Recipes for caramelized mushrooms, burger, steak, and subs

I was talking on msn with Jean-Francois and he gave me these recipes:


Sara says:
I'm looking up recipes for caramelized mushrooms, I was wondering if you can do the same as with onions and get delicious concentrated stuff
Jijendia says:
of course
its even easier with mushrooms
mushrooms contains a lot of natural water (which contains all the nutriments)
here's how to cramelize mushrooms:
1. in a pan heat up some heavy OO and butter
Sara says:
heavy olive oil?
Jijendia says:
melt the better, dont overheat the oil (oil overheats when its steaming)
yup.
you can use extravirgin as well.
Sara says:
I didn't know that some olive oils were heavier than others...
Jijendia says:
uip.
Sara says:
ah ben
Jijendia says:
you got olive oil, virgin and extra vrigin
both have different hot points.
Sara says:
but what does that have to do with the weight?
Jijendia says:
extra virgin is better because takes longer to heat
olive oil contains more fat, fat heat up much faster
heavier your oil, more fat it contain, hotter it will get, faster it will burn
Sara says:
ah!
Jijendia says:
hence why bacon fat heats VERY fast
Sara says:
ok
Jijendia says:
alright
so, in that oil att the sliced mushroom
add some kosher salt. the salt will release the natural moisture of the mushroom
sauté for about 5-7 minutes, until your mushrooms are golden brown
then you have two choice, serve as is or make a reduction
to make a reduction, you add a little more butter, let it melt.
add some white wine vinegar
you want about 2 oz of that vinegar (watch your nose, because if you are not used to the smell of vinegar, the smell is VERY strong)
deglace and let reduce, cut the acid of vinegar is about 1 oz of brown sugar
let the sugar melt and sauté the mushroom.
watch it... melted sugar is MORE dangerous than hot oil.
because as it takes contact with chiller air, surface of the sugar will solidify unless mix with oil, and thus below the hardened surface the sugar will keep boiling on your hand and there is basically nothing you can do but add salt over the wound.
Sara says:
ouch
Jijendia says:
usually serve caramelize mushroom with caramelize onions over chicken or red meat.
reason why its easier to caramelize onions is because onions contains amidon, a natural sugar
while mushroom contains potacium and water, which makes them much harder
Sara says:
ah
Jijendia says:
hence the add of a little amount of brown sugar to provoke caramalization process.
Sara says:
cool
thanks
Jijendia says:
you can avoid any acid (vinegar) and just add a little brown sugar
it will create a simple syrup that you leave to reduce with the mushroom
the natural water of mushroom + the sugar = syrup (sryup reduced = caramel)
the add of salt will cut the sweetness and will add more of a salty taste
Sara says:
ok
Jijendia says:
if you want to please your boyfriend, one trick. does he like steak or hamburgers ?
Sara says:
*copies and pastes to her blog*
both lol
why?
Jijendia says:
alright ! here a little sauce you can do for both
Sara says:
brb
Jijendia says:
see my stepfather never liked steak and hamburgers so i had him love them
1. you cook the meat in a pan with oil and butter
2. add some salt to lose the meat's fat and moisture
3. add sliced onions and slightly brown them.
4. add either a golden lager beer or dark beer (about 2 oz) and deglace and reduce and add a little more butter
5. if too liquid add a VERY small amount of starch (corn starch or flour) to thinken and dont forget to whisk to avoid any lumps.
with the cooked meat, put them in a sealable bag, add the sauce and onions in it.
shake shake shake
leave for 10 minutes in the bag with the sauce
reheat the meat.
serve with topping
and for even better taste replace the good ol' bun with a corn bread bun (available at all groceries)
the meat will absorb the beer and the onion taste
it will be slightly sweet and goes well with regular toppings.
for either steak and hamburgers
and btw, if you wanna have a good recipe for subsandwishes, those are my most popular "fast food" recipes I do... If my mom, dad, step-father, bestfriend, jen, her mom, her ste-dad, her brother knows i'm doing some, i get the whole batch of family here
and its no joke it already happened.
Sara says:
back
loll wow
thanks
I'll try it on him and see
yeah sure give me the sub recipe
Jijendia says:
he will notice the taste, wont notice the different in his plate
alright
For the subsandwishes all depends on the toppings.
you can make it vegetarian or meatful
What you need is subs bread, old cheddar cheese, fondue steak (easier to cook), lettuce (i prefer spinach, but romaine is good), tomato (cubed), onions (sliced, and cooked)
and mushrooms (cooked in oil and butter)
Sara says:
old cheddar?
ok
Jijendia says:
yeah, you can find that in any stores...
Sara says:
no I mean
Jijendia says:
its slightly stronger than regular cheddar
Sara says:
I'm used to seeing mozzarella on subs, not cheddar, although I have done it before myself, but that's just cause I put cheddar on anything lol
Jijendia says:
well here i love to mix cheese
i did those subs with cumbled of blue and montery jack once
delicious but not for everyone
Sara says:
nice
Jijendia says:
ok so, first you need to prepare a small broth for the meat
you dont need a lot, we just want to dip the meat in to cook it
for the broth, use beef (or vegetable) broth
add some honey, some fresh grounded garlic and a bay lef
*leaf
let boil for a little bith
*bit
in the meanwhile cut your sub bread, and prep your veggies
once you have a good boil, dip the meat in it... it'll take no longer than 30 seconds to cook
you can leave them an extra 15 seconds for really well done.
once the meat is cooked, open the subs and put them in the oven at broil to roast them... YOU DONT WANT GOLDEN BROWN AT THIS POINT
a pre-heated oven at broil will toast VERY fast
so you leave the bread no longer than 10-15 secs.
even 5 seconds depending on your oven
we want the bread crunchy but not golden
remove from the oven, put the meat, vegetables (ending with the lettuce or spinach) and the grated cheese over the bread
put back in the oven and let the cheese melt and brown... be careful.... bread and cheese are not the same temperature... the edges of the bread will turn black if you leave it too long... thats when you know its ready when the edges turns golden brown and not black
once that is done take out of the oven
then you have a choice...
1. use french dressing (my personal favorite) that you buy at any stores
2. make your own dressing by mixing mayo, ketchup, a touch of mustard, garlic and honey sauce and a touch of teriyaki sauce (you can add three or four drop of tabasco sauce at this point for a little heat)
then, add salt, pepper, and a little parsley over, cut the bread in half and serve while hot
enjoy !