Tag Archives: vegan

Roasted Portobello Mushroom Caps with Apple Pecan Stuffing and Caramelized Onion Mushroom Gravy

2 Dec

Recently it occurred to me that when I entered (and subsequently lost) that cooking contest, lo those many weeks ago, I created a recipe that I came to love so much, I just don’t think it would be right to let the recipe languish on the contest’s website.  I don’t think it is against the contest’s rules to take my recipe back, so, if nobody objects, I believe I will.

My hunch is that, if you never mention its absence, nobody will even think to bemoan the lack of meat in this meal.  It really is that fulfilling, and in a way that I think all vegetarian and vegan food should be.  I am not making any substitutions for meat here, I am simply celebrating and building upon what these fresh, natural ingredients have to offer.  No meat required.

The best kind of vegetarian and vegan food, I think, is the type that doesn’t need to be specified as being either.  When you eat something delicious, it should just be delicious, plain and simple, no matter if you eat beef steaks or tofu cakes (or both).  When I was developing this recipe for stuffed portobello mushroom caps, one of my main goals was to make this a dish that could be set upon a big holiday table and entice every single person at that table, omnivore, herbivore, or what have you.  Portobello mushrooms, with their undeniably meaty texture, provide a satisfying meatiness for those who call for such with their meals.  Topped with sautéed cubes of artisan bread, savory apple bits, and crisp, flavorful pecans, you can easily make a main dish out of this.  Add in a rich, thick gravy of caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, and heavenly mushroom stock, and the celebratory meal is made complete.

Roasted Portobello Mushroom Caps with Apple Pecan Stuffing

2 large Portobello mushrooms, scrubbed clean

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 ½ cups crusty bread cubes, about ½ inch in diameter

¼ cup finely diced onion

¾ cup chopped, peeled apple pieces, about ¼ inch in diameter

1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage

1 teaspoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

¼ cup mushroom broth (if you can’t find any, vegetable stock will do nicely)

¼ cup roughly chopped pecans

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Lightly oil a medium-sized baking dish and set aside.

Remove stems from scrubbed Portobello mushrooms and reserve stems to use later.  Using a spoon, gently scrape out the gills from the underside of each mushroom cap.  Lightly brush both the top and bottom of each cap with olive oil and set aside.

In a medium skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat.  When oil is hot, add bread cubes and sauté until crisp and browned, about 4-5 minutes.  Remove bread cubes from pan and set aside.

In the same skillet, heat remaining 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-low heat.  When oil is hot, add onions.  Cook onions, stirring occasionally, until softened and just beginning to brown at edges, about 3 minutes.  Add chopped apples, stirring and sautéing until lightly browned and just beginning to soften, 4-5 minutes.

Add bread cubes back into skillet and stir to combine.  Reduce heat to low and add sage, parsley, and mushroom broth, stirring to combine.  When broth has been absorbed, about 1-2 minutes, remove skillet from heat and stir in pecans.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Fill each mushroom cap with stuffing, dividing as evenly as possible.  The stuffing will mound up quite a bit.  Place stuffed mushrooms in prepared baking dish, and roast in oven for 25-30 minutes, until mushrooms have darkened a bit and the stuffing has become quite crisp on top.

Serve with caramelized onion mushroom gravy.  Serves 2 as a main dish, 4 as a side dish.

Caramelized Onion Mushroom Gravy

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ small yellow onion, sliced into thin ribs

reserved stems from 2 portobello mushrooms, chopped medium-fine

½ teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour

2 cups mushroom broth (if you can’t find any, vegetable stock will do nicely)

½ teaspoon chopped fresh sage

½ teaspoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over low heat.  Add onions, and slowly caramelize over low heat, 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently.  When onions are soft, brown, and caramelized, add chopped mushrooms.  Cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms have softened and darkened, 2-3 minutes.  Add balsamic vinegar, and stir to incorporate until vinegar has been absorbed, about 1 minute.

Move onions and mushrooms to the edges of the skillet, leaving an open space in the middle.  Turn heat up to medium.  Sprinkle flour in the open space in the middle of the skillet, and cook flour, stirring frequently, until browned, 3-4 minutes.  Slowly whisk in mushroom broth, incorporating the broth and flour into the onions and mushrooms and whisking to eliminate any lumps of flour that might initially form.  Simmer over medium heat, whisking frequently, until gravy thickens, about 5 minutes.  Add sage and parsley and whisk to incorporate.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Makes a tad more than 1 1/2 cups of gravy.

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Pear Cake

14 Oct

As much as I will miss the fruits of summer, the juicy berries, melons, and stone fruits that are so willing to be made into pies, galettes, and anything else the heart desires, it cannot be denied that fall fruits definitely offer their own merits.  Apples straight from a garden tree are as crisp and fresh as they come, and when baked in a quiche or pie (or cake or turnover or Danish or strudel or…where was I going with this?), there is no better way to usher the newness of autumn into your home.

Unless, that is, you make this pear cake.  As much as I adore apples, I love pears even more.  Whereas the crispness of an autumn apple seems so bright and friendly, a ripe pear, with its delicate softness and perfume-like juice, is understated, almost modest.  I’ve been wanting to make a pear cake for ages, not just in the interest of, well, eating cake, but also because there seem to be dozens of recipes around that involve baking with apples, but not enough that encourage people to bake with pears.

Because ripe pears are so much softer than apples, I knew that no matter what I chose to do with the pears before folding them into a cake, they would most likely melt away when baked.  Using this to my advantage, I took the added juiciness of the pears as a hint to explore another lesser-seen tactic in the world of cakes: I decided to make this cake vegan.

I am not a vegan (this should be obvious to anyone who has spent any time at all on this site), but I have spent a great deal of time in the company of vegan housemates, co-workers, and now, fellow kindergarten families.  It has always seemed like a crying shame that there are so few recipes for vegan baked goods that don’t involve simple pantry ingredients.  Whereas a vegan is wary of dairy and eggs, I am equally as wary of “natural” margarine and fake sour cream, so I figured I’d reach across the aisle here and create a vegan recipe that called for simple, basic ingredients.

It was not so surprising to discover that it was not at all difficult, and I think you’ll soon see that the result is not lacking in any way.  To be completely honest, the fact that this cake is vegan is the least of its accomplishments.  The cake flour gives the cake an incredibly delicate crumb, and the brown sugar bakes into a deep toffee flavor that hits all the right notes when combined with the shredded pears.  This is a tender, moist cake that is perfect for showcasing the joys of autumn fruit, and regardless of whether you prefer Rice Dream to ice cream, it’s a solid addition to any recipe collection.

Pear Cake

I auditioned two versions of this recipe, and the results were exactly the same.  I am not sure why I am even mentioning that I tried out two different versions of this cake, except perhaps to stress the point that I really did want to make this cake as simple and delicious as possible, and, even when fiddling around with the ingredients and baking times, I found it impossible to make this cake taste bad.  If you don’t have cake flour on hand and don’t feel like going out and buying some, I recommend you use unbleached all-purpose flour that has been sifted two times, rather than once, before being measured.

1 ¾ cups sifted cake flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

½ cup vegetable oil

1 cup lightly packed light brown sugar

1 cup lightly packed shredded pear, juice included (I got this much shredded pear from 2 medium-sized pears)

2 teaspoons cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease and flour a 9 or 10-inch bundt pan.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  In a large bowl, mix together oil and brown sugar until smooth.  Fold in shredded pears.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix until just combined.  Add the vinegar, and mix quickly to incorporate.  The batter will foam a bit when the vinegar reacts with the baking soda.

Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan.  Bake in the center of the oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top of the cake appears no longer liquid, and is spongy-firm to the touch.  Do not insert a cake to test for doneness until at least 30 minutes of cooking time have elapsed.  The cake is rather delicate, and poking it prematurely will cause it to deflate.  When you do insert a cake tester for doneness (after 30 minutes), the cake tester should emerge with just a few moist crumbs attached.

Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely.  The cake will be extremely delicate when still warm, so handle with care.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

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