Mushrooms Roasting on an Open Fire

Halfway through December and I am furiously cooking several things today in the fast and furious test kitchen. I baked two pans of apple bars for Thursday’s meeting of the online meetup mastermind group. I made gingerbread dough for tonight’s class at St Vincent’s Villa where I volunteer teaching the girls basic healthy cooking. On top of that I tested a new original recipe roasting mushrooms with root vegetables for a great tasting side dish. All before the busy weekend approaches.

vegie goodness

This weekend has me taking a class at the Intl Culinary Center in good ole’ New York City. The class is on spices, a part of cooking that most struggle with. For example, I heard an interview on NPR with the owner of the little spice box(La Boîte A Epices) shop in New York City describe an experience where as a new chef he was asked by the boss chef “how many herbs, and spices can you name”? He could come up with about 40, but the boss chef knew of, and used over 160! That got me interested in learning more about herbs and spices right there and then. With any luck I’ll come away from the class with lots of new ways to use the herbs and spices I have, and add some herbs and spices to my collection for testing.

With that in mind I give you today’s recipe that will give you a chance to play around with herbs. This recipe can be done with several different herbs to create a lovely side dish. I’ve listed three herbs to consider using in this dish as a combination or just one of them. I also list two seasoning blends that will work well if you want to try either. My favorite seasoning blend is Spike, but I like Lawrey’s and Mrs Dash too. Not that I have a problem with grabbing one or more of the 50 plus herb and spice choices from my cabinet, but sometimes I just love the simplicity of shaking some Spike on a dish I’m cooking and be done with it. There is no hard core right or wrong as long as you are pleased with your results. So give it a try and please leave comments on how your test drive of this recipe came out.

Oven Roasted Mushrooms with Root Vegetables

1 medium sized baking potato, cut into one inch pieces

4-8 ounces fresh royal trumpet mushrooms, or shitake mushrooms

2 cups golden beets, or rutabaga cut into one inch pieces

1 large carrot slice into one half inch slices

1/2 medium yellow or white onion cut into one inch pieces

1 red bell pepper cut into one inch pieces

2 tablespoons garlic infused olive oil with 2-4 cloves of the garlic that flavored it ,http://www.fastandfuriouscook.com/garlic-infused-olive-oil-roasted-garlic/

1 teaspoon of Lawrey’s seasoning salt, or Spike seasoning salt

ground black pepper to taste

the goods

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until coated with the oil.

Spread onto a baking sheet pan and cook for 25-30 minutes or just until tender.

Do not overcook!

Stir after 15 minutes of baking.

Serves four as a side dish.

Note:

Butternut squash can be used in place of potatoes.

Turnips can be used if golden beets, and  rutabagas can’t be found.

Several herbs go well with this such as:

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried tarragon

1 teaspoon dried thyme

or a combination of the above.

If using shitake mushrooms remove and discard stems.

Makes a great side dish with roasted chicken, pork or beef.

Makes a great vegetarian main dish when feta cheese is sprinkled on top during the last 3-5 minutes of cooking.