Dan's Daily Dose #6

     When working with dough, don't flour your hands. Instead, use olive oil to keep your hands from sticking to the dough.

Dan's Daily Dose #5

     Instead of throwing out left over wine, pour it into ice cube trays and freeze. You can use the wine cubes in sauces or casseroles at a later date.

Dan's Daily Dose #4

     To prevent potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.

Portobello Mushrooms & Garlic Rolls

     Friday is a toss up when it comes to what I’m going to cook or if I’m even going to cook. Since we went out a few times last week I thought it would be best to stay in and cook. I made up two recipes, Marinated Portobello mushroom caps and buttery-garlic rolls, and served some French fries on the side. Portobello mushroom caps are very meaty and are often a substitute when making burgers. Normally I would make the mushrooms caps into sandwiches but they tend to make the bread mushy with all of their juices so I took a different approach while still including a roll. Before I get too far, here are the recipes for both:

Buttery-garlic Rolls

2 rolls, split

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 teaspoon olive oil

½ teaspoon garlic salt

Marinated Portobello Mushroom Caps

2 Portobello Mushroom Caps

½ Bottle Italian Dressing

¼ cup mozzarella cheese

     I marinated the mushrooms for about 10 hours in the Italian dressing. Using Italian dressing for a marinade is convenient because we always have it in the house for salads. Using a fork, I pierced the mushroom in the center because the outsides are too soft from the marinade and will rip if you try. Using my indoor grill, I cooked the mushrooms on high until they shrank about a half in size. While the mushrooms cooked, the fries were near completion so I could get the rolls ready. Once I split the rolls, insides facing up, I brushed the mixture of butter, olive oil, and garlic salt liberally on each one. I put these on a pan along with the mushroom caps. As soon as the fries were done, I turned the oven off and turned the broiler onto high. Just before putting the pan under the broiler, I split the ¼ cup of mozzarella between each mushroom cap. When using a broiler, you should turn the oven light on and keep an eye on whatever you have in there so it doesn’t burn. The second the cheese started to bubble and brown, I pulled the pan out. The rolls got a little dark because of this but they didn’t burn.

     I won’t comment on the fries because they came frozen and I didn’t do anything to them. The mushroom caps were very juicy and tender. The tanginess of the dressing and the creaminess of the melted cheese contrasted nicely against one another. The mushrooms shrank during the cooking process and I wished I had bought two more of them but we ended up making more rolls so maybe next time. Christine and I really liked the rolls so I went back into the kitchen when we had finished eating what we had on our plates to make two more. They kind of tasted like garlic bread but had a more buttery taste. I think next time I will use more garlic salt and perhaps parsley for some color.

Rating: Yummy – Not bad for two easy recipes I just made up.

Dan's Daily Dose #3

     To prevent food from sticking to the sides and bottom of a crock pot, spray the inside of the crock pot lightly with non-stick cooking spray.

Dan's Daily Dose #2

     When separating egg yolks from egg whites, never use the egg shell to do so. Unless you wash the eggs before cracking them, there can still be bacteria on the outside of the shell. Also, once the shell has cracked it is more likely it is for pieces of it to break off into whatever dish you are separating them into. Use an egg white separator which you can purchase in any home goods store.

Dan's Daily Dose #1

     I've been throwing around a few ideas not only to better this blog but to better others in the kitchen. A daily tip to use in the kitchen brings us to the first installment of "triple d". I hope you integrate some of these tips into your kitchen and that they help you make delicious dishes. Thank you and happy reading.


Dan's Daily Dose #1
To keep bacon from curling while frying, dip each slice in cold water before adding it into the pan.