shiitake mushrooms | flavorsmack

So a few weekends ago, I failed at making a recipe. It happens. I attempted to make arepas. I guess the type of masa I had, was not the kind that would allow the arepas to puff up. Mine remained flat. Had I made them smaller, they would have been the perfect vehicle for which to serve something on. (I am a sucker for cute little appetizers!) This was a lot of work for a small tortilla size appetizer though. We ate it anyway, but that inspired me to make these little grit cakes (which my masa mess reminded me of). I had come across the grit cake recipe in Southern Living and wanted to try it out, but it’s silly really, to make these if you aren’t entertaining for a group. Well, I couldn’t wait for an event, so I decided that celebrating the Flyers was good enough….just me and my hockey-loving husband. I don’t think he thought that it was hockey-fare, but that’s ok. They were still good. I combined the grit cakes, oh excuse me, crostini, with a topping recipe from Gourmet Magazine that I have had forever and never tried. Glad I did!

shiitake and arugula grit cakes (mashed up from Southern Living and Gourmet Magazine)

grit cakes:

1/2 cup flour
2 tsp
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
2 TB butter, melted
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup cooked grits, cooled
2 TB chives, chopped
a few dashes cayenne pepper

get started on the grit cakes:

Preheat oven to 425. Sift together first 4 ingredients into a bowl. Whisk together milk and next 2 ingredients in another bowl. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Whisk in grits, chives and cayenne. Spoon by the tablespoon into two greased 12 cup muffin pans. Bake at 425 for 12 to 15 minutes or until cakes are golden. Immediately move from pans to wire racks to cool. Makes about 24 cakes.

shiitake and arugula topping:

1/4 cup light caesar dressing (I used Kens)
2 TB minced shallots
4 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp water
1/8 tsp dried crushed red pepper
14 oz shiitake mushrooms
1/2 cup (packed) thinly sliced arugula
4 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

get started on the topping:

Preheat oven to 400. Spray sheet tray with non-stick cooking spray. Combine dressing, shallots, mustard, water and crushed red pepper in a large bowl. Add mushrooms and stir gently to blend. Let stand 25 minutes. Arrange mushroom mixture on sheet tray, and season with salt and pepper. Bake until mushrooms are golden brown, turning mushrooms over halfway through baking, about 12 minutes. Cool slightly. Coarsely chop cooked mushrooms. Add mushrooms to bowl with dressing. Add arugula and sun-dried tomatoes and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper if needed. Add mushroom and arugula topping to each grit cake and warm in oven for 3-5 minutes before serving.

note: original grit crostini recipe was for 5 dozen so my recipe is halved.

One of my favorite dishes of all time is zuppa di pesce. If I see it on a menu, 9 times out of 10, I am ordering it – and ordering it extra spicy. Nothing compares to soaking up all that garlicky-seafood-infused broth with crusty bread. The funny thing is, I have never tried to make a braised seafood recipe myself. I guess I envisioned the fish breaking into a million unsatisfying pieces, and the shellfish coming out rubbery. But it’s the season to braise, and after seeing several recipes about stews and braised seafood dishes recently, I wanted to give it a shot. However, the night I chose to make it, I got shot down. My husband wanted something quicker and less involved than the cioppino recipe I had selected…something about the 45 ingredients or some nonsense. But even though I am always up for a cooking challenge, ultimately he was right. We had two soccer games to take the kids to that day, as well as a birthday party, so it instantly became turkey burger night. The following weekend, he suggested that we invite my seafood-loving girlfriend over, and make ‘whatever that recipe was’. We exchanged smiles, and two texts and 30 seconds later, my girlfriend had already started plotting what she could bring. The night was set. So I set out to make my shopping list.
After looking at all my various recipes, I took to the internet to find one that would be a little easier to prepare, so more time could be spent socializing (aka wine-time). I came across this recipe from A Healthy Life for Me. It looked amazing. I chose to add some garlic, cherry tomatoes, white wine and lemon to it and increased the quantities because of my party of six. After seeing the pile of shells and empty bowls at the end of the night, I decided that we had made a successful dish.

braised mahi-mahi and shellfish with leeks and mushrooms:

3 TB extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup)
4 large garlic cloves, minced
3 1/2 oz. pkg fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced
3 large leeks, halved and thinly sliced – white and light green parts only
kosher salt and black pepper
1 cup dry white wine
6 cups lower-salt chicken broth
6 mahi-mahi filets, skinned
1 lb. bag of little neck clams, scrubbed
1 lb. bag of mussels, scrubbed
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
crushed red pepper
1 lemon, zested, then sliced into rounds
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
crushed red pepper

get started on the braised goodness:

Prepare the clams by gently emptying them into a large colander. Under running water, use a stiff bristled brush to scrub them in order to remove grit on the shells. This process takes about 3-4 minutes but it’s worth it so that you don’t bite into sand later. Scoop – don’t pour – clams into a clean bowl and cover with cold water and a 1/4 cup of kosher salt. I have never had a problem with this method, however you can find other methods online that say to just place the clams in a bowl and cover with damp paper towels, and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to clean and use.

Prepare the mussels by placing them on ice in a bowl in your refrigerator until you are ready to clean and use.

In a large enameled cast iron pot, heat up the olive oil over medium heat. Add in the butter and melt until bubbly, but not brown. Add garlic, mushrooms and leeks. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until vegetables are softened, about 8 minutes. Add the wine cook for 1 minute. Add broth and increase the heat to medium high, and bring to a boil.

Season the mahi-mahi on both sides with salt and pepper. Nestle the mahi-mahi into the broth. When adding the clams, remove them from the bowl with a slotted spoon and into the broth. Do not pour clams into a colander – you risk covering the clams with the grit that was dispensed from inside the clam shells which will be at the bottom of the bowl. Finally add the mussels, and bring the broth back up to a boil. Add grape tomatoes and stir gently. Cover tightly with a lid and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 8 minutes or until the fish is just cooked through and opaque. If there are clams and mussels that have not opened, remove the fish and continue cooking the shellfish another 2-3 minutes. Discard any shellfish that have not opened. With a slotted spoon, remove all the fish, shellfish from the pot and into a serving bowl or dish. Pour vegetables and broth over the fish and add the lemon zest. Garnish with crushed red pepper, lemon slices and fresh parsley.