MIXED MUSHROOM BOLOGNESE

[RECIPE UPDATED]

I know a new year is on the horizon and I should be thinking of goals and be excited for fresh beginnings, but to be honest, the discomfort of having a full grown baby in my mid section has slowed me down. The only new beginning I am interested in is having some semblance of my body back. We'll go from there. That is not a complaint, I know my words can get misinterrpreted in this space, but I'm ready to hold her in my arms instead of my hips and lower back. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. We're ordering take out, playing blocks by the fire and keeping social plans light for now. I hope this season has included some rest for you between the crazy. I know giving ourselves a break is harder than it sounds.

The thing about writing recipes for work is that it pushes you to try things outside of your normal. Late-pregnancy-Sara is just trying to get through the day, so our meals are often routine. I like the nudge to change it up, even if I have to be forced by deadlines and a paycheck. We've been working with the Electrolux blog this past year along with Ashley and will be again in 2016. The following recipe is one we recently shared there. I make a basic turkey bolognese with tons of minced vegetables in it for an easy meal delivery to a friend or for Hugh and Curran to have something ready in the fridge. I used the same starter ingredients but replaced the protein with a mix of mushrooms to keep it vegetarian. Vegetables don't give the same depth of flavor or fat that meat does, but I find mushrooms are the closest stand in and they contribute great flavor. It's been extra chilly, so perhaps a warm pasta dinner and a big green salad should be on your menu soon too. 

Happy New Year, loves!

NOODLES WITH MIXED MUSHROOM BOLOGNESE // Serves 4

UPDATED Dec. ‘21 due to the Electrolux recipes being take down

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 small yellow onion, minced
2 ribs celery, minced
1 medium carrot, peeled and minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. salted butter
16 oz. mixed mushrooms (anything but shitake!), cleaned, stemmed and minced small
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1/3 cup whole or oat milk
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup prepared marinara sauce (Rao’s or Victoria are our faves)
1 tsp. Italian herbs
1 tsp. fennel seeds, chopped
red pepper flakes, optional
3 Tbsp. creme fraiche, optional

3/4 lb. long pasta

grate parmesan cheese, for serving
fresh Italian parsley, for serving

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Once hot, add the chopped onion, celery, carrot and garlic and cook for 5 minutes until tender
Add the butter, mushrooms and a few pinches of sea salt. Stir and cook the mushrooms down, stirring occasionally, until most of their water is cooked out. About 6-8 minutes.

Add the tomato paste, milk and wine. Stir and cook again for another 15 minutes to reduce, stirring occasionally.

Add the marinara sauce, herbs, fennel and red pepper flakes, and taste for salt and pepper. Turn the heat to low and simmer for another 10 minutes. The texture should be saucy but not soupy, continue to cook if you’d like it thicker. Stir in the crème fraiche, if using.

Cook your pasta according to instructions. Drain out most of the water, leaving just enough to keep the pasta from drying out. Stir in a pat of butter, vegan or not.

Serve each bowl with a portion of pasta, sauce, parmesan and fresh herbs.

COFFEE + CARDAMOM SHORTBREAD

Have you had your share of treats? Sorry. I just got my kitchen in (rough) working order and it's the last week to go big. I generally am one for an underdone oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. Maybe a brownie type cookie if it tastes like real chocolate and not just cocoa powder. I also love these Peanut Butter Cookies from Heidi that my sister in law used to make all the time. But a pal who knows her way around baking recipes sent me these delicious goat butter shortbread cookies months ago when Curran was a wee thing and it felt like a dream to get homemade cookies in the mail. Until then, I didn't realize that I really liked shortbread. It always seemed like such a plain choice amongst cookies. Sure, butter makes things tastes good, but I don't need a butter cookie. Give me your chocolate. I ate the whole package of those buttery little coins when I thought it'd be a cookie easy to refuse. Which brings me to this recipe that caught my eye when browsing for holiday cookies in The New Sugar and Spice cookbook. It is a shortbread recipe spiced with coffee grounds and cardamom and while I'm sure you could roll it out and use cookie cutters, Samantha suggests baking it in a fluted tart pan or springform pan so you can pop the disk out and cut it into wedges or geo shards as we did here. These are not as dry and snappy as a traditional shortbread. I replaced a mere 1/4 cup of the flour with nut meal because I love the warmth it gives to baked goods and I'm sure that contributed to the change but for shortbread, they are pretty tender. Not a bad thing, just not necessarily par for the shortbread course. They taste of butter, of course, but the heavy hand of spices and vanilla make them so much more of a cookie. It stands out on a platter for sure and there is still time to leave some for your neighbor, mailman or the UPS guy that is still delivering packages at 8pm. Perhaps you're sick of baked goods but the way I see it, we have another week before all the cleansing and salads so what's one more?

A very warm and bright holiday to each of you. You make our year that much richer, thank you for reading along. 

COFFEE + CARDAMOM SHORTBREAD // Makes 12ish large triangles
Recipe adapted from The New Sugar and Spice Cookbook by Samantha Seneviratne
 

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, nearly room temp
2 teaspoons ground coffee (a light or medium roast)
1 tsp. cardamom seeds (or 1 1/2 teaspoons cardamom)
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. almond or hazelnut meal
1/3 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup packed muscavado sugar (or dark brown sugar)
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325'. Butter  9" fluted tart pan or spring form pan.

Grind your spices until very finely ground. In a large bowl, whisk together the spice mixture, flour, nut meal, powdered sugar, muscavado or brown sugar and salt to mix. Into a stand mixer or with an electric mixer, beat in the butter and vanilla to combine. 

TIp the dough into the prepared pan using wet fingers. Press it into an even layer on the bottom, all the way to the edges. Freeze it until firm, about 15 minutes. 

Bake the shortbread on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any leaking butter. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the top is golden brown. Immediately, and while the dough is still warm, use a sharp paring knife to score the shortbread into wedges or slices as you wish. Set on a rack to cool completely. When it's cool, remove the cookie and gently break it apart along it's edges. 

Store the shortbread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for a month.

KALE AND BRUSSELS SLAW WITH QUINOA

I read through the entire Dr. Sears baby book cover to cover while pregnant with Curran. I wanted to understand what was going on inside my body. I mean, I was growing a PERSON, and as a glutton for information, I wanted to know what to expect, at least a little, in an albeit unpredictable, amazing and strange situation. I also had a little more time then. The second time around, I have had a hard time even keeping track of what week I am in, let alone the size of this little critter but the emotional and hormonal changes that I breezed over and barely noticed with Curran have been on point this round. They say in the last trimester especially, the need to nest really kicks in. Like other mammals, mothers seek a calm environment, gather food, clean and prep for what’s coming. But we found a slab leak last week, and Hugh and his dad are fixing up an office in the garage and we’re working on stuff in the kitchen so that whole calm and clean thing has reached a point of resistance in our home. These are things that need to be taken care of, perhaps better a couple months ago would have been preferable, but such is life and here we are with a lot of dust and tools around. I am quick to breakdown in the mess as of late, but what I am grateful for, is that babies are resilient, and besides being greedy with your time and boobs, their needs are few. I have a safe place to call home and 1.75 healthy babies so a step back and some perspective is all one really needs to reign it in. 

We’re heading up to Santa Barbara with some of my side of the family this week to celebrate Thanksgiving. It is the first without my aunt and it felt right to do something completely different instead of feel the obvious void of her at home. It sounds both great to get away from the house and the messes but also a little bit stressful as going away with a small child and half your energy can be. There will undoubtedly be tears at some point which Hugh has now come to expect. We plan to cook a simple dinner on Thursday to celebrate. I typically do the vegetables and have a few ideas. I want things to look pretty and love those multicolored carrots to be roasted and topped with some crunchy bits, french green beans with a mustardy vinaigrette and then maybe this slaw I developed for Reynolds Kitchens and their Endless Table campaign. No meal needs a fresh green salad as desperately as a classic Thanksgiving dinner. The kale and brussels hold up well so can be prepared and even lightly dressed in advance, the quinoa makes it filling and I can’t get enough of those juicy and tart pom seeds ever. Anyway. I hope it’s as peaceful and enjoyable of a day it can be for you and yours - remembering that there is always something to be thankful for. Happy day to you. 

KALE AND BRUSSELS SLAW WITH QUINOA // Serves 6-8

This salad is great for the slow, lingering meal that is Thanksgiving because it can sit and stay crunchy for some time unlike other tender greens. It is even still good the next day! The full recipe for this salad and a handful of other recipes by some great bloggers, can be found on Reynolds Kitchens site. 

---

---