Strata With Mushrooms And Chard Recipes

Steps:

• If the bread is soft, toast it lightly and rub each slice front and back with the cut clove of garlic. Cut in 1-inch dice. If the bread is stale, just rub the slices with garlic and cut them into 1-inch dice. Place in a very large bowl, and toss with 2/3 cup of the milk. Set aside.
• Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl or a Pyrex measuring cup, and cover with 1 1/2 cups boiling water. Allow to sit for 30 minutes. Set a strainer over a bowl, line with cheesecloth, a coffee filter or paper towels, and drain the mushrooms. Squeeze the mushrooms over the strainer to extract all of the broth. Rinse, away from the strainer, in several changes of water to wash off sand. Squeeze out excess water. Chop coarsely. Measure out 1 cup of the mushroom broth, and combine with the remaining milk.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil or butter a 2-quart baking dish or gratin. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, and add the chard. Stir until the leaves begin to wilt in the liquid left on them after washing. Cover the pan, and let the chard steam until it has completely collapsed, about two minutes. Uncover and stir. When all of the chard has wilted, remove from the pan and rinse briefly with cold water. Press or squeeze out excess liquid. Chop coarsely and set aside.
• Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to the pan, turn the heat down to medium and add the minced garlic. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds, and stir in the reconstituted mushrooms, the rosemary and the chard. Stir together for a couple of minutes, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat, and transfer to the bowl with the bread cubes. Add the cheeses, and toss together. Arrange in the baking dish.
• Beat together the eggs in a medium bowl. Add salt to taste (I use 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon), the remaining milk and the mushroom broth. Add a few twists of the peppermill and pour over the bread. Press the bread down into the custard mixture. Sprinkle a little Parmesan over the top, and drizzle on the remaining olive oil. Place in the oven, and bake 40 to 50 minutes, until puffed and browned. Remove from the oven, and serve hot or warm.

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms, onion, and garlic; cook and stir until onion is translucent and mushrooms soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in Swiss chard, red pepper, oregano, basil, salt, and black pepper. Cook until Swiss chard is wilted, about 3 minutes. Stir in white wine; cook until Swiss chard is tender, 3 to 4 minutes more.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté until tender, about 8 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cool.
• Combine bread and milk in large bowl. Let stand until milk is absorbed, about 15 minutes.
• Whisk half and half and next 6 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Stir in goat cheese.
• Place half of bread mixture in single layer in prepared glass baking dish (bread will not cover bottom of baking dish). Top with half each of mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, Fontina cheese, and half and half mixture. Repeat layering with remaining bread, mushrooms, Parmesan and Fontina cheeses, and half and half mixture. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
• Bake strata uncovered until firm in center, puffed and golden, about 1 hour.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• In a large skillet cook onion and garlic in hot margarine or butter over medium heat for 2 minutes.
• Add mushrooms and cook about 3 minutes more or until tender, stirring occasionally.
• Remove from heat.
• In a small mixing bowl combine the mozzarella, fontina, and herbs; toss to mix.
• In a greased 2-quart square baking dish place half of the bread cubes.
• Top with the mushroom mixture, cheese mixture, and prosciutto or Canadian-style bacon.
• Top with the remaining bread cubes.
• In a mixing bowl combine beaten eggs or egg product, milk, sour cream, mustard, and pepper.
• Pour over layers in dish.
• Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 2 to 24 hours.
• Bake, uncovered, for 55 to 60 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
• Let stand 10 minutes.
• To serve, cut into squares; garnish with fresh thyme sprigs.

Steps:

• Combine the barley or rice and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add salt to taste, reduce the heat and simmer the barley for 1 hour, brown rice for 35 to 40 minutes, or until tender. Set a strainer over a bowl and drain the grains. Retain the cooking water.
• While the grains are cooking, stem the chard and wash thoroughly in two changes of water. Chop coarsely. If the stalks are merely thick, dice them; if they are stringy, discard them.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat in a large, wide skillet or wok. Add the mushrooms and chard stems, if using, and cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms sear and begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme and a generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the chard and raise the heat to high. Cook, stirring, until the chard wilts, which shouldn't take more than 3 minutes (you may have to add the chard in batches, depending on the size of your pan). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Once the chard has wilted, add .75 cup of the cooking water from the rice or barley. Cover and simmer over low heat for 3 minutes, or until the chard is tender. Uncover, stir and if you wish to have more sauce with the vegetables, add more cooking water from the grains and stir until it reduces to the desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning. Drizzle on the remaining oil and serve with the grains.

Steps:

• Make the grits: Cook the grits with water according to the package instructions in a large, heavy-bottomed pot, stirring occasionally and adding more water if needed to ensure no grits stick to the pot. The cook time can range from 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the age and quality of the grits. When the grits are tender, remove from the hot burner and pour in the oat cream, oil and salt, stir well, and cover. (If you cooked the grits with salt, then start with 1 teaspoon and add more to taste.) Set aside.
• Meanwhile, make the sauce: Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium. Once heated, add the onion quarter, jalapeño and garlic cloves. Char and slightly cook the vegetables, turning occasionally. The garlic will likely be done first, after 4 or 6 minutes. Place each item in a bowl when charred and cover with a lid.
• When the charred vegetables are cool to the touch, remove the outer skin of the onion, the jalapeño stem and the garlic peels. If you are very sensitive to spice, slice the jalapeño in half lengthwise and remove one half's seeds and white veins to make it much milder.
• In a blender or mini food processor, blend the onion, jalapeño and garlic with the lemon juice, olive oil and cilantro until smooth. Add more olive oil if needed to blend, 1 tablespoon at a time. Clean the mushrooms with a damp towel and break apart or cut at the stem into 2-inch pieces. Place the mushrooms in a bowl and pour the jalapeño sauce on top; let sit for at least 15 minutes.
• Make the chard: Place the chard shiny side down on a cutting board and slice the stems and ribs away from the green leaves. Stack the leaves in a pile and cut crosswise into thin strips. Transfer to a bowl, toss with 2 tablespoons oil, and season with salt and pepper.
• Cut the chard stems into 2-inch-long matchsticks. In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup water with the jalapeño, vinegar, garlic, onion and sugar, and bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat, add the chard stems and let sit, uncovered, for at least 10 minutes.
• Heat a medium cast-iron skillet over medium, add the chard leaves and cook, using tongs to move them around quickly in order to keep their bright green color, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
• In the same skillet, add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Set over medium-high heat. Shake excess sauce off the mushrooms back into the bowl; too much sauce will cause them to steam instead of sear. Add the mushrooms to the hot oil, and cook until tender and caramelized, 2 to 5 minutes per side.
• To serve, spoon the grits onto a large platter and top with the chard, mushrooms and pickled stems.