Stuffed Squash Blossoms

My friend Katy is visiting for the week, and I took her to the Sunday farmer's market where we found squash blossoms! We picked some up to experiment with and made it to go along with last night's dinner. We stuffed the blossoms with either goat cheese or an herbed havarti and for a few of them I added a little bit of prosciutto. Then we dipped them in an egg wash and rolled them in corn meal and fried them each blossom in a inch or so of olive oil for about 15-30 seconds, each blossom. They turned out delicious! The corn meal gave it a nice crispy crust but then it was soft inside, and the goat cheese ones were especially, deliciously gooey. The blossoms were a little more than I would spend on a regular basis, but definitely an interesting curveball to throw at a (small) dinner party.

Carrie: ICBC Puff Pastry and ICBC Goat Cheese

When puff pastry came up as the secret ingredient, I found a recipe for a caramelized onion tart on Annie's Eats that looked delicious. In case I've never mentioned it, I absolutely love caramelized onions. Then I never got around to actually using puff pastry, and goat cheese came up. And I realized I could combine two secret ingredients into one recipe. I kind of winged this one, and I'm not sure that was the best idea. The flavors were good, but the texture in the middle of my pastry was all wrong. The edges puffed beautifully, but it was too squishy in the middle. I followed Annie's instructions to bake the tart for 25 minutes...and I just realized that I had two sheets overlapping just a little on one cookie sheet and that's probably why it needed longer. Ohhhh. Haha. But anyway, caramelized onions and goat cheese tart is definitely a winning combination. The onions are nice and sweet and the cheese is just a little salty. Loved it.

How to Caramelize Onions
Slice some yellow onions. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to a skillet. Turn the stove to medium heat to let the oil heat up a little, then add the sliced onions. Let them cook over medium heat without stirring them around too much. They'll turn tender and brown a little. They should be really tender and all a beautiful golden brown color. And they'll taste delicious.

Carrie: Iron Chef Blogger Challenge Mushrooms

So for this week's Iron Chef Blogger Challenge, Sara A. chose mushrooms. I love mushrooms. I think they're delicious and add a nice touch to a lot of dishes. More often than not, I only cook with brown mushrooms, so I decided I'd try something else. I always love the sound of a big portobello cap, but I never cook with it. Changing that up this week! I found this great recipe for Stuffed Portobellos with Balsamic Reduction on Love and Olive Oil, one of my favorite cooking blogs. I adjusted the recipe slightly to accommodate what I have on my hand, and I'd say my stuffed mushroom was a delightful success.

Stuffed Portobello with Balsamic Reduction (adapted from Love and Olive Oil)
4 portobello caps
package of frozen spinach (I didn't note the size of the package, but a smaller one should do)
1/4 cup chopped artichokes quarters in water
1 cup of diced yellow onion
1/4 cup julienned sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 ounces of goat cheese
mozzarella
Italian seasoned bread crumbs
salt and pepper
olive oil

Balsamic Reduction
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

Preheat over to 400 degrees.
Prepare the spinach according to package directions, then set aside to cool. Saute the onions in olive oil over medium heat until they begin to brown slightly. Add minced garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds to a minute. Set aside. Drain the spinach and squeeze out the excess water. Combine the spinach, onions and garlic, goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, mozzarella, bread crumbs, salt and pepper in bowl and mix together well. I just eyed the mozzarella and the bread crumbs.
Place the caps on a baking sheet. (When preparing mushrooms, just take a damp towel and wipe off the tops.) Stuff the caps with the filling, then sprinkle more mozzarella on top. Bake in oven for approximately 15 minutes or until cheese begins to brown.
While the mushrooms are baking, prepare your balsamic reduction. Combine the balsamic and brown sugar in small saucepan over medium high heat and whisk until sugar dissolves. (At this point, Love and Olive Oil calls for a sprig of thyme but I didn't have any, was going to use dried, but forgot so there we are.) Reduce heat and allow the balsamic to simmer for 10-15 minutes or until it reduces by half. The sauce should be thick and syrupy. Drizzle over the finished stuffed portobellos and serve immediately. I'm not sure if mine was reduced quite enough, but it was still delicious.