gluten free. . . but you would never guess!

Mushrooms Stuffed with Fennel, Apple and Blue Cheese

Written on July 21, 2011 by Andrea in Appetizers, Recipes

If you like blue cheese, you will love these stuffed mushrooms! The blue cheese is not overpowering because there is only 2 tablespoons of it for 12 large mushrooms.

The flavor of the blue cheese is enhanced by raisins, apple, fresh fennel and also my new favorite, Marcona almonds. The Marcona almonds add a little more of a smoky complex flavor than regular almonds would. If you can’t find Marcona almonds (I buy mine at Trader Joes), or don’t want to spend the money you can try using Smokehouse flavored almonds but I would wipe some of the seasoning off of the outside because it is really salty.

Fresh tarragon also adds a nice flavor to these stuffed mushrooms. There is a couple of tablespoons of goat cheese to add to the creaminess of the filling. You could probably also use sour cream or yogurt if you would rather.

If your onions are too strong then you can saute them for just a minute in a little bit of water before adding them to the mushroom stuffing mixture.

Mushrooms Stuffed with Fennel, Apple and Blue Cheese

You can prep these stuffed mushrooms earlier in the day and then bake them right before you are ready to serve.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

12 mushrooms to stuff- they should be about 3 inches across.

Clean mushrooms (I do it in water and let dry for a few minutes on a paper towel)

Cut the bottom stem end off then remove the stems from the mushrooms and chop finely to add to the stuffing mixture.

I use a little spoon and make the opening of the mushroom where the stuffing goes a little bigger if it is soft enough. Don’t worry about it if the mushroom is really firm becaus it will break!

Mix filling ingredients in bowl:

1/2 cup very fresh fennel, chopped fine. (If your fennel is not that fresh looking, you may want to saute it in a little bit of water first to take away some of the oxidized flavor)

1/2 cup apple, finely chopped (I used Gala and left the skin on for color and texture)

1/4 cup raisins

2 tablespoons blue cheese

2 tablespoons goat cheese (I use Chavre because it’s creamy)

1 and 1/2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, minced

1/4 cup Marcona almonds, chopped

pepper to taste

I used a squeeze of lime to brighten the flavors.

If your mushrooms are large, you might want to bake them for 3 minutes before you fill them at 375 degrees with the bottom side up. That way you will not need to cook the stuffing mixture so long and it will retain more texture.

Stuff mushrooms with the mixture and bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Arugula Salad With Pork And Fresh Cherries

Written on June 21, 2011 by Andrea in Main Courses, Recipes, Salads

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This is the salad that features the Pork With Cherry Preserves And Mustard recipe that I posted right before this.

This arugula salad is full of so many great flavors and textures besides just the pork. It has little pieces of Chavrie goat cheese scattered on it as well as fresh cherry halves and my new favorite- Marcona almonds. If you can’t find Chavrie then substitute another creamy type goat cheese.

I took a plate of it to my neighbor to try and even though she was leaving to go out to dinner, she smelled it and had to take a couple of bites right then. She loved it and wanted to know when I would be posting the recipe. Everybody that has tried it has been raving about it so I know I will be making it again soon.

You could always switch it up and use chicken in place of the pork, as long as you use the same cherry preserve and mustard sauce to cook it in!

I reduced the leftover sauce down and used it in this salad dressing as well as a little bit of balsamic vinegar and a touch more mustard. I thinned the dressing with rice milk but you could use any dairy or non dairy milk substitute.

I hope you will try this salad because it is a very fun way to enjoy the lovely fresh cherries that are in stores right now.

I shared this recipe with This Chick Cooks Linky Party at This Chick Cooks, Gluten Free Wednesdays at The Gluten Free Homemaker, Real Food Wednesday at Kelly The Kitchen Kop, Full Plate Thursdays at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage, Simple Lives Thursday at A Little Bit Of Spain In Iowa, Pennywise Platter Thursday at The Nourishing Gourmet, Foodie Friday at Designs By Gollum, Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade, Finer Things Friday at The Finer Things In Life, Allergy Friendly Friday at Cybele Pascal Allergy Friendly Cuisine, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, Tasty Tuesdays at 33 Shades Of Green, Homemaker Monday at 11th Heaven’s Homemaking Haven

Arugula Salad With Pork And Cherries

This recipe should serve 4-6 people.

I am writing down amounts that should be close for the dressing. I kept adding and tasting until I got it right so I lost track of the exact measurements. Taste the dressing and adjust the ingredient amounts to suit yourself- that’s what cooking is all about anyway!

Place dressing ingredients in a bowl and stir to blend thoroughly.

5 tablespoons reserved sauce from cooking the pork

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon whole seed mustard

2 tablespoons rice milk or any other dairy or dairy free milk substitute

To assemble the salad, place arugula greens on dinner size plates then add the other ingredients on top. Spoon a few tablespoons of dressing over everything and serve.

baby arugula

sliced pork (or chicken if you prefer)

cherry halves

marcona almonds

Chavrie goat cheese dropped here and there on top of the salad

Enjoy!

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Pork With Cherry Preserves And Mustard

Written on June 20, 2011 by Andrea in Main Courses, Recipes

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This recipe for Pork With Cherry Preserves And Mustard is the first part of a two post recipe for Arugula Salad With Pork And Cherries.

The combination of cherry preserves and the mustard is amazing. The salad features fresh cherries to bring out the flavor even more.

I used pork boneless country style ribs for this recipe because they had the best marbling and promised to be the most tender of the pork I saw at the market that day. They are also the easiest to cut up for the salad!

First I browned the pork in my favorite ManPans pan (thanks again ManPans! I use this pan every day)

I used Trader Joe’s cherry preserves which actually have whole cherries in them and are not too sweet. Since the cherries were whole, I blended the sauce ingredients briefly to combine them before pouring them into the pan with the pork. I made sure that the sauce coated the pork on all sides and then I added a cup of my homemade chicken stock to the pan.

After removing the cooked pork to a plate I cooked the sauce down to thicken and intensify it because I was going to use it as a base for the salad dressing for the Arugula Salad With Pork And Cherries.

I know the concept is a little strange but it worked wonderfully, especially because I added just a little bit of balsamic vinegar to spice up the flavor of the dressing even more.

This Cherry Preserves And Mustard Sauce would be incredible if you just wanted to cook some pork chops for dinner by themselves. It is super easy to make and comes together fast.

I shared this recipe with Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar And Gluten Free, Tasty Tuesdays at 33 Shades Of Green

Pork With Cherry Preserves And Mustard

Combine sauce ingredients in food processor and process just until texture is even.

2 tablespoons dry white wine (I used reisling with a low alcohol content)

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons stoneground mustard (I use Westbrae because it’s not as vinegary)

4 tablespoons Trader Joes cherry preserves (or another brand of preserves that are not too sweet and taste like real cherries!)

1/4 teaspoon dry thyme

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

This will make about 1 cup of sauce

Brown pork in a saute pan on all sides. I used boneless pork country style ribs but you can use regular pork chops too)

1 tablespoon olive oil in the saute pan

2 pounds boneless pork country style ribs, sprinkled with salt and pepper

Add blended cherry sauce to the browned pork and make sure all sides are coated with the sauce.

Add 1 cup of chicken stock to the cherry mixture and stir to blend.

Cook pork until it is done then remove it to a plate and turn heat up on the cherry sauce. Cook the sauce down until it thickens and reduces to a little over a cup.

Cover the pork to keep it warm if you are going to serve it immediately with the sauce.

If you are going to use it for the salad then please see the post for Arugula Salad With Pork And Cherries.

Welcome to Andreas Kitchen! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to my blog to get updated whenever I post a recipe.

Chocolate Chiffon Cookies

Written on June 17, 2011 by Andrea in Cookies, Recipes

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These Chocolate Chiffon Cookies have the texture and flavor of a shortbread cookie because they contain a lot of butter. They are nice and deep chocolate flavored because this time when I made them I added a little bit of Droste cocoa powder to the chocolate chips that were already in the recipe. The…

Artichoke And Cauliflower Soup

Written on June 10, 2011 by Andrea in Main Courses, Recipes, Soups

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The recipe that was the inspiration for this soup was posted on a blog that I follow called The Sensitive Pantry which is written by a very nice lady named Nancy. Nancy’s version is called Easy Creamy Artichoke Soup and it uses a few small creamer potatoes to make it creamy. Nancy’s soup is…

Italian Sausage And Chicken Skewers

Written on June 9, 2011 by Andrea in Main Courses, Recipes

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These Italian Sausage and Chicken Skewers are so full of flavor from the marinade ingredients- you will love them! Marinating the meats for 24 hours before grilling will vastly improve the tenderness, moisture and flavor. The ingredients in this marinade are olive oil, sun dried tomatoes, garlic, onion, and fresh basil. You know from…