Dharma DaDa Erni Bär [Vegetarian] Mail Art Cookbook Series--Part deux--"Is it hot in here?" Edition

[Thom Courcelle]

In celebration of a fabulous IUOMA posting day yesterday--did you catch all the DKult action happening here yesterday??--and in honor of Lisa and KDJ's collaborative tattoo project arriving in my mailbox, I decided to have a celebratory dinner.  So I dove into the stash of tins that Erni sent from Hamburg, and whipped up a new dish! It is photo documented here for your salivating delight...

Many folks seemed to like the first recipe posted and some even sent themed artwork in honor of the event.  Take note of Carina Grunland's piece:

Jen Stagg's four-and-twenty blackbird pie:

and Patricia Davidson's piece exhalting a woman's role in preparing a family's food:

First of all, a good meal should be paired with a good wine, and 'tis the season for rosés to hit the stores. There was a new shipment of rosés at my co-op market, so I bought a local one to try from the Columbia Valley.  

The poster board at the store said that a person could drink rosé and still maintain one's machismo. I didn't start out with too much to begin with--machismo, that is--so I ain't worried all that much.  I wonder if one can KNIT while drinking rosé and still maintain one's machismo? A ponderance for another bottle perhaps...

So you might notice, this here bottle's got one o' them fancy cork tops that don't need a corkscrew.  My father--who is of franco-Quebéquois pedigree--prefers this style of corkage.  We like to think it adds a certain kind of "classy-ness" to our dinner table--especially when serving respected dinner guests.   MMmmm... well, that's mighty tasty vintage there..  Maybe a little more...

As you might see, I also don't use any of that fancy-wancy stemware.  Just grab yerself a juice jar or glass as it is plenty sufficient from which to sip this vintage.

So today we are making stuffed mushrooms.  Good ol' MacPhersen's Produce has a huge bin of slightly oversized mushrooms that'll be great.  

First we have to make the mushrooms stuff-able, which means separating the cap from the stem.  It's really rather easy--just a slight push of the thumb on the stem

until you hear a "pop,"

and you remove the stem...

set the mushroom tops aside for now.

Into the food processor all the stems go.

I often hand chop my ingredients, but I had already used the processor to chop some fresh breadcrumbs that we'll use, so no sense wasting time...

Combine the chopped mushroom stems with the fresh bread crumbs.  The ration of chopped mushroom to bread crumbs should be about 1:1 or so.  Sometimes I use a bit more breadcrumbs if I want to extend the recipe.  Also add one small clove of garlic that has been very finely minced,

and a couple tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese, and a dash of vegetarian Worchestershire sauce. (Just like in the premier Erni Bär [Vegetarian] Cookbook series blog, this recipe is vegetarian, but it is not vegan--you can easily convert it to a vegan recipe by omitting the small amount of cheese and/or Worchestershire sauce. The receipe will definitely not suffer for the ommission.)

Now for Erni's secret ingredient:  this olive thingy...  

I think it's supposed to be tapenade (which is what I'd normally use in this recipe). Maybe I should read the ingredients list...  

Oops, well that ain't gonna help--my translinguistic cababilities don't include much German. (See Diane and Cheryl?...It's easy to use that word in a common everyday sentence!)  Well, let's just see what's in this here tin...

WHHhHHAAAAAAA???!!! Jeezum Crows!  It's ORANGE!

Oh well...throw it in there anyway...

Lisa and KDJ's DKult tattoo has a look at the ingredients...

The mixing process is overseen by the DKult committee to make sure it's DKosher.

Mixed...

'Scuze me, but my juice jar seems to be a little low on libation...

Now we're gonna stuff those mushroom caps...

Best done with a simple spoon... See?

All stuffed... Now drizzle with a little olive oil...

Sprinkle with a little more cheese...

Cover...

Put in a 365 degree (Farenheit) oven for about 45 minutes...

Geez', Erni is gonna love it when I send him this flattened tin as Trashpo Mail Art!

Well, 45 minutes is a long time in wine sippin' minutes... might as well have yourself another juice jar o' that rosé...

After 45 minutes remove the cover from the mushrooms and bake another 10-15 minutes.  Here's the finished product.  

To serve, you might pair these with a spring asparagus risotto.  If you use smaller size mushrooms, they also make incredible hor dourves because they are just right canapé-size bites to serve.  Since I have a lot of fresh bread crumbs left over, I'm making a classic Italian dish of breadcrumb spaghetti to serve with the mushrooms...

It's a whole 'nother recipe, though. You'll have to look it up in a cookbook or on the internets... I can't hold your hand all the time, people!!

Is there any more o' that wine left??  Did I make a salad?  Ooops.  Geez', did I have my green vegetable today? I know...

Serve with pickles!  Mmmm...pickles.  ALWAYS keep pickles on hand!! Don't forget...

What the heck happened to all the wine??!  Those WAShington State Wine botTLES are Soooooooo Small!!!  WHHAaaaa???? Okay...Bon Appetit!

[DKeys]

Thom-this is a fantastic blog/cooking demo/translinguistic infomercial. Looks fantastic except when you said the stuff Erni sent you was orange, I thought you meant orange flavored and that just didn't sound good. I'm amazed how well you were able to type particularly towards the end. I think this just begs to be a video. You're the Next Food Mail Art Eternal Network Star! 

[Nancy Bell Scott]

Those ingredients sounds delicious, Erni, whereas until reading them I was being quite worried for Thom due to the "olive thingy." It's another wonderful blog, Thom--you go all out, it's terrific--and, as your self-appointed career counselor, I recommend you leap into the food field in some capacity. You've got the magic.

[Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat)]

"Thanmk you"? Me cooking-with-wine, too! Well, no rosέ, but some good Greek Boutari wine available ;-)

(on Dean Marks' "tray")

[Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat)]

Perfect! 'Have that olive pate stuff here in Greece (naturally natural)...also mushrooms from the farmers' market today...will make pasta, too. Oh, this looks soooooo good, Thom! Thanmk you, Erni, for sending the items to Thom who makes the recipes for us to indulge in! :-))))