Blogfinger Photo. Ocean Grove, New Jersey
By Eileen Goldfinger, Food editor @Blogfinger
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2 large Portobello mushrooms
3 Campari tomatoes
5 mozzarella balls (size of half a golf ball), halved
basil paste (produce dept. of Wegmans) or substitute pesto
1 teaspoon shallot thyme finishing butter (dairy dept. of Wegmans)
extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
pinch of salt, per mushroom
4 turns of a pepper mill, per mushroom
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Remove the stem from each mushroom. Wipe the top of each mushroom with a paper towel. Rub each one with extra virgin olive oil, and pour a teaspoon of the oil on the inside of each mushroom.
Place the mushrooms, top side down, on the baking sheet. Add a 1/2 teaspoon of butter thyme to the inside of each mushroom.
Remove the two ends of each of the tomatoes and slice the tomatoes so that you end up with 10 slices. Place the slices inside the mushroom with one slice in the center and the other slices surrounding it.
Add pinch of salt and 4 turns of the pepper mill to each mushroom.
Add 1/8 teaspoon of basil paste on top of each slice of tomato.
Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano on each mushroom.
Place each half of mozzarella ball on top of each tomato slice.
Bake at 450 degrees in oven for 30 minutes or until the mozzarella has melted and the tomatoes have softened.
Serves 2
As a side dish I served half an avocado per mushroom.
Squeeze the juice from a quarter of a lime on each half of the avocado.
Mix a tablespoon of mayonnaise with 1/2 teaspoon of white horseradish (find it in a jar in the refrigerated department) and place the mixture in the center of the avocado where the pit used to be.
LOUIS PRIMA. “Buono Sera:”
Regular frozen shoe-string French fries by Wegmans.
That looks & sounds So GOOD! Are the FF’s Sweet Potaotes?
Paul. I have eaten plenty of Wegman’s avocados over the years. I live in New York for the most part. These days, I tend to leave the car parked in its spot on a pier high above the Hudson River and take the train to Ocean Grove. On my way to Penn Station, I pass a Whole Foods Store and stop in there for my New Jersey provisions. They also have a ready to eat avocado display. I suspect that when they are on the verge of over ripeness, the avocados are donated to food banks. Whole Foods also has horse radish roots and I have been known to buy one and grind my own. I grew up in a Manhattan building where a lot of my friends’ grandmothers hand grated their own horse radish. I can still remember sitting in kitchens watching the process, my five year old sinuses totally clear in no time! It’s much easier and faster these days with a Cuisinart.
Michael: As the procurer of goods for Eileen’s kitchen, I can tell you that all the avocados at Delicious Orchards in Colts Neck are hard as a rock, but Wegmans usually has a display of ready-to-eat avocados; I don’t know how they do it, because one or two more days, and those avocados are history.
Avocados contain many nutrients and are great in salads and guacamole. This link has Eileen’s guacamole (aka “mole”) recipe. And don’t forget, guacamole is the national dish in Guacemala —Paul
http://blogfinger.net/2012/11/17/a-gift-from-the-aztecs-provides-a-business-opportunity-for-some-floridians/
Mayonnaise and white horseradish over a limed avocado half. Now there’s a good idea. I’m doing it tonight and probably many nights thereafter. Thanks Eileen!