Mixed Mushroom Soft Bread Sticks #BreadBakers

These mixed mushroom soft bread sticks are flavored with dried mushrooms, ground to a powder. They impart a hint of umami that complements the garlic. 

When our Bread Bakers host for April picked “mushrooms” for our theme, I debated about what to make. First thoughts were 1. either something with mushrooms as an ingredient or 2. with mushrooms as a topping. 

But as I started to explore my options, I came across a site selling mushroom powder and was intrigued. I have Trader Joe’s Umami Seasoning in the cupboard which contains both porcini and white mushroom powder, along with a few other seasonings. It’s great sprinkled on almost anything savory. 

Since I always have dried mushrooms in the pantry, I decided I’d make my own mushroom powder and incorporate it in a bread stick recipe. While I did have a bag of just shiitakes, the mixed bag seemed like a better idea for depth of flavor. 

Mixed Mushroom Soft Bread Sticks

This recipe is adapted from one on Woodland Foods, where they also sell dried mushroom powder, if you can't be bothered to make your own. It makes eight long bread sticks but if you prefer, you can divide them in half to make 16 shorter ones. 

Ingredients

1 cup or 240ml warm water, divided

1 rounded teaspoon active dry yeast

2  2/3 cups or 332g flour, plus extra for dusting

1/4 oz or 7g mixed dried mushrooms (or any single variety)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, divided

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt

1 small clove garlic, mashed and minced

Optional for finishing: Extra melted butter and flakey sea salt. 

Method

Brush the dried mushrooms with a clean, dry brush to remove any dirt or dust. 

Use a spice grinder to grind the mushrooms to a powder. I use a coffee bean grinder that I reserve for only spices which works great. 

Place 1/4 cup warm water and the sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Sprinkle in yeast and set aside until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Assuming your yeast has bubbled up and is active, add in the flour, 2 tablespoons of the butter, 1 teaspoon of the salt, 3/4 cup or 180ml of water and most of the ground mushrooms, leaving a half teaspoon or so for brushing on with butter before baking. 

Mix with paddle attachment until a slightly sticky dough forms.

Switch to the dough hook and knead until the dough is very smooth and soft, about five minutes. 

Turn the dough out only a floured surface. Cut it into eight equal pieces and roll them each into a ball. Roll the balls out into 14-inch or 35cm long bread sticks. 

I’m lazy so I kept mine long so that I didn’t have to leave space between the end of the bread sticks which would probably meant having to bake them in two batches. 

 

As you roll them out, arrange the bread sticks on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with cloth or cling film, and let rise in warm spot until almost doubled.

 

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C.

Melt the remaining butter. Mix the melted butter with the remaining ground mushrooms and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Brush the mixture onto the bread sticks.

Bake the bread sticks in the preheated oven until golden, about 13-15 minutes.

If desired, brush the breadsticks with a little extra melted butter and sprinkle with flakey sea salt. 

Enjoy warm or at room temperature. 

My taste testers all agreed that while the mushroom flavor wasn’t prominent, the mushroom powder definitely added umami to the bread sticks. 

Enjoy! 

It’s the second Tuesday of the month so that means it’s Bread Baker time! Check out mushroom recipes we are sharing below. Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. 

Pepperoni and Mushroom Pan Pizza from Karen’s Kitchen Stories

Cheesy Mushroom Calzone from Sneha’s Recipe

Wild Mushroom Flatbread from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Mushroom Swiss Bread from Palatable Pastime

Mixed Mushroom Soft Bread Sticks from Food Lust People Love

Porcini Swirl Bread from A Messy Kitchen

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Chinese Five Spice Powder

An essential element of many Chinese dishes, this Chinese Five Spice Powder is fragrant and so much more flavorful than store-bought mixes. Freshly grinding the spices makes all the difference!

I’ve bought Chinese five spice powder many times but I guess I don’t use it often enough because it seems to lose its potency and flavor by the next time I need some.

The answer, of course, is to grind the spice mix in smaller amounts and store it, like all spices, in a sealed jar away from the light. You can use a mortar and pestle for this or a spice grinder. 

If you search for a recipe for five spice powder, there are tons of recipes online, many starting with already ground spices, just mixed together. While that would do in a pinch, it’s not going to give you the same punch and flavor of freshly ground spices. 

Chinese Five Spice Powder

Many recipes suggest that if you cannot locate Szechuan peppercorns, you can substitute black peppercorns. You can, of course, but it won’t have the same mouth tingling effect as the traditional recipe. 

Ingredients

6-7 small star anise

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

1 piece (about 2 in or 4cm) cinnamon bark 

1 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns

1 teaspoon cloves

Method

Grind all the spices together with a mortar and pestle or a coffee bean grinder reserved only for spices.

It’s that easy. 

Store in an airtight container in a cool place. 

You might like to try my soy braised pork with eggs dish, especially if you’ve got leftover boiled eggs from Easter. Motivation to make the Chinese five spice powder! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing homemade spice mixes. Many thanks to our host, Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures. Check out the links below.

• Chinese Five Spice Powder by Food Lust People Love
• DIY Country Gravy Mix by Palatable Pastime
• Homemade Garam Masala by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Homemade Taco Seasoning by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Italian Herb Blend by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Sicilian Pesto by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Spicy Fried Fish With Homemade Fish Masala by Sneha's Recipe

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join. 

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Escargots à la Bourguignonne

The classic French dish title, Escargots à la Bourguignonne, means snails with rich, fragrant garlic parsley butter, in this case, baked in a casserole dish. Yep, no need to stuff them in shells! This way is much, much easier and just as delicious!

This recipe is adapted from one by the late great Anthony Bourdain, from his book, Les Halles Cookbook: Strategies, Recipes, and Techniques of Classic Bistro Cooking, where he shares recipes from his French bistro in New York. 

In the introduction to the escargot recipe, he declared that in all of his (at the time) 28 years working in US restaurants, he had never seen a single restaurant serving fresh snails. To his knowledge even the best ones use canned escargots. 

Well, if they are good enough for Anthony Bourdain, they are certainly good enough for me. If you don’t have this cookbook, allow me to entice you to get a copy. The recipe for the mushroom soup alone is worth the price (so creamy and rich, with zero actual cream - and do NOT skip adding the little bit of sherry at the end - so good!) but my favorite part is all the snarky asides and personal commentary that accompany the recipes. Anthony Bourdain at his absolute finest. 

I was fortunate enough to get my copy as a gift from my daughters one Christmas so it’s a treasured book in more than one way. I highly recommend it if you are a fan of 1. Anthony Bourdain and/or 2. French cooking. I wanted to add an Amazon affiliate link but it looks like the book is out of print. The only available copies are so expensive, which is disappointing. See if you can borrow one from your library. 

Escargots à la Bourguignonne

This recipe will serve four for a generous appetizer or two little pigs for an absolutely super rich lunch. In a nod to adding something healthy if eating this as a whole meal, a fresh tomato salad with a simple vinaigrette goes nicely. Two cans of snails yields about 220g once they are drained and rinsed.

Ingredients

2  (7.5 oz or 200g) cans snails in brine, drained and rinsed

1 shallot or half a purple onion, minced

½ cup or 120ml dry white wine

1 head garlic, peeled and separated

1 ounce or 28g flat parsley leaves

1/2 cup or 113g butter

Salt and pepper

To serve:

1/2 long baguette, sliced in rounds

 

Method

In a small pot, combine the snails, shallot (or onion) and white wine and bring to a simmer. 

Cook for 15 minutes. Drain and set the snails aside. Anthony adds this comment, which made me laugh: “I know, I know—they’re ugly. But they’re good. Hang in there.”

In the food processor, combine the garlic and parsley and pulse until finely chopped. 

Add the butter and process until the mixture is a smooth, green paste. 

Season with a little salt and pepper.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. 

Choose a baking dish where the snails will cover most of the bottom. Spoon the snails into it. Dollop the garlic parsley butter over the snails. 

Bake for about 15 minutes in your preheated oven or until the butter is melted and there is the slightest color on the snails. 

Remove from the oven and serve immediately with the sliced baguette. 

Enjoy! 

It's the first Wednesday of the month so my Foodie Extravaganza Foodie friends are sharing recipes again. This month our theme or main ingredient is garlic! Many thanks to our host, Radha of Magical Recipes. 

• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Garlic Ginger Chicken Nuggets
• Sneha’s Recipe: Garlic-Keto Paneer Steaks In Cafreal Masala
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Garlic and Chive Flower Buns
• Palatable Pastime: Roasted Garlic Sautéed Squash
• Food Lust People Love: Escargots à la Bourguignonne
• Magical Ingredients: Garlicky Pink Peppercorn Paneer

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board.

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Buttermilk Sourdough Cornbread Muffins #MuffinMonday

These buttermilk sourdough cornbread muffins are fluffy and buttery with a hint of coconut flavor from two tablespoons of coconut oil. They make a great breakfast or snack but go equally well served with chili or stew. 

I have coconut oil in the pantry because our younger daughter uses it for the great granola that she makes but I never thought about using it in a muffin. That is, until I saw a recipe for sourdough discard cornbread on The Clever Carrot. 

The addition of just the two tablespoons of coconut oil adds a really subtle coconut flavor that we found delightful. I saved one for my mom and she agreed. The original recipe wasn’t for muffins so I did quite a bit of adapting to stick to my preferred easy mix muffin method. All in all, this recipe got a “would make again” rating. 

Buttermilk Sourdough Cornbread Muffins

As mentioned above, this recipe is adapted from one on The Clever Carrot.  The original makes an 8x8 inch or 23x23cm pan of cornbread. 

Ingredients

1/2 cup or 113g unsalted butter, plus more for greasing pan 

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 cup or 125g flour

1/2 cup or 90g cornmeal

1/3 cup or 66g granulated sugar 

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 cup or 100g sourdough discard

1/2 cup or 120ml buttermilk

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Prepare a 9-cup muffin pan by greasing it or lining it with muffin liners. 

In a microwavable bowl, soften the butter and coconut oil with a few quick zaps, stirring well in between. (Or soften the butter and coconut oil over low heat in a small pot.) The mixture doesn’t need to be liquid, just softened and well combined.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Whisk the butter mixture, sourdough starter, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl. 

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl and fold them together till all the flour and cornmeal are completely moistened. 

Divide the batter between your nine muffin cups.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and set on a wire rack to cool.

Serve warm or at room temperature. 

Enjoy! 

Happy Muffin Monday! Yep, it’s the last Monday of the month and I can hardly believe it’s already March! This year is flying by. Check out the muffin recipes my fellow bloggers are sharing today:

• Bacon and Whiskey Maple Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Buttermilk Sourdough Cornbread Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Heart Healthy Coconut Carrot Muffins from Magical Ingredients
• Sourdough Chocolate Chunk Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Vanilla White Chocolate Chunk Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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Ballymaloe Potted Shrimp

A traditional Irish starter, this Ballymaloe potted shrimp recipe is from the Ballymaloe Restaurant cookbook, updated by Irish cooking teacher and doyenne Darina Allen. Flavored with garlic and lemon juice, this Irish recipe is fresh and so tasty. 

Unlike English potted shrimp, the Irish version doesn't have nutmeg which makes this my favorite potted shrimp. Not that I don't like nutmeg but I've always kind of thought it weird with shrimp. The Irish also use Atlantic shrimp instead of the Morecambe Bay brown shrimp typical in English potted shrimp. I used wild caught cold water shrimp which I thought might be close to the Irish ones. 

When Myrtle Allen opened Ballymaloe Restaurant in East Cork back in 1964, it was a revolutionary place, serving delicious recipes using only local seasonal ingredients. It would not be an understatement to say that Ballymaloe changed Irish food culture with that emphasis. 

Her daughter-in-law, Darina Allen, a chef in her own right, continued Myrtle’s legacy and expanded her reach when, along with her brother, she opened the Ballymaloe Cookery School in 1983. Darina is also a leader in the Slow Food Movement in Ireland. 

Darina's own daughter-in-law Rachel Allen is a well-known food writer, cookbook author and tv chef as well as also teaching at the Ballymaloe Cookery School. I'm pretty sure when you search "Irish chef," photos of the Allen family appear near the top of the list!

Ballymaloe Potted Shrimp

Darina says that this amount serves four as a first course – and it is rich because of the clarified butter - but two of us polished this off in no time. I anticipated that, as you can see, by only putting it in two little pots. If I were indeed serving four, I'd double the amounts. Although the recipe is originally from the Ballymaloe Cookbook, Darina also shared it online, in a tribute to Keith Floyd. 

Ingredients

1 small clove garlic

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 oz or 56g clarified butter or ghee, with extra as needed

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (plus tender sprigs to garnish, if desired)

freshly ground black pepper

4 oz or 110g (about 1 cup) shelled, cooked salad shrimp

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Method

Use the side of a wide knife to crush the garlic into a paste with the salt. I hit the garlic clove once then added the salt, which makes it easier to crush. 

Bring the clarified butter to a low boil along with the thyme leaves, crushed garlic and a couple of grinds of black pepper. 

Add the shrimp and toss for about 30 seconds. Set aside to rest. Season with a little more salt, if necessary and add the lemon juice. Stir to combine.

 

Pack the shrimp into little pots and pour over the clarified butter. 

Melt a little more ghee as need to just about cover the shrimp. Finish each pot with the tender end of a fresh thyme sprig. 

Put the pots into the refrigerator and leave to set. Potted shrimp will keep in the refrigerated for three or four days so they are a great make-ahead starter for dinner parties.

Remove the little pots from the refrigerator and leave to come to room temperature before serving with sourdough bread or sliced baguette.

Enjoy! 

It’s been seven great years posting recipes with my Fish Friday Foodie friends so I am sad to say that this will be our final group post. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm who started this group and kept us motivated to add more seafood to our menu plans for so long. Today, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, we are sharing Irish recipes. Check them out below. 

• Food Lust People Love cooked Ballymaloe Potted Shrimp
• Sid’s Sea Palm Cooking shares Boxty with Smoked Salmon
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories made Cod Soup
• Sneha’s Recipe has Dublin Lawyer(Shrimp in Irish Whiskey Cream Sauce)
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice cooked up Fish & Potato Chowder with Irish Whiskey
• A Day in the Life on the Farm is serving Irish Fish Cakes

Fish Friday Foodies is ending its run but our recipes can still be found on our Pinterest page! Check it out for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

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