Souffle Stuffed Mushrooms (et al)

Souffle Stuffed Mushrooms

I decided to give this a try. I'm glad I did.

You'll need:
10-12 large cremini or button mushrooms, cleaned and with the stems removed, but keep them whole
a bit of olive oil
1 T. butter
1 T. minced spring onion
1 T. flour
2 T. minced green herbs and leaves (I used a bit of chives, some thyme, some parsley, and a good bit of arugula)
salt and pepper
1/4 c. milk
1-2 T. Parmesan
1 egg, separated
breadcrumbs

Start by heating the oil over medium-low (I used 3). Add the mushrooms, face down.

Move them around so they don't stick, but be gentle so they don't break. Flip them after they start to get soft and release their liquid. Continue cooking. You want them to be about 1/3 of the way cooked. When you get there, lift them onto a paper towel-lined plate and let them drain their liquid.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 F. Mince your herbs and onion.

Melt the butter in the pan (you can use the same one, no problem, or switch to a small saucepan). Add the onions and cook until they're becoming soft. Sprinkle in the flour and the greens. Stir until smooth. Add the milk and stir until incorporated. Let bubble for awhile. Season with salt, pepper, and the Parmesan.
Separate the egg. Beat the yolk slightly. Whisk it into the sauce mixture.

Let it bubble and thicken while you beat the egg white until stiff peaks form. Fold the sauce into the egg white. Be gentle!

Dry out the mushrooms if they're still damp, then add a heaped teaspoon of sauce to each one. Don't go too crazy. That stuff will rise. Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs and place on a cookie sheet. Put in the oven on a middle rack, close the door, and no peeking! It will probably take about 15-20 minutes for these to cook (possibly more, depending on your oven).

Easy Garlic Ramps

I learned from experience that you should probably make this one in a non-stick pan.

You need:
1 T. olive oil
1/2 t. balsamic vinegar
1/2 t. soy sauce
1 bunch of garlic ramps
salt, pepper, sugar
1/4 c. water

Heat the liquids together in a skillet over medium heat. Turn the pan to coat. Toss in the garlic ramps, give the pan a shake, then cover it, leaving a gap for steam to escape. Work on something else for awhile. Open the pan and give it a stir when you need to. This stuff will start to stick pretty quickly. When that happens, add the salt and pepper, then a pinch of sugar. Pour on the water and stir quickly. Turn the heat down a bit. Put the lid back on, again leaving a gap. Stir when you think of it. You want these to cook to the texture of green beans. Warning: the buds can be kind of fibrous, so remove them or warn your guests.

Steamed Beets and Greens

Steam some baby beets until firm but cooked through. Cook them and chop them into bite-sized pieces if needed.
Trim the leaves (the stems go to yard waste) and slice. Steam them.
Toss the beets and greens together with balsamic vinegar and pepper.

Mashed Purple Potatoes
Steam or boil 1.5 lbs of peeled purple potatoes.
Mash with butter (or margarine), milk (dairy or alternative, but please not chocolate or vanilla). Season with salt, pepper, and a hint of cayenne and cumin, if you're into it.

To serve (I really need to work on plating):
Put a blob of potato in the middle of a plate.
Put ramps in front of it, spreading around the potatoes.
Add a pile of beets and greens opposite the ramps.
Top with the mushrooms.
Drizzle with herbed butter sauce if you like gilding the lily.

Apricot Souffle

This soufflé is served warm. While it takes awhile to get the apricot syrup made, the soufflé itself cooks pretty quickly. It also rises rather impressively, so I'm going to go ahead and guess that you don't really need the four egg whites that I initially used. (It actually rose so fast and so high that it spilled over the edge of the pan. Therefore, I'm going to suggest using only the three egg whites.) 

Apricot syrup:

1 lb apricots (leave them whole)

about 1/2 c. water

about 1/4 - 1/2 c. brown sugar, lightly packed

2 mint leaves, optional

rum, optional

Put the water, 1/4 c. brown sugar, and apricots into a medium saucepan. Cover and put on a medium to medium low burner. Leave until the apricots are meltingly soft, then push through a strainer or food mill into a bowl. Discard the pits and skins. Put the puree back into the saucepan and let simmer and reduce for awhile. You want to wind up with about a cup and a half of syrupy deliciousness. Add more sugar if needed. Put in a bit of rum if you'd like. If you enjoy mint and fruit, bruise the two mint leaves and put them into the mixture for a minute or so. My mint was quite potent and left quite a bit of flavor after less than a minute, so be careful. Let it cool for at least a few minutes. 

Souffle: 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter an 8*8 inch square Pyrex dish (or an 8 inch soufflé dish. . . whatever). Beat 3 egg whites until stiff peaks form. Pour in the apricot mixture, then fold it in using a rubber spatula or metal spoon. Be gentle. Pour this into the prepared pan, then put in the middle rack of your oven. Set the timer for 15 minutes. When it comes out, you can eat it as is. It makes enough for 4-6, depending. 

Bonus: Caramel Sauce

So I watch too much Chopped! and I decided that I was going to use the last 5 minutes of cooking to gild the lily. If you feel like doing so, here's how: 

Melt 1 T. of butter with 1/8 c. of packed brown sugar in a small saucepan. Add 1 T. of rum, and crank the heat up so it bubbles and all of the sugar dissolves. (This will probably take about 3 minutes if you started with a cold burner.) Dribble in about 2 T. of milk, stir well for a minute or two, and remove from heat. Make a puddle of this mixture on each dessert plate. When the soufflé comes out of the oven, put a scoop of it on the puddle.