mushrooms | FreshNess

Mushroom and Herb Polenta

by ness | May 15, 2013 | Italian, Main Dishes, Pasta, Rice, & Grains, Vegetables, Vegetarian

We’ve been eating vegetarian a few times a week and I’ve been experimenting with satisfying, simple, meatless meals. I’m not a vegetarian by any means, but I enjoy eating meatless meals quite often, especially when those vegetarian meals are cheesy, herb-filled comfort meals like this mushroom and herb polenta.

plenty cookbook cover recipe in cookbook

This recipe is adapted from ‘Plenty‘ by Yotam Ottolenghi. Famous for his famous London food shop ‘Ottolenghi’, he became renowned for his innovative vegetarian offerings. This cookbook is full of ‘vibrant vegetable recipes ‘ that are globally inspired and full of flavour. The recipes are accessible and easy to follow with interesting stories about his inspirations and beautiful photography for each recipe. It’s one of my favourites in my vast cookbook collection.

mushrooms herbs cheese

Mushrooms are so satisfying and the perfect meat substitute. You can use any mushrooms you like, and play around with the herb combinations too. I’ve used basil and parsley before, and played around with the proportions of the herbs. The options are limitless. Taleggio melts so amazingly and has a rich, salty flavour so perfect in this dish. Because Taleggio can be quite salty, it’s a good idea to add salt sparingly to the polenta.

I love that this dish is elegant enough to serve as a vegetarian main course for guests yet simple enough for a weeknight meal – perfect vegetarian eating that’s decadent and delicious.


1. Add half olive oil and half the mushrooms to pan	2. Fry a few minutes until just browned – don’t stir too much

3. Slowly add 1/2 cup of polenta to simmering vegetable stock	4. Add garlic, rosemary, butter, Parmesan, salt and pepper to polenta and stir

5. Spread polenta in oven-ready dish	6. Top polenta with mushroom herb mixture

7. Top mushrooms with Taleggoio and place in broiler	8. Done when cheese is melted and bubbling. Serve hot.

polenta on plate

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Mushroom and Herb Polenta

We’ve been eating vegetarian a few times a week and I’ve been experimenting with satisfying, simple, meatless meals. I’m not a vegetarian by any means, but I enjoy eating meatless meals quite often, especially when those vegetarian meals are cheesy, herb-filled comfort meals like this mushroom and herb polenta.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegetarian

Keyword: butter, cheese, corn, egg-free, gluten-free, mushrooms, nut-free, pasta, rice & grains, soy-free, vegetables

Author: ness

INGREDIENTS

4 tablespoon olive oil
4 cups mixed mushrooms (cut into 1 inch pieces)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tablespoon chopped tarragon
1 tablespoon chopped thyme
1 tablespoon truffle oil
2 ¼ cups vegetable stock
½ cup instant polenta
3 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon rosemary (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon chives (finely chopped)
3 oz Taleggio cheese (rind removed, cut into 3/8” slices)
Salt and pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Pre-heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add half olive oil and half the mushrooms to pan, and fry for a few minutes until just cooked, about 5 to 6 minutes. Don't stir too much to get more golden brown bits. Remove mushrooms from pan and place in a bowl and set aside. Repeat with remaining olive oil and mushrooms. Remove pan from heat and add first batch of mushrooms back to pan. Add two-thirds of the garlic, and all the tarragon, thyme, and truffle oil. Stir to combine and set aside.
Bring vegetable stock to boil in a medium saucepan and reduce to simmer. Once simmering, slowly pour in polenta, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Cooking time will vary depending on brand; polenta is done when it leaves the sides but is still runny. Remove from heat.
Preheat the broiler. Add Parmesan, butter, rosemary, and chives. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spread polenta in oven-ready dish and top with mushrooms. Top mushrooms with Taleggio and place under broiler for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Serve hot.

Recipe adapted from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

Golden Curry

by ness | Sep 10, 2012 | Asian, Indian, Main Dishes, Poultry

How do you get through dinners through the work week? Takeout? Frozen TV dinners? Meals from scratch? I tend to rely on all of the above since I’m not a huge fan of leftovers (exception is yam mein and pizza). Hubby D likes making a big batch Sunday night meal and reheating leftovers during the week, which admittedly cuts down on clean up and cooking. So with that game plan in place, it’s essential to get find meals that taste great as leftovers, and fast and easy curry is the perfect meal.

Some people think of curry as ‘spicy’ with burn-your-face-off type of heat rather than ‘full of flavour and aromatics’. There are so many curries in the world, spices and stews, and every region, culture, and family has their own unique way of preparing it. My family is from India and Pakistan, so our flavours and heat levels are a derrative of those spice-and-heat loving cultures. My mom makes a hearty and healthy vegetable curry with cauliflower, potato, and carrots while my aunts are known for their in-your- face spicy beef curry. As for me, I like to make Thai curries at home by my new fave is this golden curry that is mild yet full of flavour.

This curry is super easy to whip up and gets better as you re-heat it during the week. You can also freeze it and whip it out whenever you feel like some savoury comfort food. An added benefit of this dish is how cost-effective it is. Living gluten-free can rack up a serious grocery bill so finding healthy meals that don’t cost a fortune is a good way to balance the budget. Serve with some basmati rice and enjoy on a Sunday and all through the week.

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Golden Curry Recipe

My family is from India and Pakistan, so our flavours and heat levels are a derrative of those spice-and-heat loving cultures. My mom makes a hearty and healthy vegetable curry with cauliflower, potato, and carrots while my aunts are known for their in-your- face spicy beef curry. As for me, I like to make Thai curries at home by my new fave is this golden curry that is mild yet full of flavour.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Asian, Indian

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: chicken, corn-free, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, mushrooms, nut-free, poultry, soy-free, spicy, yeast-free

Servings: 6

Author: ness

INGREDIENTS

12 chicken thighs (diced)
2 cups diced onions
2 cups diced carrots
2 cups sliced mushrooms
3 Tablespoons canola oil
3 cups chicken stock
4 teaspoons curry powder (I used 1 tsp hot Balinese curry powder and 3 tsp regular curry powder)
4 teaspoons fresh coriander/cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat large cast iron pot or deep sided frying pan on medium-high heat. Add oil and chicken and 1 teaspoon of salt and cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add onions and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to combine.
Add mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to combine. Add carrots and potatoes and curry powder and stir until all ingredients are evenly coated with curry seasoning.
Add chicken stock and stir, scraping up any brown bits stuck to bottom of pot. Lower heat and simmer covered for 20 minutes. Garnish with coriander and serve with rice or bread.

Fast Flatbread Pizza

by ness | Apr 19, 2012 | Italian, Main Dishes, Pasta, Rice, & Grains, Snacks & Appetizers, Soup & Sandwiches

Everyone loves pizza. It’s the ultimate comfort food and I dream about the amazing pizzas of my gluten-eating past. Specifically, Neapolitan pizza with its thin, slightly charred crust, San Marzano tomatoes, and cheesy topping, these pizzas are a fond yet distant memory.

Here’s a homemade flatbread pizza that’s gluten-free, fast, and delicious. The uber-thin crust is nice and crispy and pretty light in calories, yet once loaded up with your favourite toppings, it totally satisfies the pizza craving. So next time you’re at the grocery store, forget those expensive frozen gluten-free pizza crusts and look for these tortillas (sometimes in the frozen health food aisle), which are also perfect for making wraps and crackers. While it’s no Neapolitan pizza, this flatbread can be made at home in a toaster oven. I used to be a line cook at my university pub where we would make a gazillion pita bread/garlic butter/shredded cheese appetizers that inpired my gluten-free version – just one of the many useful things I learned during my quest for a higher education.

I’m not even sure you call this a ‘recipe’ but you take a brown rice tortilla from Food for Life, add your favourite toppings, and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the edges are golden brown. Slice and serve.

The pizza in this post was made with garlic butter, sliced mushrooms, and goat mozzarella and garnished with fresh arugula, basil, chili flakes and truffle oil. All of my fave ingredients and perfect with a bowl of tomato soup or a fresh salad.

Inside-Out Stuffing and Simple Roast Chicken

by ness | Apr 11, 2012 | Main Dishes, Meat, Pasta, Rice, & Grains, Poultry, Sides, Vegetables

Happy Anniversary to me! It’s been one year since the launch of freshnessgf.com and I’m so delighted with the end result – an online food journal full of recipes, stories, and photos. Honestly, my biggest thrill is when people tell me that they a) checked out my site b) tried a recipe and/or c) shared the site with their friends. It’s so totally humbling and gratifying that I fist pump every time.

In honour of this milestone, I thought I’d share one of my fave celebration recipes, stuffing with roast chicken. Notice that the stuffing is the main event here and the chicken, although delicious, is an accompaniment to its carb-tastic counterpart. My aunts make the most amazing stuffing, something our family gets to devour only three holidays a year – Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas. They also make the most moist, juicy turkey known to man and their holiday spreads are legendary for requiring a big appetite and some stretchy pants (this past Easter, there were no less than 20 separate dishes being served up – scroll to the end to see).

Since going gluten-free, I’ve had to give up on my aunt’s savoury stuffing but craving that distinct delicious comfort food, I ended up creating my own version. Now typically stuffing gets stuffed inside the cavity of a turkey, which is great for feeding large crowds lots of turkey and not so much stuffing. However, my version involves a lot of stuffing and a single chicken for roasting. The chicken is enough to feed three or four, but I make enough stuffing to feed quite an army. You can totally modify the recipe to make half the amount, but be warned, you’ll wish you had more leftover stuffing afterwards.

So the way to get all that stuffing is to layer the prepared stuffing underneath the chicken which gets roasted on top. So it’s inside out stuffing. I got the idea from Martha Stewart – to see a picture of the finished chicken and stuffing click here. I always make this when company is over and I keep forgetting to photograph it before I slice and serve. What makes this stuffing superior to traditional stuffing is how some parts get nicely crispy and browned, while other parts get squishy and moist from the juices of the chicken. Is your mouth-watering yet? Mine is just thinking about it.

One trick I picked up from my aunts is to make sure to use lots of onions. In my version, I use a combo of white onions, leeks, and garlic. Also, I use chicken sausage instead of pork, and I pick different flavours depending on the palettes of my guests. Heat-loving friends got spicy Italian while D’s family got a milder honey garlic version. Either way, you can’t really go wrong.

This recipe takes longer than most of my other posts, but it’s still easy to whip up. Just saute the sausage and veggies, add the bread crumbs and stock, plop the chicken on top and stick it in the oven. While it’s roasting away, the aroma fills the house with the smell of a celebration, and in my case, it usually involves a glass of wine or bubbly.

Thanks again to all my lovely readers for your kind words and continued support. xoxoxo V

Count the 20 items at my family's Easter dinner spread. My family rules. Outsiders drool.

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Inside-Out Stuffing and Simple Roast Chicken

Since going gluten-free, I've had to give up on my aunt's savoury stuffing but craving that distinct delicious comfort food, I ended up creating my own version. Now typically stuffing gets stuffed inside the cavity of a turkey, which is great for feeding large crowds lots of turkey and not so much stuffing. However, my version involves a lot of stuffing and a single chicken for roasting. The chicken is enough to feed three or four, but I make enough stuffing to feed quite an army. You can totally modify the recipe to make half the amount, but be warned, you'll wish you had more leftover stuffing afterwards.

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: chicken, corn-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, meat, mushrooms, nut-free, pasta, rice & grains, poultry, spicy, vegetables

Servings: 4 with leftovers

Author: ness

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

Large Dutch oven
Roasting pan
Large deep oven-proof skillet

INGREDIENTS

For the Stuffing

1 lb uncooked sausage (casings removed (about 4) – (Italian, chorizo, honey garlic all great))
2 cups sliced leeks (white part only)
2 cup diced onion (about 2 medium or 1 large)
1 cup diced celery
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 to 1 ½ cup chicken stock
10 cups day old (gluten-free bread cut into 1” cubes)
½ cup fresh parsley (finely chopped)
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried rosemary
Fresh ground pepper

For the chicken:

1 roasting chicken (about 4 lbs)
1 lemon (cut into quarters)
6 cloves garlic
4 fresh rosemary sprigs
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Make stuffing. Heat pan over medium-high heat and add 1 teaspoon of canola oil. Add sausage meat and sauté, mixing and breaking up pieces with a wooden spoon. Continue to cook until slightly browned and cooked through. Remove sausage meat with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Add 1 tablespoon of canola oil to the pan and add leeks, onion, and celery. Saute for 2 minutes, or until ingredients start to soften. Add mushrooms and garlic and sauté for another 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of chicken stock and scrape brown bits off bottom of the pan. Remove from heat. Add cooked sausage meat, parsley, dried herbs, pepper and bread to mixture. Stir well to combine – each cube of bread should be moistened by stuffing mixture (add more stock if it looks too dry). Set aside.
Prepare chicken. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place chicken, breast side up, on top of stuffing and tuck the wings underneath. Tie legs together with kitchen twine. Pat the chicken dry with paper towel. Rub skin with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Stuff inside cavity of chicken with lemon, garlic, and rosemary.
Roast for 30 minutes. Rotate the pan and continue to roast for another 30 minutes. Chicken is done when meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165 degrees. Remove chicken from pan and loosely cover with foil for 10 minutes to rest before carving and serving. Meanwhile, remove stuffing from pan into serving bowl.

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Mushroom Soup

by ness | Apr 2, 2012 | Snacks & Appetizers, Soup & Sandwiches, Vegetables

As a ~~brat~~ kid, my favourite soup wasn’t any of the amazing homemade Chinese soups my mom made from scratch every night. Not the cream of corn or egg drop, or the other dozen or so in the rotation. Nope, none of those could top my true love for canned cream of mushroom soup – I would beg my mom to buy those iconic red and white cans. I still remember the congealed blob slithering itself out of the can and the distinctive ‘plop’ sound it made as it hit the pot. In hindsight, I’m pretty grossed out by the entire process, especially the hardcore whisking involved to avoid the coagulated soup chunks in an otherwise creamy soup.

I also recall digging around my bowl for a chunk of mushroom floating around the creamy white broth – there were so few in that can of soup that it was like a treasure hunt. But those days are over. I discovered this un-creamy version at Oliver & Bonacini and it was so tasty that I couldn’t believe there wasn’t any cream in it. It changed my entire perception of what mushroom soup could be. Instead of scouring the bowl for remnants of mushroom, each mouthful of O&B’s soup was filled with mushroom-y goodness. This recipe is one of their most well-known and loved permanent menu items and I’ve adjusted the recipe a bit to amp up the flavour profile.

I hope you enjoy this more than its canned counterpart, maybe with a drizzle of truffle oil, some fresh basil leaves, and while you’re at it, throw in a grilled cheese sandwich for a completely satisfying meal that doesn’t require a can opener (or a whisk).

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Mushroom Soup

I hope you enjoy this more than its canned counterpart, maybe with a drizzle of truffle oil, some fresh basil leaves, and while you're at it, throw in a grilled cheese sandwich for a completely satisfying meal that doesn't require a can opener (or a whisk).

Course: Appetizer, Soup

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword: corn-free, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, mushrooms, soy-free, vegetables

Author: ness

INGREDIENTS

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup diced onion
4 cloves garlic minced
6 cups diced mushrooms (preferably a mix but all of one kind works too)
1/2 tsp dried basil leaves
4 cups water
1 bay leaf
1 soup bouillon cube (vegetable or chicken)
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Fresh basil leaves and truffle oil to garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat a pot over medium-high heat and add olive oil. Add onion and garlic and saute for 4 to 5 minutes, allowing the onions to sweat and brown slightly. Add mushrooms and dried basil leaves and stir to combine, continue to stir for another 5 minutes. Add water and bay leaf, bring to boil, and add bullion cube. Reduce to simmer and continue to cook uncovered for approximately 20 minutes. Remove from heat and add salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.
Using a blender or immersion blender, blend half the soup and pulse until ingredients are still a little chunky. Add remaining soup ingredients and blend again (Note: blending this way gives the mushrooms different textures - for a finder soup, pure until completely smooth). Serve immediately with fresh basil leaves and drizzle of truffle oil if using.

Adapted from Three Chefs: Three Chefs: The Kitchen Men

Mushroom and Herb Polenta

Mushroom and Herb Polenta

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Golden Curry

Golden Curry Recipe

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Fast Flatbread Pizza

Inside-Out Stuffing and Simple Roast Chicken

Inside-Out Stuffing and Simple Roast Chicken

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

INGREDIENTS

For the Stuffing

For the chicken:

INSTRUCTIONS

Mushroom Soup

Mushroom Soup

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

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