We both love to cook, but tonight was Bob’s turn. We had a friend over for dinner, so we started our evening with some appetizers. We found a tin of roasted octopus in garlic oil, placed them with some club crackers and it was delicious!!
A few cornichons, jalapeño cheese curds, garlic olives and freshly baked stuffed mushrooms rounded out the appetizers.
Gigolo IS cooking dinner, but I, ahem, made the stuffed mushrooms and dessert 😉
This recipe was a new one I tried. I have a few stuffed mushroom recipes that I like, but this one was very good.
Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 12 white mushrooms, stems removed and reserved wipe with a paper towel or use a soft brush
- ½ cup baby spinach, finely chopped
- ½ cup onion, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes, finely chopped
- 2 Tbsp parsley, finely chopped
- ⅛ tsp salt more will be needed for sprinkling on the mushrooms
- freshly ground pepper
- 3 Tbsp grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- 3 Tbsp Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) * see below
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325º. Brush a baking sheet with 1 tsp of oil or use parchment paper
- Finely chop the mushroom stems anad set aside. place the mushroom caps upside down on the baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes. Flip the mushrooms over and back another 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tsp of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the mushroom stems, spinach, onion, and garlic. Sauté until the spinach wilts, about 6 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes more. Turn off the heat and stir in the parsely, salt, pepper and 2 Tablespoons each of cheese and panko.
- Preheat the broiler. Divide the spinach mixture evenly among the mushroom caps. Sprinkle each with the reminaing 1 T of cheese and panko. Broil until golden brown 2 – 3 minutes. Serve warm.* I used an air fryer at this point and they cooked nicely and had a nice crispy topping.
Notes
- This recipe can be gluten free with the use of gluten free bread crumbs. I’m not a big fan or gf panko. I find it far too crunchy.
Bob, what’s for dinner? (video)
Cod Piccata
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 lb cod fillets 4 small cod fillets
- salt and pepper
- ¼ cup flour gf flour also works/another option is gf bread crumbs
- 1 cup white wine use a dry white like Chardonnay
- ½ cup chicken stock
- 2 lemons, juice
- 3 Tbsp capers, drained
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 2 Tbsp parsley, freshly chopped
Instructions
- Use a paper towel to blot the fish dry and season with the salt and pepper. Dredge the fish in the flour and shake off any excess.
- Heat the olive oil and 2 T butter in a large sautè pan over medium high heat. Add the fish and cooked through about 4 minutes, flipping halfway through. Remove the fish to a platter.
- Deglaze the hot pan with the white wine, whisking for about a minute. And chicken stock, lemon juice and capers. Stir. Add the remaining 2 T butter and whisk to bring the sauce together. Pour the sauce over the fish and garnish the chopped parseley.
Notes
We served this over angel hair pasta. It’s also delicious over riced mashed potatoes and polenta.
Use gluten free pasta if needed.
Any delicate white fish works with this dish.
We served dinner with freshly steamed broccoli and white wine.
The day before, I made a refreshing dessert. I’ll be keeping this one in the freezer for those times when a dessert is needed at the last minute.
Basil – Lemon Ice
Ingredients
- 5 lemons, juiced
- 2 zest of lemons – in wide strips
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¾ cup water
- ½ cup basil
- 2 cups cold water
Instructions
- Bring the juice of the 5 lemons and 3/4 cup of sugar and 3/4 cup water to a boil.
- Add 1/2 cup basil leaves and the zest of 2 lemons. Steep off the heat for 45 minutes. Strain
- Add 2 cups cold water.
- Pour into a baking dish and freeze for 1 hour
- Remove from the freezer and scrap the ice with a fork; refreeze for a total of 4 more hours; scraping every hour.
Notes
This is nice served in Champagne glasses, dessert cups or even hollowed out lemon halves that have been frozen.
Garnish with basil or mint leaves.
Another nice addition is adding a tablespoon of Vodka to each serving.
Of course, limes can also be substituted for the lemons.
Bon appétit ~ Kat
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