Braised Shallots and Crimini Mushrooms

While we're out here in San Diego during the winter, we have the added pleasures of visiting many farmers markets. I think there are around 15 weekly markets in the San Diego area. So far, we've been to four: Mission Valley, Point Loma, Ocean Beach and of course, my favorite, the Little Italy Mercato.

Each had vendors offering beautiful local produce (some certified organic, some spray free, etc.), flowers, prepared breads, entrees and treats (oh, the desserts are drool-worthy), as well as products of local artisans. For me, all markets are a feast for my eyes. I instantly start imaging what I could do with this and that--then I remember I am in my temporary winter home, with little more than a frying pan, small glass casserole dish and soup pot to work with. Ugh. All this produce and so few ways I can prepare it in this limited kitchen.

During my most recent market trip, to Ocean Beach (on Wednesdays, 4-7 p.m.), I spotted these big beautiful shallots and recalled a recipe I read about carmalized whole shallots, something I had never considered before that sounded quite delicious. I also saw some nice crimini mushrooms and thought the two would make a nice side dish to the stuffed chicken I had planned for the following night. Since I rarely follow a recipe word for word, I did my own spin on it, as follows:

Braised Shallots and Crimini Mushrooms

12 whole shallots, peeled with roots left intact
12 whole crimini mushrooms, wiped clean with dry cloth (do not wash mushrooms)
5 tablespoons of butter (I used salted)
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 cups of white wine (I used pinot grigio)
1 teaspoon of dried thyme leaves (or a fresh sprig or two would be nice)
Salt and Pepper


Preheat oven to 400 degrees

In medium sauce pan over medium low heat, melt butter. Once melted, add thyme, sugar and whole shallots. Stir gently to coat and let cook about 8-10 minutes, stirring just occassionally. Transfer to casserole dish, top with mushrooms, wine, salt and pepper. Pop into oven, uncovered, and cook for about 30-40 minutes. You can cook it for longer, but the shallots will break down much more.

Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon to leave most of the (fattening) juices behind, then just drizzle a bit of this flavorful goodness over whatever else you are serving, such as stuffed chicken breast and roasted red potatoes, as I did. I also reserved the leftover sauce in a container in the fridge to possible use later in the week as a sauce compliment, or to drizzle over bread when making crostini.

Leftover shallots and mushrooms would be terrific over mashed potatoes (made with that leftover buttery wine & thyme sauce) or make great pizza toppings!

The recipe that inspired this used a bit of red wine vinegar instead of so much white wine, for a tangier taste and more caramelization versus braising. That might be worth a try another time.

Sidenote: Peeling shallots is a pain in the ass, I know. If you peel off more than just the skin layer, I suggest saving the remnants (skin and all) in a bowl in the fridge to use when making your next pot of stock. I try to save all my vegetable ends and skins for this purpose. I think it adds a tremendous amount of flavor, and I'm sure a variety of good nutrients seep into the stock during a slow simmer. If anything looks too rotten in your stock bowl when it comes time to add to the pot, just discard. At least you tried to use it all up. In my case, I try to make a stock (usually with chicken bones) about once a week to use for on-the-fly soups and anything else that needs a boost of flavor.

Grilled Veggie Tacos with Black Bean Salsa

Grilled Veggie Tacos with Black Bean & Corn Salsa

A recent meal at Islands restaurant on Claremont Mesa in San Diego inspired this new recipe. I think it will work great with whatever vegetables are seasonal at the time you decide to make it.

I used zucchini, summer squash, red bell pepper and yellow bell peppers as the base in this batch. All vegetables were cut into fairly chunky pieces for grilling and rubbed with olive oil and a little taco seasoning.Veggies were lightly grilled, maintaining firm texture, but gaining nice hot grill marks. Once done grilling, slice out nice taco-sized strips from each piece.

The salsa is pretty easy to make. Just mix:

1 can of black beans (canned, well rinsed and drained)
1 cup of frozen corn (thawed) or a couple fresh, grilled ears of corn
juice of one lime
2 ripe tomatoes (finely chopped)
half a red onion (finely chopped)
1 large fistful of fresh cilantro (finely chopped, with most stems removed)
1 fire roasted Serrano chili pepper (finely chopped, stems and ribs removed), or substitute a jalapeno pepper
Salt & pepper to taste...it will need a fair amount of salt, but go a little at a time and test. 

World's Healthiest Foods

Lately I've been very interested to know what nutrients I'm getting from the foods I eat. Actually, I can thank Dr. Oz for this and my desire for a healthier lifestyle overall. But anyway, my Web searches eventually led me to this wonderful resource: the World's Healthiest Foods (http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php).

It lists what The George Mateljan Foundation believe to be the best 130 foods for good health, based on numerous scientific studies which are identified throughout its many informative pages. For easy searching on the list, food items are grouped according to type, such as vegetables, seafood and beans. Then, each item has a link to another page with a slew of information about health benefits, nutritional profile, history of its origin, how to select and store and much more. If you are interested in the potential power of food to prevent disease, this is the resource for you!

Check it out sometime to discover more about your favorite foods and others you don't know much about!

Veggie Pizza--Soggy again

A pizza craving was upon us (again) today, so we got takeout from Fillipi's Pizza Grotto on Kearny Villa Road in San Diego. We had heard good things from some of the locals, so our hopes were high.

Well, I'm sure the pizza would be great if it wasn't all soggy from the water content of the veggies that seeps out during bake time. This is an ongoing problem with a lot of pizza joints, in my experience. My suggestion is to roast the vegetables separately first, therefore extracting some of the natural liquids while adding some additional flavor. Who doesn't love a roasted pepper or onion?  And the simple extra step will greatly improve the texture of the whole pie.

City Deli--San Diego

I'm going to try to include more restaurant reviews in my blog, starting here.

Today, we visited the City Deli on University Ave in San Diego, after I researched local deli options. I had a hankering for a sandwich on rye with a good sour pickle. Sure enough, the restaurant kept a bucket of whole sour pickles on every table to help yourself. My 2 year old and I enjoyed one right away. We were sat in a cute half-circle booth and promptly had glasses of water and coloring materials for my son.

I ordered a patty melt on rye with Swiss cheese and a side of cole slaw. My husband got the grilled Reuben with slaw and fries. We both had giant unsweetened iced teas. We ordered mac and cheese for my son, with a side of sliced tomato. To kill time while waiting the 10 minutes for our food, we strolled by the pastry counter to consider dessert. There were many choices, from cakes and pies to creme brulee and cannolis. My husband later chose the lemon/coconut cake, which he said was a huge slab of sugary goodness, and my son got a frosted cookie. We all enjoyed what we had for lunch, and my deli craving was satisfied.

The City Diner is a nice little city joint, with friendly and attentive service. The food seemed a little over priced, but the quality was decent enough. I imagine making many items in house carries its extra cost so I didn't mind paying the extra bucks. I'm not sure I would rush back for more, but I'm glad I experienced the City Diner firsthand.

Pineapple Salsa

This is a great side dish with fish or chicken, and it's super simple to make. The ingredients are 1 diced sweet red pepper, 1 diced jalapeno pepper (seeds and ribbing removed), 1 small bunch of cilantro (chopped well) and 1 can of pineapple chunks, with each chunk sliced into about 4 pieces. Combine all ingredients, including pineapple juice, and refrigerate for at least 12 hours before serving to allow time for all flavors to combine. For a little more kick and color, add a small amount of red onion, finely chopped.

How to select an avocado

I'm often disgusted by the selection of avocados at the supermarket. They are usually over priced and over ripe, and people squeeze them constantly to determine ripeness, leaving them bruised and brown inside.

If you want to pick a perfectly ripe avocado, don't squeeze it. Look for the little stem stub on one end. If it's still in place, flick it off and look at the color of the hole underneath. If it's still a little green, the avocado is green on the inside and ripe. If the hole is brown and all dried out, so is the avocado.

San Diego-Little Italy Mercato

If you are ever in San Diego on a Saturday, don't miss the Mercato, a gathering of 90 street vendors selling a huge variety of items produced locally, including fruits & veggies, dates, goat cheese, chocolate, nuts, sea salt, fish, bread, dips, jellies, pottery, jewelry, teas, spices, flowers and much more. Most vendors offer samples of their goods, so it can be like a giant buffet. There are also prepared food vendors selling regional cuisines. My favorites are fish tacos with grilled mahi mahi, grilled sardines on a stick, freshly pressed panini sandwiches and wide selection of European sweets.

If you go to the mercato, try to bring small denominations of cash to ease sales transactions and having your own re-usable shopping bag is a big plus. Plan to spend at least an hour meandering among the booths.