Friday Night Dinner Blog

The Menu:

Mushroom caps stuffed with root vegetable puree *

Warm kale salad with grilled pears

And for Dessert: those legendary brownies from The Kitchen Table up the road.

The Story

When I was a little girl, every Passover, we would set a place for Elijah the prophet.  We would fill his goblet with wine, sing to him, and leave the door open so he would know he was welcome.  Us kids would then spend the rest of the meal watching fervently to see whether a sip would be missing by the end of the night. Of course every time anything creaked in the house, or the table moved, all of us would jump in anticipation: maybe this would be the night the invisible, legendary prophet would appear?

No one knew very much about Elijah, it seemed, like who he was or why he was supposed to show up. All we were told at the table was that it was a good thing if he came. 

Cooking for friends is one thing, cooking for strangers is something completely different. Cooking for strangers is kind of like cooking for Elijah: you hope they’ll like what they see.  From my point of view, it’s much easier to find inspiration in those I know than someone I have only heard about. 

I start out my Friday Night Dinner menu planning by asking whether there is anything people don’t eat.  But when you don’t know your audience, it matters little that they can’t eat this or that – what’s important is what they will eat, and, mostly, what they’ll enjoy.

The best way to deal with that kind of stage fright, however, is to focus on what I want. Because then, even if the people I don’t know yet end up not liking what they get, at least I’ll enjoy the leftovers.

In this case, it wasn’t that the food didn’t suit, but rather our guests got called away on an emergency.  

So we ended up with a great Friday Night Dinner a deux, and ample left over for brunch the next day. DW did a genius deconstruction of the stuffed mushrooms: after briefly reheating them in the oven, he spread the puree on a piece of almost-but-not-quite-burnt toast and plopped the mushrooms on top. He then proceeded to carefully drape a slivered hard-boiled egg as the piece-de-resistance on the colourful tower.  For my part, I kept it a little more modest, simply adding a handful of wakame (one of my favourite sea vegetables) to the salad.  Whether Elijah would have appreciated our feast is anyone’s guess though at this point, I’d like to know a little more about him to be honest. Besides, I’m grateful there was more for me. 

The Recipe:     

Mushroom caps stuffed with root vegetable puree *

Mushrooms have recently made a comeback into my repertoire.  After years of shunning them, I started craving them around my third month of pregnancy.  Though I have yet to experience the same adverse reactions they once triggered, we are still sizing each other up, getting to know one another again, and I am careful not to overdo it.

When buying mushrooms, keep in mind that these little guys absorb a lot of what is in the atmosphere so you can be guaranteed that if they were grown by a busy road, there’s a lot of gunk in those caterpillar seats.  

(serves 4, two mushroom caps per person)

For the veggies:

- 2 large sweet potatoes

- 2 leeks

- 3 cloves garlic, in peel

- pinch thyme

- ½ - 1 t balsamic vinegar

- Salt and Pepper to taste

- 1-2 T water (optional)

Cube the sweet potatoes and the celeriac.  If using leeks, slice and chop roughly. Roast the sweet potatoes, leeks and garlic with a little olive oil, salt and pepper for about 50 minutes at 180 degrees Centigrade (356 Fahrenheit) but do make sure to check about halfway through, and give the pan a good shake so the veggies don’t stick to the bottom of the pan or burn -- you can even flip them with a spatula if you feel so inclined.

Once they are soft and roasted, process in the food processor with the garlic (remove from skin – this should be easy as they should be soft, almost like a puree themselves), balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.  If necessary, add one to two tablespoons of water to make the mixture creamier.

For the mushrooms:

- 8 portobello or porcini mushroom.

- 1 T each tamari, mirin, ume plum vinegar

- 1 t dried basil

Wash the mushrooms carefully but thoroughly.  Remove the stems.  Lay them flat so the dark, ridged inside is pointing upwards. 

Mix equal parts tamari, mirin and ume with the dried basil.  Spoon ½ t into each mushroom cap, making sure to distribute the liquid throughout.

Allow to marinate for at least an hour. 

To Stuff: 

Preheat the oven to 120 degrees centigrade (248 Fahrenheit)

After the mushrooms have marinated for at least an hour, spoon some of the puree into the centre of each one.

Warm in the oven and serve immediately.