Braised Leg of Lamb with Morel, Trumpet and Shiitake Mushrooms

It has been a while since I braised lamb. I had a vision of braising a leg of lamb with variety of mushrooms. So few weekends back I did exactly that. Here is my recipe.

Ingredients:

1.5 lb of deboned leg of lamb
10 morel mushrooms
2 trumpet mushrooms
10 shiitake mushrooms
Hot water
1 large onion, half mooned
1 carrot, peeled and cubed
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
1 tablespoon of fresh finely chopped thyme and few sprigs

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Generously rub the leg of lamb with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, fresh thyme. Salt and pepper to taste. Sear in a pan on all sides. I used medium heat. Set aside.

2. In a different pan on medium heat saute mushrooms and onions with 1 tablespoon of olive oil for about 10 minutes stirring from time to time. Salt and pepper to taste.

3. In a large ovenproof pot combine mushrooms, onions, carrots, lamb and few sprigs of fresh thyme. Pour hot water, just enough to almost cover the lamb. Bring to a boil. Cover with a lid and transfer into the oven. Let braise for about 2.5-3 hours. Check after 1 hour to make sure there is enough liquid and lamb is not burning. Turn the lamb over. Amount of liquid will reduce with cooking but there should be some left. To make the sauce richer use beef stock instead of water. Serve with potatoes.

Porcini Mushrooms and Potatoes for dinner

To my great surprise my local co-op had porcinis this weekend and of course I just had to get few of them.

I cooked them as I always do in olive oil with some diced shallots for about 30 minutes. I also steamed some yukon gold potatoes. The meal came out very "home-like" potatoes with mushrooms served with sour cream and fresh dill.

Pork Tenderloin with Apricot and Mustard Sauce - Martha's recipe

This is a very simple pork tenderloin recipe that I found by Martha Stewart, in which I can use some of my apricot preserves. I had to modify cooking time so that the pork comes out a little bit pink in the middle. Both my husband and I do not like overcooked pork. Plus I used regular Dijon mustard instead of spicy brown mustard. Here is a slightly modified version.



Ingredients:

1 pork tenderloin (a little over a pound)
1/2 cup of apricot preserves
1/8 cup of Dijon mustard
Salt and Pepper
1 tablespoon of Olive Oil

Preparation:

1. Rub pork with oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Line a cooking sheet with aluminum foil and broil pork on it in the oven for 3 minutes a side.

2. In a meantime, in a small sauce pan combine apricot preserves with mustard and on medium heat bring to a boil. Stir not to burn. Once boiling take the sauce of the heat and split into two small cups. Use one half of the sauce to brush pork and the other to serve.

3. Brush pork on one side with sauce and broil for a 1.5 minutes. Take out of the oven and turn over, brush the other side with sauce and broil for another 1.5 minutes. Pork will have some blackened spots. Let the pork rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Slice and serve with some sauce on a side.

Apricot Preserves

Apricot preserves are my favorite and I make them every year once fresh apricots make an appearance in the grocery store. This is a recipe I learned from my mother, which have proven to work for me very well. Here it is.

Ingredients:

3 lbs of fresh apricots, cut in half and seeds removed
3 lbs of white sugar

Preparation:

The whole process takes about 3 days. I usually start in the evening on Day 1.

Day 1: In a large pot pour sugar over the apricots. Leave uncovered overnight for the apricots to release the juice. 

Day 2: In the morning using a large wooden spoon stir the apricots and sugar well. Put pot on a stove and turn heat on low and continue to stir until sugar starts to melt. Be very patient - you don't want sugar to burn. Once sugar has dissolved increase heat to medium and bring to a boil. Once boiling the foam will start to form. Your job is to skim the foam while preserves are boiling. Stop skimming once there is not much foam left. Total boiling time should be 20 minutes (including the foam). Turn the heat off and take the pot of the heat, let the preserves cool uncovered. I usually let them cool and sit uncovered until the next day.

Day 3: Bring preserves to a boil stiring to not burn. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes removing any extra foam that forms. Take preserves off the heat and let them completely cool. Once cool transfer into the glass jars and store in a fridge. Enjoy on a toast, yogurt or in sauces. 

Salmon with Morels in Cream Sauce

Morels are in season and I bought few at the store this weekend. Price does bite at $30 per pound! However, you don't need to buy many of them to make a nice dish. After doing a google search on recipes with morel mushrooms I came up with this creation last night. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 pieces of salmon cooked my usual way (the post about it is here)
8-10 medium and large morel mushrooms, cleaned and chopped to taste
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 teaspoon of freshly chopped thyme
1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup of white wine
3/4 - 1 cup of chicken stock
1 tablespoon of Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Preparation:

Pour olive oil in a small pan and on medium high heat saute shallot, thyme and morels for 3 minutes stirring. Deglaze with white wine and add chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low. Let the chicken stock reduce and mushrooms to cook for about 10 - 12 minutes. Next add heavy whipping cream and stir well. I let it boil a little bit stirring frequently until I got desired consistency. Salt and pepper to taste. To serve put salmon on a plate and pour morel sauce on top. I also had some elbow pasta to soak up that cream!

Nicoise Salad at Home

It is about time I made Nicoise Salad with seared Ahi Tuna. I always get it in the restaurants so why not make it at home? Two weekends in a row I have been doing just that. The salad is very easy to make however it takes some time to prepare all the ingredients. The recipe for two people is below.



Ingredients:

3/4 lb of fresh Ahi tuna
6-7 fingerling potatoes, peeled and cooked
10-12 green beans, blanched
10 green/black olives
2 hard boiled eggs, cut in half
5 cherry or plum tomatoes, cut in half
Olive Oil for cooking
Salt and Pepper

For dressing:
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1/2 of small shallot, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons of dijon mustard
1 sprig of fresh thyme, finely chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. In a small bowl whisk together all the dressing ingredients. Salt and Pepper to taste. Set aside.

2. Rinse Ahi Tuna with cold water and pat dry. I cut my piece into two pieces. Salt and pepper generously on both sides. Pour 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil in a pan and on medium high heat sear tuna on both sides for about 1-2 minutes a side (depends on how rare you want your fish to be). Transfer cooked tuna on a cutting board and slice it into 1/2 inch pieces.

3. Now it is time to assemble the salad on a plate. On each plate arrange eggs, tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, olives and tuna. Drizzle with a dressing. Salt and Pepper if needed. You can also add other ingredients such as cucumber, radishes, beats, asparagus and so on.

Shrimp with Tomatoes, Feta and Parsley

Looking through the 101 Classic Recipes of Saveur magazine I found the familiar recipe for shrimp made with tomatoes, feta and parsley. I have made something similar before and recall it was very easy to make. So yesterday I made the Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta using Saveur's recipe as a guide. I skipped hot green chile and ouzo - my husband does not like it. Here is how I made it.



Ingredients:

2/3 lb of large shrimp, peeled and cleaned
28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes
4 oz of feta, cut in small pieces
1/2 of white onion, chopped
1/4 cup of chopped fresh parsley
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Preparation:

1. Turn your oven broiler on. In an ovenproof large pot (I use my Le Creuset) heat up 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil, add onion and on medium heat saute until soft, about 3 minutes. In a large bowl crush tomatoes with your hands and add them to the onions. Mix and salt and pepper to taste. Cook tomatoes on medium heat until sauce become thick (about 15-20 minutes). Stir once in a while. Add shrimp and cook them turning once about 4 minutes total.

2. Next sprinkle feta on top and put a pot without a lid into the oven. Broil for about 3.5 minutes. Take out and sprinkle with fresh parsley. Serve and eat.