Stuffed Mushrooms

Most of us like Mushrooms as a vegetable and have been cooking different Indian style dishes with Mushroom. But probably never thought that we can make a great appetizer using Mushrooms. Off late while searching for something new that would be good starter for parties, I found an awesome recipe called “stuffed mushroom”. When I first time made during one lazy evening, it became instantly hit in my family. 

Stuffed Mushroom is so delicious that you would continue to pop them in your mouth till you are full. The recipe is very simple, where a mushroom cap is stuffed with the mixture and baked until it becomes golden brown. You can get as creative as you like with the filling.  Very basic one would contain breadcrumbs, cheese but you can experiment with some non-veg stuff too like crab cake mix.

The recipe is actually very simple and short. First wash the mushrooms and remove the stems. Then keep the stems in a food processor and pulse it until they are minced. Now put one tablespoon of olive oil into pan and stir-fry minced stems with garlic. If you like, can add spices too and then stir it again. When it cools down slightly, add mixture of cream cheese. Then fill the mushrooms caps with the mixture and sprinkle the cheese over the top and bake it. Try them next time when you have friends over! 

Recipe of Stuffed Mushrooms : Serves 4 

Ingredients :

Fresh Button Mushrooms : 12 - 16 
Vegetable Oil : 1 tablespoon 
Garlic ( minced ) : 1 tablespoon 
Cream cheese ( at room temperature ) : 1 package ( 8 ounce ) 
Parmesan Cheese : 1/2 cup
Italian Bread Crumbs : 1/2 cup 
Black pepper powder : 1/4 teaspoon 
Cayenne pepper : a big pinch 

Method : 

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F . Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. 

2. Wash the mushrooms and pat it dry with a paper towel. Carefully break off stems. Chop the stems very fine.

3. Heat oil in a pan and add garlic. Once garlic becomes lightly brown, add the finely chopped stems to the pan. Cook the mixture until the stems are tender and most of the liquid has cooked out. Once it is done, remove mixture to a plate to cool.

4. Once the mixture is no longer hot, stir in cream cheese, Italian bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese,black pepper, cayenne pepper. 

5. Spoon the filling into the mushroom cavities. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the filling and arrange them on the prepared baking sheet. 

6. Bake until the mushrooms are tender and the filling is heated trough and become golden on top, about 20 to 25 minutes. Serve hot. 


* If you don't get Cream Cheese handy, you can skip it. So that time double the amount of Parmesan Cheese and bread Crumbs. 

* You can add cooked minced Chicken or other meat too to the filling. 

* For vegetarian option, you can add spinach.

 

Mishti Doi ( Quick way )

Summer in San Diego is slowly but surely picking up speed and at the same pace, our number of parties is also going up. Nowadays it’s very difficult to get date from any friend, we are busy from Friday to Sunday night. Before every party I am seeing a common trend. We are all set to host a party and ready with the menu of the main courses, but take time to decide which dessert to prepare. Probably most of us fear to make a dessert compared to starter or main courses. 

Today I will share the recipe of a Bengali sweet that will make your life easy before any party. It is the most easiest dessert that you can make at home.  When The word Mishti Doi comes to our mind, all Bengali would immediately start thinking of a small earthen pot filled with rich and creamy sweet yogurt. It's so famous that I have seen people outside Bengal are so fond of this sweet. I can still recall that in the Bangalore K C Dash shop, people from all places used to love Mishti Doi as much as Rosogolla or Rasmalai.  

I have shared the recipe of Misti Doi last year but that was the authentic way of making Mishti Doi . The procedure was also undoubtedly easy but it takes relatively longer time. At that time, some of my readers asked if there is any short-cut. So I thought it would be perfect to share the quickest and easiest one in the middle of summer.  You just need to mix three ingredients and put it in the oven. This process is nothing original but very common to the Bengalis who stay outside of India and doesn’t have much patience. To make this yogurt you don't need any earthen pot but a baking dish. When I made this recipe first time I was surprised and never thought I could make it so fast. And you are wondering about taste ? I can assure that you won’t miss the Mishti Doi from Kolkata anymore. 

Recipe of Mishti Doi ( quick way  ) 

Ingredients :

Plain Yogurt : 1 cup 
Sweetened Condensed Milk : 1/2 cup 
Evaporated Milk : 1 can / 12 oz  ( evaporated milk is made by heating milk until about 60 percent of its water content has evaporated ) 

Method :

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 
2. Whisk the yogurt till smooth and set it aside. 
3. Take a mixing bowl, add evaporated milk and condensed milk, mix it well. Warm the mixture at low heat. Let it cool down to lukewarm temperature.  
4. Add the yogurt to the lukewarm mixture. Mix it again till there is no lump. 
5. Pour the mixture into a glass or ceramic baking dish. 
6. Now set the oven temperature to 200 degrees F. 
7. Bake the mixture at 200 degrees for one hour or until it is almost set. Once it is set, turn off the oven. Let the yogurt rest for at least another 2 to 3 hours or overnight in the oven. 
8. Once it is cool down completely, put it into the refrigerate for another couple of hours and serve cold. 

Cookie n Cream Ice-Cream ( no ice cream maker needed )

Good news is that I already finished taking snaps for my next three upcoming dessert posts. So this time I had a different problem – which one to select for this week’s post.  Finally the ice cream recipe wins. So today I will share the recipe of homemade Cookie n Cream Ice cream. It’s one of the silkiest and creamiest ice cream made with no ice cream maker and no extra stirring.  Only three ingredients are used and  packed with Oreo cookie crumbs.

Every year in the beginning of the summer, I wonder if I need to buy an ice cream maker to make the perfect ice cream at home. But I change my mind every time thinking it’s not worth to buy the machine for making ice-cream only once or twice in a year. So I again started looking for some easy homemade ice-cream recipe that wouldn’t need any ice-cream maker. And I found it what I was looking for after searching a bit in the net. 

Before I made this delicious dessert, didn’t know that a little amount of cream and a can of sweetened condensed milk can be whipped up quickly to form delicious easy ice cream base.  Once you are done with the base,  just stir in whatever flavor you like and create your favorite ice-cream. Though it’s hard to believe, yes, making homemade ice-cream is that easy and it tastes exactly like the ice cream bought from the popular store. I felt it was fully worth the effort when my 9 years old boy says mom, it’s exactly like Baskin Robbins, which is his favorite ice-cream shop.

It’s not hard and it doesn’t take long, so put your hesitation aside and get yourself some whipping cream , condensed milk and favorite flavor. Try to re-create this magic and you would love it. 

Recipe of Cookie n Cream Ice Cream 

Ingredients :

Cold heavy cream / whipping Cream : 2 cups
Condensed Milk : 1/2 cup 
Vanilla extract : 1 teaspoon 
Coarsely Crushed Oreo Cookies : 1/2 to 1 cup 

Method :

1. Chill a large or medium mixing bow and the beaters of electric hand blender in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. Remove from the refrigerator and pour the whipping cream and vanilla extract into the chilled mixing bowl. Beat cream on high until stiff peaks form, about 3 to 5 minutes. 

2. Take a rubber spatula, gently fold whipped cream into condensed milk. Gently fold in crushed oreos. Pour into a loaf pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap. Freeze until firm, about 4 hours or overnight.