Mushroom and Zucchini Saute

I saw The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks referenced on a blog somewhere and it intrigued me, especially as I’ve had friends ask me to offer some cooking classes some  evenings in my home.  Whether you already like to cook or feel like you should learn some basics, this is a fun read. And there is lots of non “recipe” guidance on how to do things, as well as some great recipes.

I was intrigued by the Alfredo sauce, as my girls have long loved the Desperation Dinners Nearly Alfredo Sauce, made from cream cheese that is decidedly more low fat and has a different taste with the nutmeg. But I wanted to try to “real thing” for once.  My youngest has been asking for some ravioli for a while so I bought some frozen ones. (I have made them from scratch in the past but was not up to that right now, although they are delicious!)

I was also taken with the various “Flavor Bursts”, good combinations of herbs and citrus and oils and vinegars and such for vegetables, salad dressings, and such.

I missed one small detail for the Alfredo sauce, which was to use a saute pan or skillet to make the sauce. I started in a small saucepan and I think the timing was off as the cream would have thickened faster in a shallower pan.  The flavor was great but the sauce was runny. So I’m not writing that up yet!

Sauteed Mushrooms and Zucchini with Lemon Sauce

The vegetables were to-die-for good though. My daughter was thrilled with them and happily packed up a lunch for tomorrow with the leftover ravioli and sauce and ALL the leftover vegetables as well!

I had some leftover sliced mushrooms from the pizza making Saturday night and used a good cup of them plus a small zucchini from my garden. I tried to make the zucchini slices and the mushroom slices about the same size.  I started with a blend of butter and olive oil.

First I made the flavor burst sauce. I actually combined two of the book’s ideas, a garlic citrus butter with the herb lemon oil.  I used basil because that’s what is growing in my yard right now. In the winter I’d use rosemary which is ALWAYS growing in my yard.  You could also use tarragon, oregano or thyme–whatever you like or grow or have access to.

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp butter
• zest of 1/2 a lemon
• juice from the same 1/2 a lemon
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 Tbs chopped fresh basil

Heat the oil and butter, add the other ingredients and cook over medium low heat until the garlic is softened.  Turn off the heat and let it sit while you finish other things.

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp butter
• a cup or so of sliced mushrooms
• a medium zucchini, sliced lengthwise in half and then sliced crosswise

Heat the oil and butter in a skillet, then add the vegetables. Cook, stirring, until done, about 5-20 minutes.

Pour the flavoring over it and stir, taste, then add salt and pepper if you’d like.

One of the key take-aways in this book is to TASTE. Don’t trust a recipe as written. Follow your tastes. That took me a long time to learn. I used to be a slave to recipes. Now I read them and think “Oh, I like THAT but I don’t like that.” Or “That seems like a lot of X. I’d better start small and taste.”

In hindsight, I could have lowered the amount of oil and butter, as it pooled up a bit.  I think I could do it all in one pan, cooking the vegetables a few minutes and THEN adding the flavoring bits (without the additional oil and butter) before the vegetables were totally done.

However, the way I did it was delicious!  And, as I said, my daughter eagerly packed up the leftover vegetables for lunch, and the leftover oil and butter was thrown away not eaten.

I am not a slave to recipes by any  means but the chapter on vegetables in this book had me thinking a bit differently.  I don’t like mushrooms really so would never have thought to cook them like this, but the chapter on leftovers got me thinking about making the best use of things and so when I picked the zucchini tonight I looked in the fridge for something that would go with it.  I might otherwise have just sauteed the mushrooms in butter for my daughter (who does like mushrooms) but this way we both enjoyed them.

Note: I bought this book. I was not compensated in any way for this mini review.

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