Roasted, Glazed Mushrooms from Cook’s Country

submitted by cooking club

2 lb white mushrooms, trimmed and halved

1 ½ tsp salt

1 ½ TBSP olive oil

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ tsp packed brown sugar

½ tsp black pepper

1 TBSP unsalted butter

1 tsp fresh thyme, minced (or ¼ tsp dried thyme)

Adjust oven rack to lowest position. Place rimmed baking sheet on rack in oven and heat oven to 500 degrees.

Combine mushrooms and salt in large, microwave safe bowl. Cover with a large plate and microwave until mushrooms release ¾ to 1 cup liquid, about 10 minutes, stirring halfway through microwaving. Strain mushrooms in colander and let sit for 5 minutes to drain completely. Return mushrooms to now-empty bowl, add oil and stir to coat.

Transfer mushrooms to preheated sheet and roast until browned and liquid has evaporated, 22 to 25 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking. Whisk vinegar, garlic, sugar, and pepper together in 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Remove mushrooms from oven, pour vinegar mixture over mushrooms, and stir to coat. Return mushrooms to oven and roast until vinegar is reduced to glaze, 9 to 12 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking. Place mushrooms in serving bowl and stir in butter and thyme. Serve.

CHICKEN MADEIRA

Inspired by the famous recipe at The Cheesecake Factory and Cook’s Country

Serves 4
submitted by cooking club

For the chicken:

4 small chicken breasts or 2 large chicken breasts, halved lengthwise

Marinade:

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

¼ cup canola or olive oil

1 tsp brown sugar

1 clove garlic, minced

black pepper, pinch

Sauce:

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

½ cup beef broth

1 TBSP brown sugar

black pepper, to taste

12 spears asparagus, cooked until crisp-tender, optional

4- 1 oz. slices mozzarella

Pound chicken or slice larger chicken breasts to about ¼ inch thick. Place chicken in shallow bowl. Combine marinade ingredients and pour over chicken, covering chicken with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, up to several hours.

About 20 minutes before chicken is done marinating, combine sauce ingredients in small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the original volume is reduced by half.

Remove chicken from refrigerator and discard marinade. While sauce is simmering, grill chicken on the grill or heat a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 TBSP butter or canola oil to skillet. Pan cook chicken in hot skillet for 4-5 minutes on each side, or until internal temperature registers 165 degrees.  Remove from heat.

If using asparagus, layer 3 asparagus spears on each piece of chicken and cover with a slice of cheese. Place a cover over the skillet while the pan is still hot to help cheese to melt over the chicken breast and asparagus.

Serve with Roasted Mushrooms (recipe to follow), mashed potatoes, and balsamic reduction sauce.

Beef and Broccoli in Oyster Sauce

submitted by cooking club

Serves 4-5

1-1½   lb flank steak, cut into 2” wide strips with the grain, then sliced across the grain into ⅛” slices

3 TBSP soy sauce

1 TBSP rice wine vinegar

2 TBSP water

5 TBSP oyster sauce

1 TBSP light brown sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp cornstarch

6 medium cloves garlic, minced

1-inch fresh ginger minced

3 TBSP peanut oil or vegetable oil, divided

1¼ lb broccoli florets, cut into bite sized pieces

⅓ cup water

1 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced

3 medium scallions, sliced ½” thick on diagonal

Combine beef and soy sauce in medium bowl; cover with plastic and put in fridge 10 min to 1 hour. In measuring cup whisk rice wine vinegar, water, oyster sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and cornstarch. Combine garlic, ginger and 1 tsp oil in small bowl.

Drain beef and discard liquid. Heat 1 TBSP oil in large nonstick pan over high heat until smoking. Add beef; cook without stirring for 1 min, then flip and cook until beef in browned around edges, about 1 more minute. Transfer beef to plate. You may need to cook the beef in two batches to not overcrowd the pan.

Add 1 TBSP oil to now empty skillet; heat until just smoking. Add broccoli and cook 30 sec. Add water, cover pan, and lower heat to medium. Steam broccoli until tender crisp, about 2 min; transfer to plate.

Add remaining 2 tsp oil to skillet; increase heat to high and heat until just smoking. Add bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently until spotty brown, about 1 ½ min. Clear center of skillet; add garlic and ginger to clearing and cook, mashing mixture with spoon until fragrant, 15-20 sec, then stir mixture into peppers. Return beef and broccoli to skillet and toss to combine. Whisk sauce to recombine then add to skillet. Cook stirring constantly until sauce in thickened and evenly distributed, about  1 minute. Transfer to serving platter and sprinkle with scallions.

Serve with brown rice or barley.

White pizza As inspired by Rachael Ray

submitted by cooking club

1 batch pizza dough (recipe follows)

1 TBSP olive oil

1 ½ cups ricotta cheese (whole milk preferably)

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp dried parsley

Salt & pepper

8 oz. fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

½ tsp dried basil or ¼ cup chopped fresh basil

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Roll out pizza dough (following previous directions for pizza stone).

Drizzle olive oil over the surface of the dough, brushing up to the edge. Dot the surface of the pizza with ricotta cheese, going to ½ inch from the edge. Flick the garlic all over the ricotta. Sprinkle parsley and salt and pepper all over the ricotta and garlic. Place the mozzarella slices all over the pizza, leaving about 1 inch between slices.

Bake in preheated oven for 12-20 minutes. Remove when mozzarella is browning and the crust edge is golden brown. Sprinkle basil over the surface of the pizza before serving. Enjoy!

Pizza Dough

(Enough for one-16 inch pizza, though I double it every time I make it and freeze half the dough in a Ziploc bag)

*Note: I use half wheat or oat flour and half all-purpose flour and we love the whole grain flavor and texture. I’ve never made it using all WW flour so I can’t guarantee results going that way, but you’re welcome to try! I also typically end up using right around 2 ½ cups of flour but just keep an eye on it so you don’t over or under flour your dough.

1 cup warm water, about 100-110 degrees

1 tsp active dry yeast

1 tsp sugar

½ tsp salt

3 TBSP olive oil

2-3 cups flour*

Combine water, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attached. Let rest for 5-10 minutes.

To the bowl of your activated yeast, add the salt and oil. Mix to combine. Add your flour, 1 cup at a time initially, then adding in smaller increments as your dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl (see note). Once your dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is slightly sticky, knead for 5 minutes.

Place dough in a slightly greased bowl and cover with greased plastic wrap to let dough rise until doubled in size (you can also make your dough the night before or the morning you’re planning on making your pizza and just put this bowl in the fridge until you’re ready to roll out your pizza dough. The more time your dough sits, the better the flavor development of your crust).  If freezing your dough, place dough that has already risen in a gallon or quart sized Ziploc bag and place it in your freezer. When you want to make pizza, take your bag of frozen dough out of the freezer and put in the fridge to thaw in the morning. By evening the dough should be soft and pliable enough to roll into a pizza crust.

Use in pizza recipe as desired.

Pizza Blanca as inspired by Grimaldi’s Pizza

submitted by cooking club

1 batch of pizza dough (recipe follows)

8-12 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

2 TBSP minced garlic (about 3 generous cloves)

2 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced

¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Freshly grated black pepper

Sea salt

Dried oregano

1 TBSP olive oil

1 leaf fresh basil, chopped finely (about ½ tsp dried basil)

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. If preheating your pizza stone, prepare pizza dough on parchment paper or pizza mat to make transfer to the stone simpler.  On a lightly floured surface, stretch or roll out dough to fit 16 inch pizza stone.

Place mozzarella cheese slices all over the pizza, with about 1 inch between slices and ½ inch from edge. Flick minced garlic all over the surface of the pizza, on top of the mozzarella. Place the tomatoes slices all over the mozzarella and garlic, with about 2 inches between each slice.

Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese, a pinch of each black pepper, salt, and oregano all over the pizza surface. Drizzle the olive oil evenly over the pizza surface.

Bake pizza in oven for 12-20 minutes, depending on your oven. Remove pizza when the mozzarella is speckled with brown spots and the crust is golden brown.  Sprinkle basil over the surface of the cooked pizza. Slice and enjoy!