Savoury Mushroom Custard Cups

It's cold outside

Very, very cold. The rain is pelting and snow is falling on the mountains, so with a severe weather warning for our district I'm definitely hunkering down inside for the foreseeable future

Staying indoors means I'm not getting any sun (not that it's shining anyway!) and that means my Vitamin D levels aren't getting the top up they need to keep me as healthy and happy as I should be

Did you know that mushrooms are an important source of Vitamin D, and that they can soak up even more by exposure to sunlight or other UV lighting? I figured I need all the help I can get so I decided to set some of my Mushroom Bounty out in the sun over the weekend before it disappeared behind the sleet. Now I don't know if this trick works on already harvested mushrooms, but I figured it was worth a go, right? **Update- Yes, it really does work!**

To check out the health benefits of mushrooms and how they can naturally boost your levels of Vitamin D, check out Here to find out more about the Mighty Power of Mushrooms 


Soaking up some rays!

For me?

Full of Vitamin D, can you tell the difference? :)

Now that the Mushrooms have absorbed all that healthy Vitamin D, it's my turn- what better way than to bake them up into a yummy lunch that will warm me up and make me healthy too!



Savoury Baked Mushroom Custard Cups

1 cup lactose free Cream
1 cup lactose free Milk
6 Eggs
6 Mushrooms
3 slices gluten free Bread
3 slices Bacon
1/2 cup lactose free Cheese- I used Goat Cheese as I can tolerate it
1 clove Garlic
Drizzle of Oil
Seasoning


Pop the mushrooms, bacon and bread on a baking tray

Grate over the garlic, then drizzle with the oil

Bake for 15 minutes or until it's all nicely crispy and crunchy

A few extra yummies

Combine the eggs, cream, milk and seasonings. Beat together until combined well

Divvy up the cheese and the crispy, baked goodies into some ramekins

Fill up with the eggy mix. Let them sit for 15minutes or so, then top them up again

Bake at 160*C in a water bath for about 45mins to an hour, or until the tops are set and the custard has just a little wobble in the middle. It will take a little longer than you'd expect because of the fillings

Slightly puffed and pretty

You can eat these piping hot from the oven right away, or leave them to set for about 20 minutes when you can turn them out and they should be able to hold their own weight

I personally think these little lovelies look much prettier turned upside down with their pale underbelly showing. They have been exposed to the sunlight, but there's not much of a tan-line showing here :)

Chock full of goodies and healthy Vitamin D. In this case I definitely think Vitamin D stands for Delicious!

Don't forget that Buying Local is Best, and I would like to thank Australian Mushroom Growers Buy Local Campaign and Majestic Mushrooms of Murrumbateman for providing me with such lovely local specimens

For more information on this campaign and the wonderful health benefits of mushrooms, check out:
 Facebook: powerofmushrooms

 Twitter @Mighty_mushroom

 Instagram: powerofmushrooms

 Pinterest: powerofmushrooms

 Website www.powerofmushrooms

 Hashtag #powerofmushrooms 

So Dear Readers, do you think you get enough Vitamin D, and how's the weather at your place today?

Baked Breakfast-With-The-Lot Mushrooms

I really like the idea of breakfast


I have whole cookbooks and clipped folders devoted to awesome recipes and morning munchies

I do eat breakfast, but I don't really enjoy it first up in the morning. I'd much rather wait a while and enjoy it properly when I've had time to wake up a bit, more of a brunch thing actually. BigJ really likes a proper breakfast, one that has all the necessities- eggs, bacon, sausage, tomato, toast and mushrooms. I like a breakfast that has all this yumminess without a whole heap of effort or mess, after all, standing at a hot pan in my PJ's isn't all that appealing. There had to be a better way.....

As I'm having my own little Mushroom Week here at the InTolerant Chef, working with Australian Mushroom Growers and promoting the Power of Mushrooms, I wanted to show how lovely they would be in a tasty baked breakfast or brunch dish that still included all the basics of a good, old fashioned, Breakfast with the Lot but with a lot less hassle- yummo!

Baked Breakfast-With-The-Lot Mushrooms
Per Serve:

1 large cap Mushroom
1 gf Sausage
1 Egg

Extras:
gf Bread
halved Tomatoes
Bacon



When choosing your mushroom, pick ones that have a really nice deep cap. Carefully remove the stems from the mushrooms. Make sure they sit nice and flat on a tray- trim a little slice off the top if you need to

Very carefully crack an egg into the cup of each mushroom- this is why it needs to be nice and deep

Slit the side of the sausage to get to the goodness within
You can use any mince or sausage you like for these lovelies. I choose a gf pork and fennel one that I thought sounded nice, but a chorizo would be great too

Form each sausage into a patty that's large enough to fit over one of your mushrooms. Wet hands are a really good tip if the meat is sticky

Place the patty gently over the egg, making sure you don't break the yolk. Then carefully pinch the edges of the patty around the rim of the mushroom. Don't leave any little gaps or the egg might leak out. Season everything well with salt and pepper, and drizzle with a bit of oil if you like

Place the mushroom, tomatoes and bacon on a baking tray and bake for about 15 minutes on 180*C. You want the sausage to be cooked through and the mushroom and tomato to be hot and softened

Look how nice and brown they've gone! I popped my bread in to toast for the last 5 minutes or so as well- why bother with the toaster when the oven's already on, right :)

Serve up your delicious breakfast on plates you also warmed up in the oven while your breakfast baked. How civilized- no standing at the stove, no splattering fat. You could even prepare all these the night before and have the tray ready to pop in the oven while you boil the kettle for your morning cup of tea- easy peasy!

Now, I baked these for 20 minutes as I got slightly distracted ... they were still delicious, but think how perfect they would be with a gorgeous, oozy yolk- yummo indeed!

So Dear Readers, do you like a leisurely brunch, or do you bolt down a quick muesli bar and cup of coffee on the way to work?

Thanks again to Majestic Mushrooms and the Australian Mushroom Growers Buy Local Campaign  for supplying me with such yummy produce. Find out more about them over Here  

 

For more information on this campaign and the wonderful health benefits of mushrooms, check out:
 Facebook: powerofmushrooms

 Twitter @Mighty_mushroom

 Instagram: powerofmushrooms

 Pinterest: powerofmushrooms

 Website www.powerofmushrooms.au

 Hashtag #powerofmushrooms

 

Majestic Mushrooms

Welcome to Mushroom Week at The InTolerant Chef!



I grow a lot of my own veggies, and am quite conscious of where the rest of my food comes from. I prefer to keep Food Miles to a minimum where I can, and what better way than to buy healthy, fresh mushrooms that originate from only 30-50 kms from my door

This month I'm working with Australian Mushroom Growers to help promote the benefits of the Mighty Mushroom and to buy local from our local farmers. Did you know that Canberra has two local Mushroom Farms? Canberra Mushrooms in Yass and Majestic Mushrooms in Murrumbateman both provide amazing goodies that taste great and are so good for you too. I know this because I was generously gifted a huge 4kg box of these little lovelies to play with and enjoy!

During June, Australian Mushroom Growers under the powerofmushrooms campaign will

be promoting the health benefits of mushrooms on Radio 2CC as well as running a competition for

the chance to WIN $500 to dine out on, plus a year’s supply of local mushrooms to enjoy

cooking at home. This competition will run from 9 June until 22 June 2014. To enter, listeners will

need to go to www.2cc.net.au and simply share where they buy their local mushrooms from, and

tell us in 30 words of less why they like to buy local mushrooms.
 

 

 I popped by Majestic Mushrooms stall at the Capital Region Farmers  Markets, held at Epic every Saturday morning to say hello and snap a few photos of the action


So busy, no time to stop...

So many varieties to choose from!

Decisions, decisions...

Plenty to go around, just waiting in the wings

Let's support our local producers, eat fresh and stay healthy. The best places to buy our local lovelies are:

For more information on this campaign and the wonderful health benefits of mushrooms, check out:
 Facebook: powerofmushrooms

 Twitter @Mighty_mushroom

 Instagram: powerofmushrooms

 Pinterest: powerofmushrooms

 Website www.powerofmushrooms

 Hashtag #powerofmushrooms

So Dear Readers, do you like to buy local, and do you love mushrooms as much as me? Also, stay tuned for these yummy mushroom recipes coming this week!

I'd like to thank Majestic Mushrooms for supplying me with a wonderful box of their local lovelies!

 

In My Kitchen- June 14

Last week I wasn't really convinced that Winter was on it's way


Sunny skies, warm weather and a remarkable lack of frostiness had me fooled... but with the first of the month came the chills and rain. The skies start to darken at half past four and pots of soup simmer long and slow on the stove

Luckily with the first of the month comes lovely Celia's In My Kitchen roundup where I love to get my voyeuristic peek into usually much more interesting kitchens around the world. Check out the list Here and of course feel free to join in the fun too!



In My Kitchen...
Is a gorgeous silver Cupcake Server. A Mother's Day gift from MiddleC. Isn't it cute? Now I just need to make some cupcakes...

In My Kitchen...
Are some delicious gluten free loaves from a local bakery. Once a week they take pre-orders, then clean out all their equipment just for us InTolerants. Yummo!

In My Kitchen...
Is a gift from BigJ and littlej. This monster 400 odd page wonder and it's 200 odd page Kitchen Manual with all the recipes. I'd love the other 5 books in the series, but I'll have to save up for them one at a time

Everything is explained scientifically and exhaustively- just look at this explanation on the effects of boiling an egg. Who knew it was so tricky!

In My Kitchen...
Ready for my Kitchen Garden, is a Tamarind Tree. Of course I'll have to shelter it through Winter, but I'm planning on dedicating a section of yard to tropical fruits with a bit of a greenhouse soon

In My Kitchen...
Also for the Kitchen Garden, is a Dwarf Cardamom plant. Hopefully it will flower down here, otherwise apparently you can cook with the leaves. Any ideas Dear Readers?

In My Kitchen...
Are a couple of gorgeous Quinces. One of my favourite fruits indeed! Now I just need to decide if I'll roast them, put them in a crumble or cake, or put them into a Tagine with lamb... Decisions, decisions...

In My Kitchen...
Is a little jar of Tomato and Ginger Jam. I found it at a little bake-sale stall at the local shops, and would have bought more if it wasn't sadly the last jar left :(  I love tomato jam and will have to remember to make some from my own garden next season for sure

In My Kitchen...
Are 6 yummy stuffed and rolled Lamb Breasts ready for the oven. Such an economical and delicious cut of meat! For instructions on how to make these look  Here  just please excuse the messy formatting as I was still learning back then :) With these I can feed my family a nice roast for about $3.50-  that's not each, but for the lot of us!

In My Kitchen...
Is a big, beautiful box of Mushrooms from the lovely Ian at Majestic Mushrooms. I have a couple of posts coming up this month with the Australian Mushroom Growers Association, supporting our local suppliers. With Majestic Mushrooms only about 20 minutes drive away, it's certainly local indeed. I can hardly wait to play with them, but they are packed so prettily that I want to gloat over them just a little while longer first :)

So Dear Readers, do you ever gloat over your kitchen goodies, and do you have anything exciting going on in your kitchen this month?