff pastry), spray a small casserole dish. Pour in mushroom filling. Top with just enough dumpling dough to cover the filling.

Bake at 350 F until dough is nicely browned and cooked through, about 40 minutes for the puff pastry and probably less for the dumpling dough.

Rosemary


*My plan for next time is to use less bacon, less cheese, half & half or milk or possibly cream cut with chicken stock instead of heavy cream, and to add a green such as spinach, swiss chard, or kale.

Dill pickles

Okay, I don't actually like pickles. None of those weird pregnancy pickle cravings for me, thank you very much. However, we got an plethora of cucumbers from our farm delivery a couple of weeks in a row, so I had to do something. Luckily my husband and many of our friends do, so I made some pickles. These are just the refrigerator kind - I'm still trying to work up the courage to actually can something. Also, I sort of doubled the recipe, but think I put too much salt in (at least the verdict was that they were a bit too salty).

Kosher dill pickles

2 lbs cucumbers, halved or quartered
1 large bunch of dill
5 cloves or so garlic (the recipe called for whole smashed clovers, I just had the pre-minced stuff on hand)
1/3 cup kosher salt
1 c. water

Boil the water, add the salt and stir until it dissolves. Put the dill, garlic, and cucumbers in a large bowl. Pour the brine (that would be just the salt and water mixture) over the other ingredients. Add more water until it's all covered. Put a plate with some kind of weight on top of it over this, so that it keeps all the cucumbers submerged (as seen in the picture). Let it sit out on the countertop for a day or so. You can start checking for taste about four hours after you do it, but it'll take up to 48 hours for them to really be pickled. Refrigerate them in the brine, and they'll keep for a week or so (honestly, we've had them in there longer, but my sources say they're still good).

Thyme