Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms for a Meatless Monday Dinner

Recently I had a delicious stuffed portabella mushroom at 

at a UClub lunch. 

And although that portabella mushroom was much too large

for me to finish, I wanted to recreate that recipe.

I was on a mission.

 I even paired the portabella mushroom with a wild rice pilaf.

Can't you just feel the healthy?

And by the way, 

I read a piece today on the Huff Post that suggested 

that it isn't eating homemade foods that will lead to longer lives

(as much as ten years),

but cooking those homemade foods that will.

So, if you want to live longer, healthier lives,

get in the kitchen and cook!

 The ingredients for three stuffed portabella mushrooms :

2 tablespoons minced red bell pepper

the stems of the portabella mushrooms

2 tablespoons minced red onion

1 rib celery, minced

1/4 summer squash, minced

1/4 carrot, minced (not shown)

1 large clove garlic, grated

1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs

3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 cup Parmiginao Reggiano

1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

 While I sauteed the veggies for the stuffing,

I drizzled some olive oil on the gills of the portabella mushrooms

and placed them in a 450 degree toaster oven for about 10 minutes.

 I added the Panko bread crumbs to the mix.

These sauteed for about ten minutes.

Then we tossed them with the cheeses and decided that 

we had a winner.

 The melted cheeses helped the toppings to stick together.

These went back into the toaster oven for about 15 minutes.

 The decision?

This is a keeper!

Even the uber-picky Mr. Foodie liked this dish.

 Oh, and we had entertainment while dining.

Cats and their catPads.

Yet Another Lunch at the University Club

This time the occasion was the Old Board/New Board Lunch.

This is the one board meeting where we are treated to lunch

and as the name suggests, both the outgoing and the incoming

board members are in attendance.

Usually, the board meetings are working brown bag lunches.

And here's an interesting tidbit: 

IMU rules state that no food from outside restaurants 

can be brought onto the premises.  

One can bring food from home or pick up food from the grocery store 

or buy food from one of the restaurants on site.

 We started out with a salad of mixed greens, 

julienned cucumber, and roasted tomatoes in a light vinaigrette.

 The entree choices were Wasabi Chicken over a bed of rice, 

grape tomatoes, and sauteed snow peas,

or Stuffed Portobella Mushroom with the same accoutrements.

As I am famously allergic to chicken,

I chose the stuffed Portabella entree.

This was as large as it looks.

I could only eat half of it.

It was also wonderfully tasty.

Some of the ingredients that I was able to identify 

were red onion, red bell pepper, yellow squash, 

and fresh parsley, with a bread crumb topping.

I will have to work on recreating this dish.

 The much anticipated finale to the meal was an 

ice cream ball,

which was a scoop of vanilla ice scream, rolled in chopped 

pecans and doused with a rich chocolate sauce.

I could only eat half of mine and I was teased mercilessly 

about that.

Haven't people ever heard about lactose intolerance?

At any rate, I traded in my old job and got "promoted."

Lucky me.

 

 While driving through town today,

I noticed something odd:

There were brains!

Huge brains.

 

And there's another one.

Wine Tasting Luncheon at the University Club

I had been working with a diverse group of people 

the last few months in order to put together this 

wine tasting luncheon featuring wines from Oliver Winery

and the fine culinary creations of Chef Damian Esposito.

It was a complicated endeavor to coordinate

between IMU Catering, Oliver Winery, and the University Club,

but we eventually got all the details ironed out and all the 

plans set in place.

Fortunately, I had a wonderful co-chair and club manager

at my side to help and guide me along the way.

After the wine tasting back in February,

Chef Esposito began working on the menu

based on the wines we picked.

 The first wine was Creekbend Vidal Blanc and was paired 

with a Stuffed Cherry Tomato with Boursin Cheese.

I was on hostess duty, so no pictures.

The Creekbend label means that the grapes were grown locally.

I think I have found a new favorite wine.

After we were seated,

the first course was served.

This was a Tian of Pickled Melon, Grilled Red Onion,

and Watercress with Sweet Lemon Vinaigrette.

The wine for this course was Pinot Grigio.

The Chef's thought was that the dry wine

would pair nicely with the sweet and peppery salad.

I think he was on to something.

And I really liked this salad.

 The entree was Chili Roasted Duck with 

Fig and Feta Polenta,

Stir-Fried Snow Peas,

and Port Wine Demi-glace.

The vegetarian option was

Grilled Spiced Tofu with Stir-Fried Snow Peas

and  Pasrmesan Basil Polenta with Mint.

A light, summery red wine, Valdiguie accompanied the dish.

This is a lighter alternative to a Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot.

The duck was moist and tender and the port wine demi-glace

was very tasty. 

The figs were an unexpected and interesting addition to the polenta.

I have to admit that outside of a Fig Newton(tm), I have never had a fig before.

I think I like them.

And once again, I liked the play of the sweet against the savory.

I appreciate it when I don't feel the need to reach for the 

salt and pepper shaker.

That means that the chef has done his job.

 Finally dessert was served:

Key Lime and Blueberry Bombe with Graham Cracker,

Candied Orange, and Raspberry Drops.

This was topped with a disk of dark chocolate that had been

printed with a golden design.

This dessert was almost too pretty to eat.

Almost.

Dessert was served with White Sangria.

This wine had just been released.

Our special guest was Bill Oliver, the son of the man

who started the winery in 1972.

Bill Oliver started working at the winery in 1983.

He explained the wines to us and told us a bit about

the winery.

We learned that Oliver Winery is the largest winery

east of the Mississippi.

They make a wide variety of wines

and chances are that you can find Oliver wines near you.

Many thanks to Oliver Winery without whom this would not be possible

and my deepest appreciation to Chef Esposito.

A Lovely Luncheon at the University Club

We had yet another delightful and interesting

luncheon at the University Club in the IMU today.

Our guest speaker was Dr. Tom Morrison, 

who is Indiana University's 

Vice President for Capital Projects and Facilities.

He spoke to us about the Master Plan for the Bloomington campus.

They have things planned out years and years in advance.

 They leave nothing to chance.

If you are interested in learning all the details,

the fine print can be found here.

It was a fascinating talk for those of us

who are familiar with the campus.

But since this is actually supposed to be a food blog,

with some gardening 

and some other stuff thrown in from time to time,

let's get to the food...

 

First up was a Bitika Salad 

of iceberg and romaine lettuces

 with blue cheese, bacon, chopped cauliflower 

and garlic sweet and sour dressing.

I liked the fact that the salad wasn't swimming

(or rather drowning) in dressing.

It was done just right.

 I chose the

Grilled petite pork chop with rosemary and garlic 

over mashed potatoes 

with country style gravy and green beans as my entree.

The pork was cooked perfectly and was moist and tender.

 

 Several others at our table ordered the vegetarian option of

Eggplant Parmesan.

They were very happy with their choice.

I could tell.

Their happy smiles and clean plates told the tale.

 

Dessert was a cheesecake with cherry sauce.

The food was delicious as always.

We are fortunate to have

such a great chef and kitchen staff at the IMU.

Lunch at the University Club

Last week we had yet another luncheon at the

Indiana University Club at the IMU.

This time our guest speaker was Doug Booher,

the Director of IU Auditorium.

Mr. Booher told us how they go about bringing all the

wonderful shows to the auditorium.

Some of this season's offerings were

Jon Stewart, Good vs Evil, Stomp,

South Pacific, Young Frankenstein,

and Bernadette Peters.

Lunch, as always, was superb.

We started off with a spinach berry salad.

Obviously the berries in question were strawberries.

The dressing was a strawberry vinaigrette.

The entree was turkey with sherried mushrooms au jus,

brown rice pilaf, asparagus, and mushrooms.

The vegetarian option was an Idaho baker with

mushroom artichoke ragu served with seasonal vegetables 

and roasted sweet red peppers.

Dessert was grilled angel food cake with mixed berries.

I loved how grilling changed the flavor of the angel food cake.

IMU Catering did a terrific job, as always.

A lovely spring bouquet graced the center of the table.

It was a delightful luncheon

and we had a wonderful time.

Yet Another University Club Luncheon -

This Time with a Good Cause in Mind

Last Wednesday
we had our third Luncheon of the year.

This time we had invited Mr. Julio Alonso,

the director of the Hoosier Hills Food Bank,

to be our speaker for our luncheon.

This was especially important to me as 

I know from my Internet friends that the option of

being able to take leftover unused restaurant food

and distribute that to needy families is most often illegal

in other parts of the US.

You would be shocked to know how much restaurants

and grocery stores have to throw out each 

and every day,

simply because there is no other

recourse.

Unless your local food bank has been able to 

work with the local health department and been 

able to convince the restaurants and the retailer,
then all that food goes to waste.

And yes, in this day of litigation,

the food bank strives to reassure the donors that

under the Federal rules of something or other
or the Good Samaritan Act

that the restaurant and retailers
cannot be held liable for the donated goods.

Now, on to the food we got to eat.

On the menu was a traditional spinach salad

with sliced hard-boiled egg, mushrooms and

red onion with ranch dressing.

For the entree we had a choice between

Indiana Pot Roast with carrots, celery and onions

over horseradish mashed potatoes

or a baked acorn squash stuffed with wild rice,

spinach and mushroom pilaf in saffron 

and potato chowder.

Obviously I chose the pot roast.

Dessert was a warm peach cobbler.

Lunch was good

and our speaker told us about how

Hoosier Hills Food Bank

works hard to take "the hunger out of poverty."

The members who attended the luncheon 

donated non-perishable food items to the 

food bank.

All in all, it was a good day for a good cause.