Monday Meals: Mushroom Arugula Toast with Fried Egg

Confession: I haven't been cooking much in the past few weeks. Helping out at the store and planning trips to DC and Central America has sadly kept me from the kitchen. So I was glad to have a night last week with little going on and this recipe to try. I love every one of these ingredients: bread, olive oil, mushrooms, fried egg, lots of salt and garlic. I didn't have a lemon or creme fraiche, and I used minced garlic since I didn't have a clove. But I did add some arugula to the toast to make the saltiness less intense and cover all the major food groups. I also apparently needed some greens because it hit the spot.

Ingredients:

4 thick slices country bread
6 tbsps extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for the bread
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp butter
6 cups assorted wild mushrooms, chopped
Sea salt
Sprinkle of rosemary

4 or 5 cups of arugula
4 large eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Brush the bread slices with olive oil and transfer them to a baking sheet.

2. Toast the bread in the oven, flipping the slices over once, until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes.

3. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the butter in a large cast-iron or nonstick skillet. Add the mushrooms, sea salt, rosemary, and garlic, and sauté for about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms have softened.

4. Remove from heat. Heat the remaining 4 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over low heat.

5. Crack each egg individually into a small bowl and then pour the egg into the skillet, being careful not to break the yolk. Cover and cook for a few minutes, until the whites have cooked but the yolks are still a bit runny. Season with salt and pepper.

6. To assemble the toast, spread arugula over each slice, followed by about 2 tablespoons of the cooked mushrooms, and finally a fried egg. Serve.

Monday Meals: Chicken and Mushroom Sauce

I love a good chicken and mushroom recipe. So when I saw this one on Pinterest (obvi), I wanted to try it right away. This slow weekend was the perfect opportunity. Though the recipe, found here, says to buy bone-in chicken and bake it, I bought boneless and kept it in the skillet. It was easier and still delicious. Win win. The whole thing, in fact, is fairly simple, and I can see this being a future staple for those busy week nights.

I'm using her picture because the ones I took were terrible.

Ingredients:

3 or 4 boneless chicken breasts

Sliced mushrooms (I always use a lot because I love them)

Olive oil

Minced garlic

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 cup heavy cream or half & half

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1 tablespoon whole grain mustard

Salt and pepper to taste.

Heat chicken over medium to high heat until they are about halfway cooked through. Set aside. In another pan, heat olive oil and garlic over medium heat and add mushrooms, cooking until they are almost brown. Stir in chicken broth, thyme, oregano and basil. Add chicken to the mushrooms, cover and turn heat down to low-medium. Let cook for 10-15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken. Add cream, Parmesan and mustard to the mushrooms. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally until it's slightly reduced and creamy. Et voila! Pour sauce over chicken and serve.

Monday Meals: Honey Mustard Maple Chicken

We all know how fond I am of maple, so I was so excited to find out that making something that combined two of my favorite things, maple syrup and honey mustard, I was more than ecstatic. There are lots of pinterest recipes on this, like here and here, and all of them are simple to make and delicious to eat. My variation has mushrooms and a bit of rosemary. And I know I should do measurements, but I kind of fly by the seat of my pants in the kitchen, clearly. That's part of the fun! And anyway, if you're cooking with fresh, delicious ingredients, I don't think you can really go wrong.

Honey Mustard Maple Chicken

2 chicken breasts

honey mustard

maple syrup

sliced mushrooms

minced garlic

olive oil

fresh rosemary



Heat oil (or butter) in a pan with minced garlic and brown the mushrooms. Cook the chicken over the stove about half way through. In a separate bowl, mix honey mustard and maple syrup together. (I like the sauce a little more liquid-y, so my honey mustard to maple syrup ratio is about 30:70. More honey mustard will yield a thicker sauce, more syrup a runnier sauce. It doesn't really matter as long as you're happy with it. It's your chicken, right?)

Put the half-cooked chicken on a baking sheet with sides about an inch or two high. Add the garlic mushrooms. Drizzle the sauce over the chicken. Place rosemary sprigs on and around the chicken. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked all the way through.

I like to have broccoli or green beans on the side and maybe some brown rice or mashed potatoes. Any extra honey mustard maple sauce goes right on that starch. Oh, and make sure you have a glass of red wine to wash everything down.