And Now for Something Completely Delicious

Aaaaaaand . . . I’m back.  I had to put some other priorities before blogging for quite awhile.  Hopefully any readers will forgive me.  At least, they should once they’ve eaten some delicious, mushroomy goodness that I made up for New Years munchies.  I’ve also got a pic of the delicious vegan baklava that I managed to make (with a little help… right J?), but no recipe, as I don’t really deem this a creation of my own, just a slight variation on the recipe found in the Essential Mediterranean Cookbook.  It’s pretty simple to sub out the honey for any other liquid sweetener of your choice, and the butter for Earth Balance.

(note- I was doing some research, and apparently you should check if your phyllo contains a substance called L-cysteine, which can be derived from duck feathers, or human hair.  Or it can be made chemically, but you have to do some research to find out.  There’s also plenty of phyllo out there without L-cysteine.)

So…baklava (just to taunt you)!

And a recipe for these guys.

Spicy Mushroom Phyllo Hors D’oeuvres

Sauce:

1/4 cup tamari or regular soy sauce

1-2 cloves garlic, minced or put through press

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1/4 tsp corn starch

Filling:

3 cups finely chopped portabella mushrooms

2 cups finely chopped shitake mushrooms

Assembling and Baking:

Cooking oil

4 sheets phyllo pastry

Non-stick cooking spray

Combine the first six ingredients for the sauce, mixing very well, and set aside.  Heat a little cooking oil in a pan and cook mushrooms on medium until they have released all of their water, and that water mostly cooks off.  You may need to drain off some of the water from the pan.  Add the sauce, mixing with the mushrooms, and cook until it thickens slightly.  Cool the filling.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Cut four phyllo sheets into four strips  lengthwise, and then cut each strip into five squares.  Keep phyllo under a damp towel when not working with it.  Place two squares on top of each other, brush with oil.  Layer on two more squares, with the corners of squares overlapping the straight edges of the first squares.   Brush with oil again.  Place a large teaspoon of filling on center, and fold up the sides around it to make a crimped bundle.  Place on a baking tray coated with non-stick cooking spray, and repeat with the remaining filling and phyllo.

Bake 10-15 minutes, or until golden.  If tops brown too fast, place foil loosely over hors d’oeuvres partway through cooking.

More mushrooms, and mushroom pics.  Because I kinda went photo-crazy.

Vegan Stuffed Mushroom Caps

24 button mushrooms

3 ryvita flat breads

2 green onions

1 tbsp fresh rosemary

olive oil

100 g cashews

1/4 cup water

2 tsp whole-grain Dijon mustard

3 tsp nutritional yeast

nonstick cooking spray

Wash and de-stem mushrooms.  Chop up stems fine, and mix with finely crushed ryvita breads, finely chopped green onion, and finely chopped fresh rosemary.  Cook in a pan with a little oil until the mushroom stems have released water, and it evaporates.

In food processor, blend cashews, water, Dijon, and nutritional yeast until you’ve made a fairly smooth paste.  If it’s not entirely smooth, it will still work just fine.  Mix the paste and the mushroom stem blend together.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Place mushrooms on a greased baking tray, and fill with filling.  I baked for about 45 minutes, I believe, but just make sure you bake until the mushrooms are cooked through.