Mushroom Frankies with Cilantro Chutney

It's a Sunday night, and I am "taking back Sunday!". What I mean by that, mostly, is that I am getting back into a hobby that I love - cooking!

Seamus found this recipe earlier in the week, and we kept not making it. I am not exactly sure why, but probably because it was a new recipe for a food we had never had before, and the situation with the tortillas/eggs seemed like a lot of work. But it is Sunday night, we bought a nice bottle of wine, and we have some time to cook and catch up with family and friends.

And we made the frankies! The first time around, I served Seamus a frankie without the cilantro chutney. I had made the filling, and friend the tortilla, and forgotten to make the chutney and it seemed like too much work. The frankie was delish as-is, but Shea asked about the chutney, so I made another round of frankies, this time with the chutney.

It's worth making the chutney! While the frankies are good on their own, the chutney takes them to the next level!

And sorry about the weird picture; we had already eaten all of the frankies by the time I remembered that I wanted to blog abouth

Mushroom Frankies 
with Cilantro Chutney


Courtesy of Food and Wine

INGREDIENTS

CHUTNEY


• 1 cup full-fat yogurt

• 1/2 Granny Smith apple, cored and thinly sliced

• 1/2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts

• 1 serrano chile—stemmed, seeded and chopped

• 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

• 2 cups chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems

• Kosher salt


FRANKIES


• 1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into 
1/2-inch dice

• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon canola oil or ghee
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds

• 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 1 pound mixed mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch thick

• 1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger

• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon chili powder

• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro, plus small sprigs for assembling

• Kosher salt
• Pepper

• 3 large eggs

• Six 8-inch roti or flour tortillas

• 2 cups finely shredded green cabbage


HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE

1. Make the chutney In a blender, puree the yogurt with the apple, peanuts, serrano and lemon juice until smooth. Add the cilantro and pulse until just combined; season with salt. Refrigerate until ready to use.

2. Make the frankies In a medium saucepan of salted boiling water, cook the sweet potato until tender, about 
10 minutes. Drain well and pat dry with paper towels.

3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1/4 cup of the oil. Add the cumin and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and almost all of the liquid has evaporated, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the sweet potato, ginger, garam masala, chili powder and turmeric. Add the coconut milk and cook until hot, 2 to 
3 minutes. Stir in the chopped cilantro and season with salt. Scrape the mushroom filling into a large bowl and keep warm. Clean the skillet.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and season with salt and pepper. In the skillet, heat 
1/2 teaspoon of the oil. Arrange 
1 roti in the skillet and drizzle one-sixth of the beaten egg (about 2 tablespoons) over it. Flip and cook the roti over moderate heat until the egg sets, 
1 minute. Transfer to a plate and tent with foil. Repeat with the remaining oil, roti and eggs.

5. Arrange each roti egg side up on a platter or plates and top with some of the mushroom filling. Drizzle with some of the chutney and finish with the shredded cabbage and cilantro sprigs. Roll up the roti and serve, passing more chutney on the side.

6. 
   

Cream of Celery Soup

It has been TOO LONG since I have posted! I am glad to say that I am back to blogging in the year 2017, and couldn't be more pleased to share this recipe for cream of celery soup!

Celery isn't always the most stand-out vegetable in a dish; in fact, Seamus called it "the velvet moth" of vegetables (sorry for the inside joke). But there's a reason celery is the base of so many other great foods - because it tastes good!

And this soup tastes good! There are layers of rich-homey flavors of celery which come from using the root, stem, and leaves of the plant. I'm going to have another bowl! :)

Cream of Celery Soup
Recipe courtesy of Food and Wine

INGREDIENTS

• Three 1/2-inch-thick slices of sourdough bread, crusts removed, bread cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, 2 tablespoons melted
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• Kosher salt
• Pepper
• 2 medium yellow onions, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 1/4 pounds celery root, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 bunch of celery, stalks thinly sliced (6 cups), leaves reserved (1 1/2 cups) 
• 1/2 cup parsley leaves
• 1/2 cup baby spinach
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream

HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE

1. Preheat the oven to 325°. In a large bowl, toss the bread cubes with the 2 tablespoons of melted butter, 1/8 teaspoon of the nutmeg and a generous pinch each of salt and pepper. Spread the bread cubes in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Transfer the croutons to a wire rack.
2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter over moderate heat. Add the onions, garlic, 1 tablespoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened, about 8 minutes. Add the celery root, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft, about 8 minutes. Add the sliced celery, cover and cook until just starting to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken broth and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the parsley, spinach and 3/4 cup of the celery leaves and cook for 1 minute, until wilted. Add the cream and simmer over moderately low heat for 10 minutes, until heated through. Season the soup with salt, pepper and the remaining 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg.
3. Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender until very smooth. Pour the soup into a clean saucepan and rewarm over low heat, if necessary. Mince the remaining 3/4 cup of celery leaves. Ladle the soup into bowls, garnish with the minced celery leaves and the croutons and serve.