Not-French Stuffed Mushrooms

Easy Stuffed Mushrooms

Take 15 largish mushrooms and pull out the stems. Plop a tablespoon or so of Rondele Spinach-Artichoke Cheese Blend (or whatever it's called) into the gap. Sprinkle with panko or bread crumbs. Bake in 350 F oven for 15 minutes, or until breadcrumbs have browned. Serve warm.

They are very tasty. Not core and probably not something to eat everyday.

Girl-Child saw them arranged on a plate on the table (sorry, I don't have a photo).
"Are these French?" she asked.
"No," we responded. "Why do you ask?"
"Because all French food looks disgusting. So I thought these were French."

Important Fruit Clarification and Dunnett Connection

The dried currants which we buy at the store (usually from Sun-Maid) are not the dried form of the fruit "currant" (which I always associate with Grandma B.) but rather a dried grape. The "Zante Currant" is actually the name of a grape. Wikipedia explains the confusion of names. The Currant Company rather vociferously huffs and puffs about the confusion of names.

The anti-oxidant benefits of currants apply to true currants (a Ribes) and not to zante currants (Vitis vinefera). So don't go pouring them in your batter thinking they'll make your cream scones healthy -- you'll have to get some true dried ribes for that. (And perhaps cut out the cream, the refined sugar and the white flour, too.)

The Dunnett connection is too totally obvious. Zante Currants are named for the island of Zakynthos, where of course our lovely Philippa discovers peachy sweet Kuzum. The naming confusion comes from the old French "raisins de Corauntz" -- which language, of course, our Philippa spoke (had she not been a fictional character).

(Photo not mine; from a website.)

Still Life with Reindeer

I made a "Black Cake" for the holidays this year. The recipe came from the Houston Chronicle, published in early July, 2008. I was in Houston to attend my aunt's funeral, and I liked the idea of making the cake as a sort of tribute to her, even though I don't know if she ever made fruit cake. The recipe starts by calling for macerating dried fruit for several months in Manischewitz wine, which I dutifully carried out.

Mom used to make a fabulous fruit cake, which her children loved (from what I've heard, the fruit-cake-gene did not make it to the next generation). Hers is a very dark, crumbly but moist mixture of dried fruits and just enough cake to barely hold it all together, with big chunks of candied cherry punctuating the "healthy" fruit. And then it is soaked in brandy for as many months as possible (I remember the Christmas when I realized the brandy was a good flavor, and I could stop pushing the outer crust of cake to the side of the plate.) Last time I asked, she didn't have a recipe, or didn't know where it was, or something. Anyway, I'm going to put pressure on her to find it, or to make one up for me to try.

This "Black Cake" is pretty good. It is certainly moist, and if there aren't enough cherries, that's my own fault for not adding enough. It is far too light in flavor, however. The recipe called for a frosting of fondant, which I tried out of curiosity. I didn't make the fondant, but bought it in a box from a specialty store as recommended by several cookbooks. I wouldn't recommend it to others, unless you have a need for a splendid look (because even with the rips, uneven "ribbon" and smeared icing dots that I amateurishly produced, it looks quite wonderful), but the flavor was merely acceptable. (I am not a big frosting fan, however.)