Wild Mushroom Mini Arancini

Wild Mushroom Mini Arancini
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Wild Mushroom Mini Arancini or mini deep fried mushroom rice balls for the uninitiated are such a great food to have on hand in the freezer.

Not only are they a great ‘fast food’ to pad out a salad but they are also fantastic to have for emergency nibbles when friends or family pop around.

This volume makes about 60 arancini but this will depend on how big or small you make each ball. To freeze the remaining arancini you simply take the recipe up to the breadcrumb coating stage and then place them on a lined baking tray so they aren’t touching each other and freeze overnight. You then place them into a ziplock bag till required. Cook them from frozen, do not defrost.

Serve them with a garlic aioli and a harissa paste or similar spicy, hot sauce.

… would love to be serving these out of a food truck. You know what they say, put the wish out there, the dream may come true – Blondie 🙂

Wild Mushroom Mini Arancini

Pine Mushroom & Pork Pot Stickers

Pine Mushroom & Pork Pot Stickers
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Pine Mushroom & Pork Pot Stickers… Dumplings have always held a soft food spot to my stomach, and luckily for me they are found in most countries around the word in some form or another – ravioli, ebelskiver, pierogi, gyoza or samosa just to name a few.

These pot stickers are one of my favourite dumplings with the crusty, browned base and the soft, velvety top. What happens inside almost takes second place to the perfectly cooked skin.

These pot stickers can be eaten straight up, but I choose not to flavour the filling too strongly with seasonings so as to keep the flavour of the mushrooms. The flavour boost comes in the form of the dipping sauce. This is where you can go wild with flavour, maybe having several different sauces to dip into.

Happy dipping! Blondie 🙂

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Wild Mushroom Tarte Tatin with Taleggio and Vino Cotto Drizzle

Wild Mushroom Tarte Tatin with Taleggio and Vino Cotto Drizzle
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Wild Mushroom Tarte Tatin with Taleggio and Vino Cotto Drizzle… With Mother’s Day only a month away, I thought I would put up a recipe that would surely bowl her over, especially if you turn up with a bottle of bubbly to go along with it – it would certainly put a smile on my face!

I have used Pine Mushrooms aka Saffron mIlk Cap Mushrooms because the colour is so vibrant and they still retain a firm texture (and I have a ton from our last mushrooming venture!) but if you are having trouble getting a hold of them you could use a Swiss brown and button mushroom mix.

The Vino Cotto adds a gorgeous sweetness to the earthy mushrooms and the melted Taleggio is to die for. Each crispy bite is heaven!

This is such an adaptable dish for whatever the occasion is as you can make a large version to share around a table, or individual tarts that can be served with a little salad on the side as an entree or even as finger food, made in little muffin tins to pass around at parties – and everyone is going to love them!

Happy Mother’s Day!  Blondie

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Smoked Mushroom Bruschetta w/ Wild Cherry Brandy Sauce

Wild Musrhoom Bruschetta
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As simple as this dish looks, this bruschetta mix was a whole weekend’s labour of LOVE! Yes it took me a whole weekend to do!

Let me explain…the mushroom bruschetta mix you are looking at comprises of oyster, swiss brown and shiitake mushrooms. They have all been lightly smoked using hickory chips, dehydrated overnight and re-hydrated prior to cooking.

This isn’t your average bruschetta mix, it’s what I will call heaven on sourdough, if there ever was such a thing!

So why all the effort? Mushrooms are yummy on their own, however I wanted to experiment and take them to the next level. Ever since I was a little girl I remember that mum would slow dry her slippery jacks or saffron’s in the oven overnight, the house would be filled with the most amazing aroma, the drying process would accentuate the flavour of the mushroom giving them a much richer and deeper flavour. Did I just sound like Manu from the Continental Stock commercial???

I know I sound like I am bragging but my efforts paid off! I cannot begin to explain the taste sensation. Smoking the mushrooms gave them that meaty, hearty taste without the meat!

Ohhhh and the tiny drizzle of Walsh’s Homemade Wild Cherry Brandy sauce took it to another dimension, honestly out of this world!

It took a whole weekend to cook but ohhh so worth it!

With love from a self-professed mushroom addict…a.k.a Bella

PS…a huge thank you to the ABC’s The Cook & the Chef for providing inspiration and base ideas for this recipe.