86-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 7, 1998 Mushrooms arc tasty, but they aren’t officially a vegetable. Mushrooms are really a fungus because they do not have roots, leaves, flowers or fruit like veget ables do. But if you look at a listing of the nutritional data for vegetables, you’ll find data for mushrooms. That’s simply the best place to put them—there’s no reason to offer a separate listing for edible fungi, is there? Featured Recipe Are the kids tired of eating the same old veggies? Are you bored with the taste of steamed vegetables? Well, jazz up your favorite vegetarian dishes in a different way by roasting, a cooking method that gently crisps them on the outside at the same time that it locks in flavor and moisture. And the mouth-watering combination of flavor, color and texture can do wonders for a feast or for a sim ple dinner anytime Roasting is not only healthy but it also has a magical effect on the flavor of vegetables. In the dry heat of the oven, vitamins and other nutrients in vegetables are preserved and flavors are con centrated. Roasting takes time but the results are worth the wait: onions caramelize in roasting and add an unforgettable sweetness to vegetables; and mushrooms, especially portobellos, produce an enticing meaty scent. Here are two delicious vegetarian roasting recipes the whole family will love Pureed Roasted Portobello Mushroom Soup 2 teaspoons olive oil 3 medium onions, peeled and quartered 3 cloves garlic, peeled 1 pound fresh portobello mushrooms, trimmed and cut into small chunks salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme or 1/4 tsp. dried thyme 2 tablespoons dry sherry 5 cups chicken stock 1/4 cup heavy cream 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley Preheat oven to 400 degrees Oil bottom of a roaster with 1 tea spoon of the olive oil. Add onions and garlic and top with mush rooms Drizzle remaining teaspoon of oil on top and season with salt, pepper and thyme. Roast mushrooms, stirring once or twice, for 20 minutes. Remove the roaster from oven and pour sherry into the mush rooms, scraping up any brown bits. Add stock to the roaster In blender, puree in batches mushroom mixture until smooth. Pour soup into medium-size saucepan and season to taste. Add cream and simmer over low heat until hot. Sprinkle soup with parsley and serve hot. Roasted Vegetable Platter Serves 4 as main course, 6 as side dish 2 medium eggplants, ends trimmed, cut lengthwise into quarters Salt 3 tablespoons olive oil 8 small new potatoes, halved 4 large carrots, peeled, cut lengthwise in half and then crosswise into 2-inch pieces 2 small zucchini, ends trimmed, cut lengthwise into quarters 2 small summer squash, ends trimmed, cut lengthwise into quarters 2 red and green bell peppers, cored and cut lengthwise into quarters 4 large, ripe tomatoes, quartered 8 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme or 1-1/2 teaspoons dried Freshly ground black pepper Place eggplant in colander and sprinkle cut sides with 1-1/2 tablespoons salt Let stand for 20 minutes Rinse under cold water to remove salt and dry thoroughly Preheat oven to 400 degrees Oil bottom of a roaster with half of the oil. Arrange vegetables and garlic in a single layer in the pan. Sprinkle with parsley, basil, thyme, salt and pepper Drizzle with remaining oil. Roast vegetables for 10 minutes Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and roast, gently stirring, about 20 minutes, until potatoes are tender when pierced with knife, about 50 minutes mare Serve immediately. Mushrooms aren’t the best choice nutritionally when it comes to meeting the “Five a Day” goal of eating five fruits and vegetables daily. Unlike most vegetables, mushrooms offer few vitamins or minerals. A half-cup of raw mushrooms contains less than a half-gram of fiber, and the same amount of canned mushrooms contains less than two grams of fiber. Mushrooms do have their plus Serves 4 Mushroom Possibilities Still, mushrooms add variety and subtle flavor to many foods. Here arc some favorites from our readers. For more quick and easy mushroom recipes, send a self addressed stamped envelope to Mushroom Council, 2200-B Dou glas Blvd., Box MR, Roseville, CA 95661 or visit the Mushroom Council web site at www.mushroomcouncil.com. MUSHROOMS \VITH SOUR 7< cup butter. 2 cups chopped onions 2 pounds mushrooms, washed, quartered 2 pounds flour 1 teaspoon salt '/«teaspoon pepper 1 cup heavy cream 8-ounces sour cream Saute onions in butter in a large skillet until soft. Add mushrooms and saute 5 minutes longer. Sprinkle flour, salt, and pepper over mushrooms and stir until well blended. Add heavy cream and sour cream, and cook slowly, just until mixture bubbles. Pour into an 8-cup shallow casserole. Sprinkle with Vz cup shredded cheddar cheese and '/< cup melted butter. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until cheese and sauce is set 1 package portabello mushrooms 1 bottle vinegrctte (pick your favorite flavor) Marinate mushrooms 30 minutes before cooking, no longer Place them on an upper rack in the grill for 15-20 minutes or until done. These make a nice accompani ment to grilled steak. These may also be cooked in a saute pan on the stove but are bet ter grilled. side. A half-cup of raw mushrooms has less than 10 calo ries; a half-cup of canned mushrooms has less than 20 calo ries. Also, mushrooms aren’t a bad source of copper—a half-cup pro vides between 8 and 9 percent of the Recommended Daily Allow ance for the mineral. That might not sound like much, but sources of copper in the diet arc few and far between. Most people are margi nally deficient in this mineral and that, some researches believe, can contribute to heart disease. A few mushrooms now and then can only help, although organ meats such as liver have much more copper. Similarly, a half-cup of mushrooms also contains riboflavin—between 9 percent and 12 percent of the daily recommen dation. However, many other foods contain more riboflavin, including milk, liver, cheese, green leafy vegetables, eggs, and meat CREAM Laura Blauch Lebanon Co. Daily Maid GRILLED ’BELLAS Diana Baldwin Ephrata - . . ? oms i - va -ty and subtle flavor to many foods Sauteed, breaded, deep-fried, baked, roasted or used fresh SSSS add * del,Mte «■»»»,’^combhedSS; CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP 3 A pound fresh white mushrooms, coarsely chopped 2 tablespoons butter IVz tablespoons cornstarch ‘2 cups chicken stock 17z cups light cream 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce In a medium soup pot, saute mushrooms in butter for 10 minutes over medium heat. Stir in cornstarch and whisk in chicken stock. Stirring continuously, cook 5 minutes, then lower the heat and simmer covered for 15 minutes. Puree half of the soup in a food processor or blender and return it to the pot. Add cream and Worces tershire sauce. Return to heat until very hot. Yields: 4 servings. Recipe Topics If you have recipes for the topics listed below, please share them with us. We welcome your recipes, but ask that you include accurate measurements, a complete list of ingredients and clear instructions with each recipe you submit. Send your recipes to Lou Ann Good, Lancaster Farming, P.O. Box 609, Ephrata, PA 17522. Recipes should reach our office one week before publishing date listed below. November December BAKED SCALLOPS AND MUSHROOMS '/i cup butter, divided 2 cups thinly sliced mushrooms 1 medium onion, chopped One 2 to 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 pounds bay scallops 1 cup soft bread crumbs 1 cup finely chopped parsley Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In large skillet, melt'/« cup but ter and saute mushrooms until ten der, then add and saute onions and garlic a few minutes more. Remove from heat In a large bowl, combine the scallps, bread crumbs, parsley, and mushroom mixture. Transfer to 9x13 casserole dish. Melt remain ing butter and drizzle over the con tents of casserole. Bake for 10 minutes. Serves 6. B. Light Lebanon 14 - Muffins, Buns 21 - Thanksgiving Favorites 28 - Food Gifts 6 - Christmas Cookies B. Light Lebanon
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