krazycooking (original) (raw)

These Are A Few Personal Creations:

Fine (thin) Linguini in an Herbs de Provencal (Provençal Herbs - Traditional French seasoning generally consisting of Savory, Thyme, Rosemary, Basil, Tarragon & Lavender Flowers) garlic mushmoom sauce, topped with blood orange balsamic portobella mushrooms.

On the side, sliced heirloom tomatoes on sliced toasted French Baguette, with a drop of extra viring olive oil, blood orange balsamic glaze, regular balsamic, Gabietou Cheese, sprinkled with fresh ground black peppercorn. (I have way too much free time)

Herbs:
You can blend and mix the Provençal herbs yourself(Savory, Thyme, Rosemary, Basil, Tarragon & Lavender Flowers), or you can buy a pre-mixed shaker. I personally like to grow and dry as many herbs as I can. Both are really easy if you like herb gardening!

Place the herbs in a Mortar & Pestal and crush. Set aside until you are ready to use them

Linguini:
When I use regular (white) pasta, I ten to go with De Cecco or Dellalo (fresh made when I can) and I like it firm (al dente).

I like the thin linguini because it cooks fast and goes really well with the Northern Italian/French dishes/sauces that are not tomatoe based.

When I boil the water, I used fresh ground sea salt, and depending on the sauce, I may or may not add light olive oil. Generally, I only add it to the water when I make tomatoe sauce because I do not saute the garlic before putting it in, so it is generally fat free. When I do saute stuff (like in this case) I leave the oil out of the water.

Mushrooms (for topping, not the sauce):
I buy the pre-sliced organic large portobella caps, but you can buy the whole ones. When slicing, cut long slices.

Washing mushrooms is tricky. You have to, but you should only wet them a little when rinsing so they do not become rubbery. Pat them dry immediately and let them sit on a paper towel until they are ready to go into the pan.

Garlic Mushroom Sauce:
Saute thinly sliced garlic in extra light olive oil (make sure it is extra light specifically for frying & sauteing. regular olive oil is rich in nutrients that are lost if heated, also regular oil has a lower scorch temperature and it gets gross when scorched).

Add Herbs de Provencal (Provençal Herbs)and mix in. When garlic is starting to brown at the edges, add in 4 ounces of the IMAGINE brand Creamy Mushroom soup:
http://www.imaginefoods.com/products/product/1603.php
(you can make this from scratch, but it is really easy to use this and it tastes just as good), 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt and crushed red pepper. Cover and lower heat to low.

While sauce and linguini is cooking:

Blood Orange Balsamic Portobella:
In a larger frying pan, the light olive oil should have been slowly heating on LOW. Place the sliced Portobellas in the pan and raise the heat slightly.

Cover Pan and wait a few minutes until mushrooms are warm but not sizzling.

Stir mushroom sauce and noodles while waiting. Linguini should be ready now.

Strain linguini and add to the mushroom sauce. Mix well, turn off heat and cover.

The portobellas should be ready to add the Blood Orange Balsamic Glaze now (This glaze is pre-mixed. It can be made from scratch, but again, it is much easier to get pre-made. It tastes just as good and is easier.)

Roland Brand Blood Orange Balsamic Glaze:http://www.rolandfood.com/#hLlXXgrOW

Add the glaze to taste and mix in with the portobellas. Lower heat back to low and cover again.

Take the linguini and mushroom sauce and add to plates. When you are done, top with the Blood Orange Balsamic portobella.

Add pepper and salt to taste and enjoy!

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Heirloom Tomatoe Crostini:
French Baguette sliced and toasted, with a drizzle of First Cold Press Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Slice the Heirloom Tomatoes and place them on top of the toasted baguette. Place a thin slice of Gabietou cheese on top of that, drizzle the Blood Orange Balsamic glaze on top and sprinkle with black pepper.

The place should have a light coate of the REGULAR balsamic vinegar and the toasted bread should be placed right on top of it to soak it into the bottom of the bread. (shown a little differently in the picture)

A dry bold red wine will go best with this. Pinot Noir or Chianti will work just fine.