Mushroom and Pepper Tacos

While on winter break in Spokane, my cousin made some delicious poblano pepper and mushroom tacos.  After gobbling down two and a half tacos, I knew I had to try these.  My best friend is home from school, and we took an overnight trip up to Bellingham for her to meet my roommate and our cat.  This is the perfect opportunity to make this recipe.  Now, even with mild poblano or pasilla peppers this is not an acid reflux friendly recipe.  So I took a zantac and drank some milk with dinner because these tacos are too good to pass up.

Poblano and Mushroom Tacos

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 fresh poblano chile, halved, seeded, thinly sliced into long strips
1/2 small red onion, sliced
2 portobella mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
4 corn tortillas
4 thin slices Monterey jack cheese
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Crumbled feta, or cojita cheese
Toppings of your choice

1) Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet and saute mushrooms, onion, and poblano over medium-high heat until brown, about five minutes.  Mix in the ground cumin and season to taste with salt.  Transfer to bowl.

2) Heat remaining oil in skillet over medium-high.  Add tortillas in single layer, draping up sides of skillet to fit. Divide mushroom mixture among tortillas, mounding only on one side.  Place cheese inside and fold over.  Cook until both sides are browned, about 1 minute per side.  Transfer tacos to plates, open, and add assorted toppings.  I like avocado and sour cream.

They were wonderful!  Now to wash them down with some gelato!

Garlic Knots that make your heart melt

I'm beginning work on a play at my school (as the props master), called Rabbit Hole.  For the read through, our director decided it would be fun to have a pot luck so that cast and crew could get to know each other.  So I decided to make a recipe that I have been drooling on my keyboard over for months.  Mozzarella. Garlic. Knots. These knots are divine and I want to make them for everybody I know.

Garlic Knots

1 store bought pizza dough

5-6 mozzarella sticks, cut into 1/2 inch pieces or 1 1/4 cups shredded mozzarella

1 stick unsalted melted butter

8 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon salt

oregano (enough to sprinkle on top)

Parmesan cheese

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Liberally butter a large baking dish.

2) Finely mince the garlic cloves and salt.  A small food processor (or magic bullet in my case) makes this faster and easier since it needs to be minced into a wet paste.  Stir this mixture into the butter and set aside.

3) On a floured surface, divide the pizza dough into 1 inch pieces.  Pound or stretch each piece out into a circle, about 3 inches wide.  Place the cheese in the center and fold up the dough around it.  Pinch the seams closed, and roll the dough in your hands to smooth the cracks and seams.  The less cracks, the less the cheese will escape while baking.  Place them in the buttered pan so that they just barely touch.

4) Brush the knots with the garlic butter mixture and sprinkle with oregano.  Bake in the oven for about twenty minutes, or until they are puffed up and slightly golden browned.  Once out of the oven, brush with the remaining garlic butter mixture and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (if you have any, i didn't).  Eat them while they are hot and fresh.

They are bomb.  So amazingly delicious that I made them Monday for the read through and Wednesday for a friend.  So delicious.