2 years later & OMG... thats Onions, Mushrooms & Garlic

It has been some time since I've posted anything. Some time indeed, but hey if Julie can up and ditch her blog I figure I might as well re-start this one.

Cooking and all that surrounds it.

You know that giddy feeling you get, the one that makes you forget about all the problems in the the world for a bit and you just want to relish in that moment. That's been me lately with a resurgence of getting back into the kitchen and making things that give me that giddy feeling.

OMG!!

Yesterday we had steak, and while I'm not a big steak eater there really is nothing I enjoy more than having some good toppings go on a mediocre steak. Why mediocre? Because I'm on a budget damn it and I can't afford the ten dollar a pound rib eye. So we settle for the three or four dollar a pound steaks.

I've read and heard your food is only as good as the ingredients you purchase so sometimes you have to doctor things up a bit. So the doctor part for the steaks would be caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms and roasted garlic.

Caramelized onions how much do you need? Well we figured this out last night, for a family of five at least three large onions about the size of a baseball. I say three because I like a lot of onions, you might be able to get away with two. Slice up your onions however you like and place in an oiled pan on high heat. Stir around a bit to make sure they are coated then let them sit for a few minutes then give then give another good stir. We want the onions to stick a bit to the pan but not burn. Do this every so often it's going to take about 30 minutes or so to get these guys just right. If you find your pan getting a bit dry add some water maybe a few tablespoons and/or lower your heat. Additionally you can add a dash a salt, but seeing as there is no clear consensus on a recipe of making them this is what I did.

Sauteed Mushrooms - Putting the fun in fungi... I don't write them I just tell them. Now you can use whatever mushroom you see fit, seeing as we didn't hit up our usual market I conceded on the plain ol sliced white button mushroom package that was offered. Heat up a pan on medium heat, add some butter, dump in the mushrooms give them a quick stir and cover for a few minutes. They should have reduced in size and released a good portion of their moisture, if not then cover back up and check again in a few minutes. I like mine to be a bit browned and once most of the moisture has cooked away I called it a day.

Roasted Garlic... I can still smell it on me today. Now I get this weird fixation on certain ingredients from time to time. Yesterday it was roasted garlic and what can I do with it. Seeing has how it turns into a butter like substance when you roast it I figured I'd add to the sauteed mushrooms while they were cooking, but seriously roasted garlic is just one of the simple things that goes great with so many things. Now I'm only familiar with the basic garlic you get in your average grocery store. Take what full head of garlic you have and cut off the tops just exposing the garlic, place on a baking sheet or make an aluminum tray from foil, drizzle on some olive oil and sprinkle with salt and place in a pre-heated 400 degree over for about 30 minutes. Take out let it cool enough to handle. You should be able to squeeze the garlic out like toothpaste at this point. Now this is where I was wanted to make on aioli, but I didn't feel like breaking out the food processor and I just mashed it into a paste in a small bowl. 



I have to say I don't think I really enjoy steak all the much without said toppings.