Mushrooms | The Purple Foodie

I made these crazy delicious mushrooms last week.

Has a familiar ring to it? Even for my previous post (the marinated eggplants), it took me a whole week to get to posting the recipe.

Why, you ask? Of late I’m enjoying a little more of cooking over baking. Of late, I’m not taking too many photos of what I’m making, especially those of ingredients and in-between stages. Of late, it’s been more about cooking or baking on a whim rather than for blogging and I’m kinda enjoying it. But, one thing isn’t so much fun is posting something a week later. I don’t know why but it just isn’t as exciting as posting it on the same day or the next. Just so that I kick back into the blogging mood, I’m going to make sure December is a good month on The Purple Foodie. I’ve been thinking of some seriously decadent recipes to make you fat and happy this holiday season.

But you shouldn’t let my blogging lull come between you and these crazy delicious (very worth the repetition) mushrooms. So, when I had a pound of mushrooms waiting to be consumed, I leafed through the pages of some of my favourite books and voilà! I found inspiration in Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics.

When I saw sage, garlic and butter in the photo of the roasted butternut squash, I was convinced about trying this out with mushrooms. This recipe is very simple to make and I think the addition of bacon to this is just genius. And any recipe that uses a whole head of garlic is good in my books.

Mushrooms with Bacon and Sage

Serves: 2 hungry eaters or 4 otherwise.
Inspired from: Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics

1 lb / 450g button mushrooms

1 head of garlic, separated and the ends chopped off, but not peeled

2 oz. / 60g bacon, chopped

12-16 sage leaves

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 400F/200C.
Clean the mushrooms with a tissue paper or a damp cloth and chop them into quarters.
Place the mushrooms on a baking sheet and scatter garlic, sage leaves and bacon bits all over the sheet. Then drizzle with olive oil and dot with the 1 tbsp butter. Sprinkle the salt/pepper.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the mushrooms have browned. Also, the bacon fragrance has enveloped the house. (*big grin*)
Serve in a plate. Dig in!

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I’m not so much of a breakfast person. But once in a while, especially on a weekend I like to go slow and prepare myself something more elaborate and hearty. Over the past weekend as I browsed through the River Café Cookbook (which I got at 80% discount at a local sale!

), I came across this gorgeous Mint and Asparagus Frittata recipe. I added in some button mushrooms for good measure and the Frittata was ready in a snap.

It’d be good sandwiched in a crusty bread but I enjoyed eating it all by itself as well.

Asparagus, Mint and Mushroom Frittata
Yield: 3 servings
Adapted from: The Rive Café Cook Book

4 eggs
25g / 1oz. Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp mint, chopped
100g/ 4oz. asparagus
50g / 2 oz. button mushrooms, cut into chunks
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Chop off the woody ends of the asparagus and blanch in very hot water for a couple of minutes and then refresh. Sprinkle some salt and freshly ground pepper. Set aside.
Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl.
Add salt, Parmesan and mint.
In an oven proof pan, heat the oil till it’s very hot. Pour in the egg mixture and keep tilting till the egg in the pan is evenly distributed.
While it’s still runny, throw in the mushrooms and arrange the asparagus atop the egg mixture. Let it cook for a minute or two.
Now, slip the hot pan into a preheated oven at 200°C/400°F until the top is well set and slightly golden.
Transfer to a plate. Chop into wedges and serve with your favorite crusty bread!

What I really loved about the Frittata was how flavourful it was. Even when I took some leftover for lunch to work, I was hit by the aroma of the asparagus as opposed to an eggy smell that is quite expected. I absolutely loved this – now that I realise how awfully simple this is to make, I’m going to try different combinations each time around.

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