Grilled Pork "Chateaubriand" Stuffed with Garlic Herbed Cheese Served with Sweet Onion & Portobello Pinot Grigio Reduction

The Lucky Wife made a suggestion a few years ago.  Cooking is relaxing to me and often after a particularly hard week I want to escape.  When I cook I become distracted from all the worries of this life.  I forget about what is going on outside and get fully enveloped by what is going on in the pans on my stove.  Her suggestion was that when things get stressful to go to the grocery store and wander up and down the aisles until I become inspired by something, then buy what I need and come home and play.  I love her......

The title is a mouthful I know, but this dish is so unique that there is no way to adequately describe it with a short one.  I love pork tenderloin and wanted to do a grilled version and make it interesting by stuffing it with something rather than resorting to the classic marinade. Honestly, I don't like marinades anyway.

This dish utilizes a very interesting food preparation technique called Roll Cutting.  Roll Cutting is the process of taking a tube or cylinder shaped cut of meat and cutting so that it will lay flat like a sheet of paper.  You are literally "unrolling" the cut of meat, in this case a tenderloin, as you would a scroll of paper.  You can watch this video to see a demonstration:

I decided to stuff this tenderloin with a garlic and herb soft cheese with hope that the cheese would melt and the acid in the cheese would act like a tenderizer and the garlic and herbs would flavor the meat.  It worked.  I also decided in lieu of a sauce to do a caramelized onion and portobello mushroom mixture that had been flavored with Pinot Grigio but reduced to a rather dry state.  The sweetness of the onions married with the fruity tones in the wine complements the pungency created by the herbs and garlic in the tenderloin very well, I think. Enjoy.

Grilled Pork "Chateaubriand" Stuffed with Garlic Herbed Cheese Served with Sweet Onion and Portobello Pinot Grigio Reduction

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 3-4 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed with silver skinned removed (should be two pieces)
• 1 5-ounce package of soft garlic and herb flavored cheese (I use the Boursin brand)
• 1 medium sweet onion, sliced julienne
• 1 cup sliced baby bella mushrooms
• 2/3 cup Pinot Grigio white wine
• Kosher salt
• Coarse Ground Black Pepper

Cooking Directions:

1. Preheat grill to a medium-high temperature and preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Place onion in a small nonstick frying pan, cover and cook slowly over low heat, stirring occasionally.  
3. Once onions have softened a bit, add mushrooms and cook until soft.
4. Add wine and turn heat up to medium low.  Simmer slowly until reduced by 75% or until all liquid is gone.  Stir occasionally so as to prevent burning or over cooking. Once wine is absorbed, remove from heat and keep warm..
5. While onions and mushrooms are reducing, take each piece of tenderloin and cut in half.  Trim ends of each to "square up" each piece.  (Note:  You want to end up with four pieces of tenderloin approx. 4 to 5 inches long that are fairly consistent in width and size.)
6. Roll cut each piece to a 1/4-inch thickness.  Lay flat and season with Kosher Salt and ground black pepper.
7. Crumble one fourth of the soft cheese on each piece of tenderloin.  Roll up each cut into a tube shape and secure with toothpicks.  (Tip: The rounded natural wood kind work the best.)
8. Sear all sides of each piece of tenderloin on a medium hot grill.  You then have two options:  A) You can place each piece over indirect heat and turn your grill temperature down to medium low.  Grill until internal temperature reaches around 160 degrees; (OR)  B) Place tenderloin on a sheet pan and finish them off in your preheated oven until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.  
9. Remove tenderloin from grill or oven and let rest for about 10 minutes.   Cut each piece on a bias and garnish with onion and mushroom reduction.

NEED ANY OF THE TOOLS USED?

Family ratings:

Rating scale

1 star - Feed it to the dog

2 stars - Surprise your neighbor
3 stars - Definite keeper

4 stars - Looking forward to leftovers

5 stars - Clean plate and nap time! Are there enough ingredients left to make it again soon?

The Chef - 5 Stars

The Lucky Wife - 5 Stars

The Well-Fed Son (4 years old) - 4 Stars

The Well-Fed Daughter (8 months old) - Mommy's Baby Girl (5 Stars)

*Rate it yourself in the comments!

*If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment, subscribing to receive e-mail updates of future recipes, or sharing it with your family/friends:

Find more great recipes with this one at This Week's Cravings and:



 
 

The Royal Wedding Cake (Recipe and Part I): A Sight to Behold

Eight tiers. Decorated with 900 delicate, beautiful symbolic flowers. It was truly a sight to behold and, as with most other details of this fairytale wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, kept secret from the public until the big day. Check out this photo slideshow for some great shots from different angles of this fairytale wedding cake!

According to the Daily Mail Reporter, the main requests from the bride for her cake were three-fold:

1) She did not want the cake to be "seven feet tall" or "towering and thin",

2) She "wanted elements from the Joseph Lambeth technique of cake decoration, where intricate piping is used to make three dimensional scroll work, leaves, flowers and other adornments",

3) 17 different blooms and foliage were to be used in the decoration of the cake, chosen specifically by Kate for their symbolism and meaning. (Read the entire article for more detail about which flowers were chosen, their meaning, and the layer of the cake on which they appeared.)

The cake-maker, Fiona Cairns, and her team certainly seem to have succeeded in the end result of a stunning cake that met these expectations of the bride.

One aspect of the cake that surprised me was the type of cake chosen: fruit cake. Fruit cake? For a wedding cake? But yes, apparently that was one of the reasons Ms. Cairns was chosen to make this cake. She is well known for her fruit cakes and has sold them in the past to celebrities such as Paul McCartney (for Christmas every year) and the band, Pink Floyd. I think fruit cake is one of those things you either really like or don't like at all. I fall into the latter category. But hey, to each his own, and I've always felt that a bride should get to choose whatever she wants for every aspect of her big day. If you have a "formal" wedding, it's the one day where you get to "call all of the shots," so to speak.

ABC News has published the recipe for the Royal Wedding Cake! I may have to try this one sometime. If Ms. Cairns is so well known for these cakes, who knows? Maybe I would like hers.

I hope this couple truly lives "happily ever after" together! After all they've been through together, they seem to be getting off to a strong start.

*If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment, subscribing to receive e-mail updates of future recipes, or sharing it with your family/friends:

Find more great recipes at Foodie Friday, My Meatless Monday!

Make a Food-"e"-Friend Monday #10: Carrot Dip

Welcome to our weekly potluck party... what better way to make a Monday a little more bearable than sharing great food and making new friends! :)

If you are a new visitor, please check out our Make a Food-"e"-Friend (MAFF) Monday page for more information on what this party is all about.

All guests will want to check out a separate ongoing party, the Star Recipes Collection party, where the most popular recipes from blogs have been linked. It can be accessed through the link above, our left sidebar, or Star Recipes page. New recipes continue to be added, so you can check back again whenever you need a great recipe idea that you know has been popular.

This week I will share the carrot dip recipe I served earlier in the week as an Easter recipe, although, this obviously makes a wonderful anytime recipe as well:


Don't you love recipes like this that are party-friendly? I think it's a nice change from the usual spinach or artichoke dips. I had some tonight with celery, and so far that is my favorite dipper I've tried with it.

Thank you so much for the kind comments about our wedding anniversary last week. I always intend to reply to each comment personally, but there never seems to be enough time in my day for all of the things to be done. The Well-Fed Daughter was under the weather a few days so required more mommy time than usual. I just wanted to take a moment to let those who left comments now how much they were appreciated. :)

Now, on to our party! Just a few reminders before linking:

1) You can link a recipe or any type of food-related blog post (including giveaways or free food coupon offers). Make sure you use the URL for the actual post and not your blog (or those interested in what you are sharing may not be able to find it if it's not your most recent post and will miss out on what you wanted to share!).

2) Don't forget to link back to this potluck party, using either a text link or the button image. This is important to help spread the word about the party and so all the great recipes that people are sharing can be found and enjoyed. To make it easier, as I know some of these details can be a little confusing:

This party's URL for a text link:

http://www.thesaturdayeveningpot.com/2011/04/make-food-e-friend-monday-10-carrot-dip.html

OR

Button linking back to this week's party (highlight, copy and paste into your post):

3) If this is your first visit for a Monday party and you would like or need more information about the party or how to link-up, please click here. I'm so glad you joined us and hope you will come again next week!

4) Most of all, have fun and be sure to check out any recipes that interest you that others have brought to the party. (How else will you make new Food-"e"-Friends?!) Some weeks I am not able to make it around to all of the recipes, but I so enjoy seeing the different things that are shared at these parties and check back when looking for new recipe ideas. We actually used a recipe from a previous party tonight... but more on that later!

(Link-up open through Wednesday):

*If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment, subscribing to receive e-mail updates of future recipes, or sharing it with your family/friends:

You are invited… to the Feast of the Ages! 1st Course: Shrimp and Pineapple Wontons {A Recipe Series}

Happy Easter to you and your family!  We are excited today to begin this recipe series that we are calling Feast of the Ages.  Easter is a special holiday of celebration for us as Christians.

This recipe series was developed from a desire to share about our faith with our readers.  As much as we love food, our faith is an even more important and bigger part of our lives.  We thought it would be fun to bring the two together in this series.  What better time than Easter to begin this series?!

In Revelation 19:9, the Bible says, “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”   The Bible refers to the church, or the Christian body of believers, as the “bride of Christ.”  The wedding supper, or feast, represents a time of great celebration when Jesus is united with the church in heaven.

What a celebration this will be!  Imagine what the elements of the greatest party you could plan or attend would be like.  The atmosphere would be comfortable and very inviting.  People would want to be there because each person would be accepted for who he/she is.  Each person would be made to feel special and everyone would feel included and a part of the activities.  The fellowship and interactions between people would be real.  The food would have the freshest ingredients and the flavors would be perfect.  There would be no concern about the effects of pesticides or chemicals used in the growing process of the food.  There would be something for everyone, and the individual taste preferences of every guest would be completely satisfied.  This is what we would anticipate the wedding supper of the Lamb to be like.

The most formal of feasts includes 21 courses.  When we thought about what the Wedding Feast of the Lamb might look like, a celebration for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we thought it could definitely involve 21 courses!  We thought it would be fun to provide a sample 21-course “Feast of the Ages” menu, with a different recipe a week over 21 consecutive weeks.  We offer for the 1^st course an amuse:

Shrimp and Pineapple Wontons

Yield: 1 wonton (adjust ingredient amounts for however many wontons you'd like to make)

Ingredients:

• 1 egg roll wrapper (purchased)
• 1 pineapple chunk (drained)
• 1 large (21-25 count) raw peeled, de-veined, tail off shrimp
• Approximately 1 quart of oil
• Sweet Thai chili sauce

Cooking Directions:

1. Heat oil in non-stick saucepan to 350 degrees.
2. Once oil is up to temperature, spread one egg roll wrapper out on cutting board, and place one chunk of pineapple and shrimp in center of wrapper.
3. Wet fingertips slightly; bring all four corners together at a point, creating a pouch around the shrimp and pineapple.  Pinch corners together and fold over once to secure them.  Check and make sure there are no open seams and that all seams are sealed on the wrapper.
4. Drop wonton into hot oil; cook approximately 3-5 minutes until golden brown.
5. Remove from oil and let drain on paper towel.  Serve with sweet Thai chili sauce on the side.  Enjoy!

       

Did you know you have been invited to attend the real “Feast of the Ages,” the Wedding Feast of the Lamb?  Revelation 22:17 says, “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”

Learn more and/or RSVP here!

*(You will be able to select from the following versions: English, Chinese-traditional characters, French, Japanese, Spanish, or Children's-preferred by some adults due to its simple style.)

Click here for the 2nd course, Mini Brats.

*If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment, subscribing to receive e-mail updates of future recipes, or sharing it with your family/friends:

Find more great recipes along with this one at So Sweet Sunday and Foodie Friday.  Linked also at the Family in Faith Blog Hop.

Establish a New Easter Family Tradition: Resurrection Biscuits

 

We love finding new ways to celebrate holidays like Easter with our children that help them better understand the true meaning behind the holiday.  We had never heard of resurrection biscuits until a new "e-friend" told The Lucky Wife about them during the online Ultimate Blog Party recently.  They are now a new Easter family tradition for us.

Here's how to make resurrection biscuits:

What you need:

A tube of refrigerated biscuits

Large marshmallows

Cinnamon

Sugar

Spray margarine (we just used Earth Balance dairy and soy-free buttery spread and a brush)

Step 1:  Take half of the biscuits and press each one into a flat circle on a baking sheet or bar pan.

Step 2:  Place one marshmallow in the center on top of each flattened biscuit.

Step 3:  Take remaining biscuits, flatten each one, and place one at a time over each of the marshmallows, pinching the edges of the two biscuits together all the way around the marshmallow.

Step 4:  Spray the biscuits with margarine (we brushed some of the Earth Balance buttery spread over each one instead) and sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar over each one.  (We did not use the exact measurements from the original recipe we used as we prefer to keep sugar at a minimum level in our diet and felt they would have been much too sweet for us if we used those amounts.)

Step 5:  Bake at 325 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

We cut one open before eating to demonstrate and explain how, like the marshmallow is gone from inside the biscuits, Jesus was gone from the tomb when he arose!  We used the book, The Very First Easter, to help explain, as it is familiar to our 4-year-old.  This book has won The Gold Medallion Book Award and has beautiful illustrations.

If your children are a little older, they will understand more about the significance of this example.  You can explain that the cinnamon and sugar represent the spices that were used to prepare for burial during that time, and your children will be able to help more with each step of making these biscuits.

Resurrection Biscuits
(Slightly adapted from Glitterful Felt Stories)

Yield: 4 biscuits

Ingredients:

• 1 tube refrigerated biscuits
• large marshmallows
• spray margarine
• cinnamon (to taste)
• sugar (to taste)

Cooking Directions:

1. Take half of the biscuits and press each one into a flat circle on a baking sheet or bar pan.
2. Place one marshmallow in the center on top of each flattened biscuit.
3. Take remaining biscuits, flatten each one, and place one at a time over each of the marshmallows, pinching the edges of the two biscuits together all the way around the marshmallow.
4. Spray the biscuits with margarine (we brushed some of the Earth Balance buttery spread over each one instead) and sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar over each one.
5. Bake at 325 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

http://recipeseo.com/recipe/8BA8K

NEED ANY OF THE TOOLS USED?

Family ratings:

Rating scale

1 star - Feed it to the dog

2 stars - Surprise your neighbor

3 stars - Definite keeper

4 stars - Looking forward to leftovers

5 stars - Clean plate and nap time!  Are there enough ingredients left to make it again soon?

The Chef - 3 Stars

The Lucky Wife - 4 Stars

The Well-Fed Son (4 years old) - 3 Stars

The Well-Fed Daughter (7 months old) - Mommy's Baby Girl (3 Stars)

*Rate it yourself in the comments!

*If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment, subscribing to receive e-mail updates of future recipes, or sharing it with your family/friends:

For more great ideas: Tip Me Tuesday

The Easter Bunny's Favorite Healthy Treat: Carrot Dip

Did the Easter Bunny get the shaft when it came to treats in your home growing up? Maybe my memory is just bad, but I don't remember ever hearing about treats for the Easter Bunny like I did treats for Santa as a child. Google search results even prove this point with over 12 million results for "treats for Santa" and only 3 million plus for "treats for the Easter Bunny", so four times as many for Santa!

I thought it would be fun to serve a special recipe this week in honor of a fun and favorite part of the Easter holiday for our children, the Easter Bunny. Since we've already served some sweet Easter recipes, I wanted to make this one a little healthier. I had my eyes on a warm roasted carrot dip at first, but then I got to thinking it might be a little challenging to keep the dip warm until the Easter Bunny's arrival to eat it. So I decided to work from this cold carrot dip recipe instead.

It is, indeed, rare that I cook in our home... after all, The Chef and I did make a deal when he went to culinary school! And this doesn't even qualify as cooking, really. Plus, it was super easy. I used baby carrots instead of regular ones, thinking they might give the dip better flavor. I decided after the first taste test that I wanted stronger carrot flavor, so I added the steamed carrots into the mix. I liked the flavor this added. I tried using bread sticks, raw carrots and cucumbers as dippers, and I liked it much better with the vegetables. The next time I make this, I probably will try using all steamed carrots and also fresh garlic. I think either way, the Easter Bunny will be happy when leaving your house this year! :)

The Easter Bunny's Favorite Healthy Treat: Carrot Dip
(Adapted from Taste of Home)

Ingredients:

• 8 baby carrots, raw
• 6 baby carrots, steamed and cooled
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

1. Slice raw carrots in half lengthwise and then cut each of those strips in half width wise. Put in food processor and chop. Repeat this process with the steamed/cooled carrots.
2. In a small bowl, beat mayonnaise and cream cheese until smooth.
3. Add carrots, green onions, Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder; stir and let chill for at least an hour.
4. Serve with crackers or fresh veggies. If you'd like to serve this in a cute lettuce bowl, see the Taste of Home recipe for instructions.

tp://recipeseo.com/recipe/8BA8K

NEED ANY OF THE TOOLS USED?

Family ratings:Rating scale

1 star - Feed it to the dog

2 stars - Surprise your neighbor
3 stars - Definite keeper

4 stars - Looking forward to leftovers

5 stars - Clean plate and nap time! Are there enough ingredients left to make it again soon?

The Chef - 4 Stars

The Lucky Wife - 4 Stars

The Well-Fed Son (4 years old) - 4 Stars

The Well-Fed Daughter (8 months old) - Mommy's Baby Girl (4 Stars)

*Rate it yourself in the comments!

*If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment, subscribing to receive e-mail updates of future recipes, or sharing it with your family/friends:

Find more delicious recipes with this one at This Week's Cravings and:

Make a Food-"e"-Friend Monday #9: Portobello Mushroom Caps Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Prosciutto

Welcome to our 9th weekly potluck party... what better way to make a Monday a little more bearable than sharing great food! :)

If you are a new visitor, please check out our Make a Food-"e"-Friend (MAFF) Monday page for more information on what this party is all about.

All guests will want to check out a separate ongoing party, the Star Recipes Collection party, where the most popular recipes from blogs have been linked. It can be accessed through the link above, our left sidebar, or Star Recipes page. New recipes continue to be added, so you can check back again whenever you need a great recipe idea that you know has been popular.

This week I am excited to bring our surprise recipe last week, because The Chef created it especially with me in mind and it is one of my all-time favorites of his:



They have been popular already, and if you like the ingredients that are required to make them, I feel certain you will like the end result of the combination of flavors. And what better day to share this with all of you than today, our 12 year anniversary! That's right... 12 years ago today, we were married in the town where we met each other in college at a church that became so special to us during that time in our lives.

I have to also tell you that when The Chef asked me yesterday if I wanted anything special today (and of course, our minds usually go right to food in these types of discussions), the thing that came to my mind was strawberries, for some reason! I do love strawberries, but usually, it is chocolate/peanut butter, oreos, or cheesecake that I would be thinking about for a special treat. He suggested the Strawberry Freeze recipe we served not long ago, and it was perfect. Current circumstances in our lives do not allow us to experience big celebrations of these special occasions, but we are perfectly fine with keeping it simple and sweet for now!

Just a few reminders about linking in this party:

1) You can link a recipe or any type of food-related blog post (including giveaways or free food coupon offers). Make sure you use the URL for the actual post and not your blog (or those interested in what you are sharing may not be able to find it if it's not your most recent post and will miss out on what you wanted to share!).

2) Don't forget to link back to this potluck party, using either a text link or the button image. This is especially important if you are linking your recipe or a great blog post and want it to be included in the index (see bottom of this post). To make it easier, as I know some of these details can be a little confusing:

This party's URL for a text link:

http://www.thesaturdayeveningpot.com/2011/04/make-food-e-friend-monday-9-portobello.html

OR

Button linking back to this week's party (highlight, copy and paste into your post):

3) If this is your first visit for a Monday party and you would like or need more information about the party or how to link-up, please click here. I'm so glad you joined us and hope you will come again next week!

4) Most of all, have fun and be sure to check out any recipes that interest you that others have brought to the party. (How else will you make new Food-"e"-Friends?!) Some weeks I am not able to make it around to all of the recipes, but I so enjoy seeing the different things that are shared at these parties and check back when looking for new recipe ideas. We actually used a recipe from a previous party tonight... but more on that later!

(Link-up open through Wednesday):

*If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment, subscribing to receive e-mail updates of future recipes, or sharing it with your family/friends:

Carob Dipped Puffed Rice Easter Egg Treats

This recipe is one that I developed last year for The Well-Fed Son's Easter basket.  We were trying to come up with some treats that we could put in his basket that would not contain a lot of ingredients that can be problematic for him.  The Lucky Wife did some research and found a recipe like this one, except our source was AllRecipes.com.  We could not find the exact recipe we used last year on that website this year.  

We used a Rice Crispy Treat recipe our Nutritionist had given us when we did her elimination diet a few years ago and adapted the dipping sauce to use carob instead of chocolate.  We actually like this Rice Crispy Treat recipe better (the nutty flavor from the cashew butter) than the original "Rice Krispy Treat" recipe.  They were a hit with The Well-Fed Son, so we knew we'd do them again this year.  Enjoy.

Carob Dipped Puffed Rice Easter Egg Treats

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen egg treats

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons sunflower oil
• 2 cups brown rice syrup
• 4 tablespoons cashew butter
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 12 cups dry puffed rice
• 1 1/2 cups carob chips
• 5 teaspoons shortening
• cake decorating sprinkles

Cooking Directions:

1.  Heat large nonstick stockpot over medium-low heat; add oil.
2. Add rice syrup and cashew butter; stir and heat until bubbles form.
3. Turn off heat and add vanilla extract.
4. Add puffed rice and mix well with spatula.  Remove from heat.
5. With slightly wet hands, form handfuls of mixture into egg shapes (about 2.5 to 3 inches tall).  Set aside to cool.
6. In small saucepan over medium-low heat, combine shortening and carob chips.  Stir constantly until melted.
7. Remove from heat.  Dip top of each egg into mixture and sprinkle each with cake decorator sprinkles.
8. Cool into refrigerator until carob sauce hardens.

http://recipeseo.com/recipe/8BA8K

NEED ANY OF THE TOOLS USED?

Family ratings:

Rating scale

1 star - Feed it to the dog

2 stars - Surprise your neighbor

3 stars - Definite keeper

4 stars - Looking forward to leftovers

5 stars - Clean plate and nap time!  Are there enough ingredients left to make it again soon?

The Chef - 4 Stars

The Lucky Wife - 4 Stars

The Well-Fed Son (4 years old) - 4 Stars

The Well-Fed Daughter (8 months old) - Mommy's Baby Girl (4 Stars)

*Rate it yourself in the comments!

*If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment, subscribing to receive e-mail updates of future recipes, or sharing it with your family/friends:

Find more great recipes with this one at:

Portobello Mushroom Caps Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Prosciutto

The portobello mushroom is considered the "Vegetarian's Steak".  They can be grilled, fried, sauteed, or baked, and when used as an ingredient, can add great flavor to dishes.  This recipe really had no inspiration as most of the recipes posted on the blog do.  However, The Lucky Wife loves portobello as well as soft cheese, so I guess she was the "inspiration".  

I love prosciutto in small doses.  It is quite strong but amazing.  I am not really a huge fan of balsamic vinegar, but if used correctly, I like the flavor element it brings to the table. 


I literally came up with this idea while walking down the aisle of the grocery store.  I wanted to do something with mushroom caps, and the "ole brush them with olive oil, sprinkle with black pepper and kosher salt and place on the grill routine" in my mind was played out and lame.  I wanted to give it a major Mediterranean punch, so I bought the ingredients, went home, and played a little.  My "Lucky Wife" has rated them at a "5" so I guess it worked.  Enjoy.



Portobello Mushroom Caps Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Prosciutto

Yield: 3-4 servings
Serving size: 1 mushroom cap per person

Ingredients:

• 3-4 large portobello mushroom caps
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• 4-6 ounces crumbled goat cheese
• 3-4 slices prosciutto

Cooking Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Using a small dinner spoon, remove stems from mushroom caps and scrape out brown ribbing on underside of mushroom caps.
3. Lay mushroom caps, stem side up, on sheet pan.  Brush each lightly with olive oil.
4. Bake approximately 10 minutes or until mushroom browns lightly.
5. While mushrooms are baking, take each slice of prosciutto and cut using a chiffonade pattern. (Chiffonade is a cutting technique that is normally used for fresh leafy herbs.  For example: fresh basil leaves.  The 1st step is to roll the leaf up in a tube shape.  The 2nd step is to slice the tube very thin, starting at one end of the tube and working towards the other end.  The result is a shredded look.  Click here for example pictures of the technique.)  Set aside.
6. Remove mushrooms from oven and turn oven setting to broil. 
7. Drizzle each mushroom cap with a small amount (approximately 1/4 teaspoon) of balsamic vinegar.  Spread vinegar evenly with the back of a spoon over inside of mushroom cap.
8. Place one slice shredded prosciutto in each mushroom cap and sprinkle goat cheese on top of prosciutto.
9. Place sheet pan under broiler and melt cheese until lightly browned.  Remove and serve immediately.

http://recipeseo.com/recipe/8BA8K

NEED ANY OF THE TOOLS USED?

Family ratings:

Rating scale

1 star - Feed it to the dog

2 stars - Surprise your neighbor

3 stars - Definite keeper

4 stars - Looking forward to leftovers

5 stars - Clean plate and nap time!  Are there enough ingredients left to make it again soon?

The Chef - 4 Stars

The Lucky Wife - 5 Stars

The Well-Fed Son (4 years old) - 4 Stars

The Well-Fed Daughter (8 months old) - Mommy's Baby Girl (5 Stars)

*Rate it yourself in the comments!

*If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment, subscribing to receive e-mail updates of future recipes, or sharing it with your family/friends:

For more delicious recipes like this one, you don't want to miss:

Make a Food-"e"-Friend #8: Easter Egg Hunt Brownies

Welcome to our weekly potluck party! If you have a sweet tooth and like brownies, I think you are going to love the recipe I'm bringing this week.

If you are a new visitor, please check out our Make a Food-"e"-Friend (MAFF) Monday page for more information on what this party is all about.

All guests will want to check out a separate ongoing party, the Star Recipes Collection party, where the most popular recipes from blogs have been linked. It can be accessed through the link above, our left sidebar, or Star Recipes page. New recipes continue to be added, so you can check back again whenever you need a great recipe idea that you know has been popular.

We participated in the Ultimate Blog Party last week, and our party post has link-ups for Mom-Friendly recipes. It has been popular, and the link to our post stays up on the Ultimate Blog Party site for this year, so we expect to have continued interest in the Mom-Friendly recipes. Check it out if you have any great recipes that you'd like to add that you know Moms would be interested in.

This week I am bringing the recipe we served yesterday as our regular Saturday recipe, because it is perfect for a fun Easter or spring recipe and it is delicious:


I have never had too much of a sweet tooth. I have certain weaknesses, such as chocolate/peanut butter, oreos, and cheesecake, but most any other sweets I could take or leave. This recipe, though, is a brownie recipe, and I am addicted already. You will love it. I should forewarn you, though, that our first attempt did not turn out so well, so be sure to check out the picture from the original source for the recipe to get a better idea of what the finished product should look like. There is more of an explanation of this in the recipe post!

Just a few reminders about linking:

1) You can link a recipe or any type of food-related blog post (including giveaways or free food coupon offers). Make sure you use the URL for the actual post and not your blog (or those interested in what you are sharing may not be able to find it if it's not your most recent post and will miss out on what you wanted to share!).

2) Don't forget to link back to this potluck party, using either a text link or the button image. This is especially important if you are linking your recipe or a great blog post and want it to be included in the index (see bottom of this post). To make it easier, as I know some of these details can be a little confusing:

This party's URL for a text link:

http://www.thesaturdayeveningpot.com/2011/04/make-food-e-friend-8-easter-egg-hunt.html

OR

Button linking back to this week's party (highlight, copy and paste into your post):

3) If this is your first visit for a Monday party and you would like or need more information about the party or how to link-up, please click here. I'm so glad you joined us and hope you will come back again next week!

4) Most of all, have fun and be sure to check out what others have brought to the party. I love seeing the different things that are shared at these parties! (And you can't make any new Food-"e"-Friends otherwise!)

(Link-up open through Wednesday):

*If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment, subscribing to receive e-mail updates of future recipes, or sharing it with your family/friends:

Find even more great recipes along with our Easter Egg Hunt Brownies, linked up at:

Your Recipe, My Kitchen: Apple Butter Pie
My Meatless Mondays

Easter Egg Hunt Brownies

Remember I said baking is not my forte?  Yeah.  This week's recipe is evidence of this fact, as well as a good example of a pet peeve of mine... poorly written recipes.  (If you ever have a hard time with a poorly written recipe, feel free to ask me through our Ask The Chef form and I will see what I can do to help you out with the recipe.)  Because of that, you might want to practice a couple of times before taking this one to a dinner party.  They are very easily adapted for any holiday, so you can have plenty of times each year to practice.  Think red and green M&Ms for Christmas (the marshmallows would kind of look like snow), red and blue for 4th of July, and multi-colored for Mardis Gras or a special birthday celebration!

The Lucky Wife came across this recipe this week through I'm Lovin' It, and we felt with a little adaptation, it would fit perfectly into our Easter rotation of recipes for the month.  Last week's was a little less obvious.  It was more of a hint of Easter with the use of eggs as the main ingredient.  This recipe screams Easter!

There were a few problems with the way the recipe is written, so even the picture we did get was not of the final product (we will update with the picture later as technical issues with our computer have prevented us from including it tonight!).  First, the recipe says to sprinkle the candies over the marshmallows immediately after having the marshmallow topping bake over the brownies.  What we found is that the topping is too warm at this point and the candies begin melting and sinking down into the topping.  Part of the reason for this could have been due to our adaptation and the fact that the eggs were heavier than the M&Ms.  The next time we make these, we will let the marshmallow topping cool for a while before sprinkling the candies.  We did name this recipe "Easter Egg Hunt Brownies" because the eggs sunk down into the topping, so if you like that effect, perhaps save half of the candies to sprinkle after it has cooled.

The other problem we ran into was with the chocolate drizzle.  The recipe did not state the technique used, and ours ended up messy.  It was not pretty and if we had been making these for a special occasion, we would have had to remake them or come up with something else to take.  However, the flavor and texture was perfect.  If you want to attempt the drizzle, we would suggest using a piping bag (we used a spoon).  We will do that next time, or we may try chocolate chips next time instead for a different twist.

And now for the recipe, with our modifications (adapted from the original source, Betty Crocker, which includes a picture if you'd like to see one of the original recipe)...

Easter Egg Hunt Brownies

Ingredients:

• 1 box (1 lb 2.4 oz) brownie of your choice or your favorite brownie recipe (and whatever ingredients are needed for recipe)
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 2/3 cup pastel-colored miniature Easter egg candies (we used the "Whopper Robin Eggs")
• 3 tablespoons semisweet or milk chocolate chips
• 1/4 teaspoon shortening

Cooking Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees or 325 degrees for dark or nonstick pan.
2. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with foil, allowing it to extend over the sides of the pan.  (This will allow for easier removal when it's time to cut the bars.)  Grease bottom only of pan with cooking spray or shortening.
3. Bake brownies according to instructions on the box or the brownie recipe you are using. If using a box brownie mix, bake for 5 minutes less than time suggested on the box.  (They will get overdone when the marshmallow topping is baked next.)
4. Sprinkle with marshmallows and bake for 5 minutes or until marshmallows are puffed and golden.
5. Allow marshmallow topping to cool for approximately 20 minutes.  Sprinkle half of the egg candies over the topping.
6. In small microwavable bowl, heat chips and shortening uncovered on high for 10 to 15 seconds.  Stir until smooth.
7. Place other half of candies onto topping as desired.
8. Using a piping bag, drizzle melted chocolate over bars and cool completely (about 1 1/2 hours).
9. Lift foil out of pan and cut bars.  (For easier cutting, use plastic knife dipped in hot water.)

http://recipeseo.com/recipe/8BA8K

NEED ANY OF THE TOOLS USED?

Family ratings:

Rating scale

1 star - Feed it to the dog

2 stars - Surprise your neighbor

3 stars - Definite keeper

4 stars - Looking forward to leftovers

5 stars - Clean plate and nap time!  Are there enough ingredients left to make it again soon?

The Chef - 4 Stars

The Lucky Wife - 5 Stars

The Well-Fed Son (4 years old) - 5 Stars

The Well-Fed Daughter (7 months old) - Mommy's Baby Girl (5 Stars)

*Rate it yourself in the comments!

*If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment, subscribing to receive e-mail updates of future recipes, or sharing it with your family/friends:

Find more great recipes with this one at: