1 lb mushrooms, finely chopped

1 onion, chopped

6 garlic cloves, or about three spoonfuls of pre-minced garlic

1/2 cup nonfat milk

4 tbls flour

4 tbls chopped fresh parsley

3-4 cups Italian blend shredded cheese

1 lb pizza dough (such as they sell at Winco or Trader Joes)

Cook sausage in a large skillet until browned.  Add onion and garlic, saute until tender, then add mushrooms.  Cook until liquid is mostly evaporated.  Then mix in flour.  Cook for a few more minutes, then add milk and parsley.  Cook until thickened.  Sprinkle about a cup of cheese over prepared crust, add sausage mixture, then add another two cups of cheese over the top.  Bake at about 450 until browned.  15 minutes or so.

Served it with a Celery and Mushroom salad, and we did some things differently.  4 stalks of celery, about 3/4 lb of white mushrooms, both sliced very thin, then truffle-infused olive oil and lemon rind in the dressing.   And the dressing needed doubling.

Perfect Med menu for grilling outside on a hot night. Had a 2007 Verdicchio from Italy

The second recipe is a salad with avacado, cucumber and cherry tomatoes.  It’s also from Cooking Light, however there is one big modification.  I used a cup of couscous instead of farro.  Mostly due to the fact that the store I was at didn’t have farro.  But it was great with the couscous, and would probably do that again.

Had a 2006 Chard-on-yeah Chardonnay from California.  It went really well, with refreshing citrus notes and no oak.

Had Easy Mushroom Orzo on the side and Snap Dragon Red (CA, 2007) to drink.  The latter was an awesome red blend with luscious spicy notes that would probably go with a plethora of bbq items.

Served it with mostly plain couscous.  That is, only flavored with some chicken broth and Cavender’s Greek Seasoning.

A Goats Do Roam white finished it off.

Toss with soy sauce, rice vinegar and some more sesame oil.  Just to taste, but it should have a bit of a tang, so don’t skimp on the vinegar.

INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS

Spinach Pancakes

Source: Best Recipes in the World
Makes 6 to 8 servings

Another good pancake starter or side dish. At their best hot, but still good warm. You can use frozen spinach for this if that’s all you have.

INGREDIENTS
10 ounces fresh spinach, large stems removed, or one 10-ounce frozen package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained.
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 to 2 cups buttermilk as needed
2 tablespoons melted and cooled butter
Butter or neutral oil, like corn or grapeseed, for frying
1 cup sour cream, optional
1 tablespoon minced lemon zest, optional
DIRECTIONS
Put the fresh spinach in a covered saucepan over medium heat with just the water clinging to its leaves after washing or plunge it into a pot of salted boiling water. Either way, cook it until it wilts, just a couple of minutes. Drain, cool, squeeze dry, and chop.

Preheat a large skillet, preferably nonstick, over a medium-low heat while you make the batter. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Mix together the dry ingredients. Beat the eggs into 1 1/2 cups of the buttermilk, then stir in the melted butter. Stir this into the dry ingredients, adding a little more buttermilk if the batter seems thick; stir in the spinach.

Use a teaspoon or two of butter or oil each time you add batter (you can use less with a nonstick skillet if you like). When the batter foam subsides or the oil shimmers, ladle batter onto the griddle or skillet, making any size pancakes you like. Adjust the heat as necessary; usually the first batch will require higher heat than subsequent batches. The idea is to brown the bottom in 2 to 4 minutes, without burning it. Flip only when the pancakes are fully cooked the bottom; they won’t hold together well until they are ready.

Cook until the second side is lightly browned; as the pancakes are done, put them on an ovenproof plate in the oven for up to 15 minutes. Mix the sour cream and lemon zest together and place a small dollop on each pancake.

Used frozen spinach and it worked fine.  A wine pairing is a little hard, we had a Spanish rose.

3 1/2 lb pork shoulder, boneless cut into 8 x 2 1/2 x 1/2 pieces

Marinade:

5 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp minced ginger
2 tsp minced garlic
4 tbs ketchup
4 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp five spice powder
1 tbs sherry
1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbs hoisin sauce

Combine in a bowl or ziplock bag and add pork. Marinate overnight.

Preheat oven to 375. Put pork in roasting pan with rack and add a cup of water. Bake for 20 minutes, basting occasionally with remaining marinade. Turn and bake another 20 minutes.

Add honey and red food coloring to marinade if desired. Take pan out of oven, switch to broil. Baste both sides of pork with the modified sauce and bake for 1 minute on each side. Tent with foil and let cool for ten minutes. Slice thinly. Serve hot or cold

Soup:
2 tablespoons butter
3 large leeks, thinly sliced
6 cups cubed peeled Yukon gold potato (about 2 1/4 pounds)
6 cups vegetable broth
2 thyme sprigs or 2 tsp dried
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 lb True Cod, cut into bit-sized chunks

To prepare soup, melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leek; cook 10 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally (do not brown).

Add potatoes, water, pepper, broth, and 2 thyme sprigs. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes or until potatoes are very tender. Add cod and cook until done.

As this is a French meal, we had French bread and a white 2006 Cotes du Rhone by Cellier du Rhone from France.

Bring water to the boil, add the noodles and cook for 7 to 15 minutes. Rinse under cold water and drain.

Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan until very hot and stir-fry the veggies for a few minutes. Add the dashi, a few shakes of ginger and a spoonful or so of minced garlic.

Add the noodles and remaining ingredients and seasonings, and stir-fry for 1 minute.

*Some shrimp meat and/or tofu would work really well in this for a main course