mushroom popover pie

Makes 2 to 3 servings

Popovers you know. Ditto pie. So what’s a popover pie? It’s what I call this large, dramatically puffed, Yorkshire pudding–like, custardy-centered pancake (that’s the popover part), baked with mushrooms and served in wedges (that’s the pie part). And if you’re a mushroom lover, you’ll call it addictive. The recipe calls for both white mushrooms and fresh shiitakes for lots of deep mushroom flavor. If you can’t find shiitakes, it’s okay to substitute cremini (brown) mushrooms or just use all white ones. Room-temperature eggs take on much more volume when beaten than cold ones, and for recipes like this that are all about puff, that’s important. The best way to bring eggs to room temperature is to break them into a bowl while they are still cold, and then cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a plate and leave it out for about an hour before you begin.

2 tablespoons butter

½ cup finely minced red or yellow onion

½ pound fresh white mushrooms, stemmed and chopped into ¼-inch pieces

¼ pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and chopped into ¼-inch pieces

1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 1 good-sized clove)

1¼ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon dried thyme

¼ teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup milk

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

 1. Adjust the oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 375°F.

2. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a 10-inch cast-iron pan or a heavy stainless steel skillet with an ovenproof handle. Add the onion and sauté over medium heat for 5 minutes.

3. Stir in the white and shiitake mushrooms, garlic, ¾ teaspoon of the salt, and the herbs. Cook, stirring often, for about 15 minutes, or until the liquid the mushrooms have given off evaporates and the mushrooms are becoming golden brown around the edges.

4. While the mushrooms are cooking, place the eggs, milk, flour, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and black pepper in a blender, and blend on high speed for a few seconds, until everything is just combined to make a smooth batter. (If you don’t have a blender, whisk all of this together in a medium-sized bowl. It’s okay if the mixture has a few lumps.) Set this aside until the mushrooms are done cooking.

5. When the mushrooms are ready, transfer them to a plate or bowl and set aside. Thoroughly wash and dry the pan, and return it to the stove. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, turn on the heat to low, and heat just until the butter melts and begins to foam. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and swirl until the melted butter completely coats the bottom and sides of the pan. Add the mushrooms, spreading them out in a fairly even layer, and then pour in the batter.

6. Put the pan in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the mixture has become puffed and golden, the top feels solid when touched lightly with a fingertip, and the edges have shrunk from the sides of the pan and become quite brown. Remove the pan from the oven. Serve hot or warm, cut into wedges.

MUSHROOM PREP TIPS

It’s best to store mushrooms in the refrigerator in a brown paper bag, not in the plastic bag you might have brought them home in. This helps them stay dry and fresh. To clean them, wipe the caps with a lightly damp cloth or paper towel. (Don’t immerse them in water, or they will soak it up and get soggy.) With domestic mushrooms, if the stem is tight, leave it on and simply trim and discard its tough, brown, dry tip. If the stem is loose or in any way funky, just pull it out and throw it away. With shiitakes, always trim off the entire stem using scissors or a sharp paring knife.

GET CREATIVE

• Sprinkle some snipped chives or minced flat-leaf parsley over the top as a garnish.
• Pass some grated Parmesan cheese at the table for sprinkling on top.
• This recipe, minus the entire mushroom part, works wonderfully as a giant sweet pancake you can serve for brunch or dessert. Just make the batter, heat 1 tablespoon butter in the skillet, and bake as directed. As soon as the pancake comes out of the oven, squeeze a little fresh lemon juice over the top and sprinkle on some powdered sugar (using a kitchen strainer to sift the sugar). Serve with warm maple syrup.

baked stuffed potatoes

Makes 1 or 2 servings

Bar munchie becomes dinner entrée with just a few deft strokes of your increasingly skilled hands! You simply bake a potato, scoop out the insides, mix them with a few choice ingredients, stuff this back in, and stick it under the broiler for a few minutes. Throw together a salad while the potato bakes, and you’ve got dinner. This compact little recipe works really well in a toaster oven, and can easily be multiplied to serve more people (in which case, use a regular oven).

1 medium-large russet potato (¾ pound)

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ cup minced red or yellow onion

¼ teaspoon minced garlic (half a small clove)

1 ounce (about 1 cup, lightly packed) fresh baby spinach, finely chopped

¼ cup sour cream

2 tablespoons minced scallion (green tops only)

½ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons grated sharp Cheddar cheese

1. Adjust the oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 400°F. Scrub the potato under running water and pat it dry with paper towels or a clean dish towel.

2. Place the potato directly on the oven rack. Let it bake for 50 minutes to an hour, or until the outside becomes crisp and the inside is tender when you pierce it with a sharp knife. (For this recipe it’s better to overcook it a bit than to have it be underdone.)

3. While the potato is baking, place a small (6-inch or so) skillet over medium heat. After about a minute, add the olive oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the onion, turn the heat down, and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, or until the onion becomes deep golden brown and very soft. Stir in the garlic, remove the pan from the heat, and set it aside until the potato is ready.

4. Remove the potato from the oven and when it’s just cool enough to handle, slit it in half lengthwise. Use a soup spoon to scoop the flesh into a medium bowl, being careful to leave the potato skin intact and boat-like. Mash and lightly fluff the potato flesh with a fork. Place the empty skins on a baking tray lined with foil. Heat the broiler to high.

5. Add the onion mixture to the mashed potato, being sure to scrape in every last bit of the olive oil and delicious tidbits from the pan. Add the spinach, sour cream, scallion, salt, and pepper, mixing lightly with the fork until everything is thoroughly combined.

6. Divide the mixture evenly between the two empty potato skins, mounding it slightly. Sprinkle the cheese over the tops, patting it gently into place so it won’t fall off. Broil a few inches from the heat source for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the cheese melts and is lightly golden. Serve right away.

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GET CREATIVE

• Cook 1 or 2 slices of bacon (see Chapter 8: Party Snacks) or “veggie” bacon. Let it cool, crumble it, and sprinkle it over the potatoes before adding the cheese.
• Try various cheeses to find your favorite. Cheddar and Gruyère both work very well with spinach, and so do feta, Gouda, and many others. This is a fun way to experiment, and to make this slightly different each time.
• If you love things extra-cheesy, you can also stir a few tablespoons of grated cheese into the stuffing mixture and/or sprinkle a little more on top.