Wild Mushroom Cakes with Avocado Pesto and Red Pepper Coulis

I first found this recipe in Bon Appétit in the January 2010 issue. Charlene, a reader, had written in requesting this recipe from her new favorite restaurant, Cuvée World Bistro. The Bistro sells this on their lunch menu for $9.

Before today I did not know how to pronounce Coulis, or even what it was. I am including a link if you are curious.

WILD MUSHROOM CAKES WITH AVOCADO PESTO AND RED PEPPER COULIS
4 servings


RED PEPPER COULIS

2 red bell peppers
2 small garlic cloves, unpeeled
2 tbsp whole milk
1 1/2 tsp honey

Char peppers over gas flame or in broiler until blackened all over. Seal in plastic or paper bag; let stand 15 minutes. Peel and seed peppers. Place in blender. Place garlic cloves in small dry skillet. Cover; cook over medium heat until browned and tender, shaking skillet occasionally, about 7 minutes. Cool. Peel garlic; add to blender with peppers. Add milk and honey to blender. Puree until smooth. Transfer to bowl. Season with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill.


AVOCADO PESTO

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 cup coarsely mashed avocado (about 2 large avocados)
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 tsp fresh lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil

Place pine nuts in processor; using on/off turns, process until coarsely ground. Add avocado, Parmesan, cilantro, parsley, and lime juice. Process to blend. With machine running, gradually add oil through feed tube. Transfer to bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover and chill.


MUSHROOM CAKES

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2 8-oz packages sliced button mushrooms
2 large portobello mushrooms (about 6 oz total), gills scraped out, sliced
8 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 large eggs, beaten to blend
2 tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
2 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup panko, plus additional for coating
2 tbsp olive oil*
1 tbsp butter*

Melt butter with oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add all mushrooms and saute until browned and edges begin to crisp, stirring often, about 14 minutes. Add garlic, stir 1 minute. Transfer mixture to processor. Add eggs, Parmesan, herbs, salt, and pepper to processor.  Using on/off turns, process until mushrooms are coarsely chopped. Transfer to large bowl. Mix in 1/2 cup panko.

Divide mushroom mixture into 8 equal portions. Form each into 3/4-inch-thick cake. Spread additional panko out on plate. Coat cakes with panko. Place on rimmed baking sheet. DO AHEAD Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover and chill.

*Preheat oven to 300°F Melt butter with 2 tbsp olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Working in 2 batches, add mushroom cakes; cook until browned, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to baking sheet; place in oven.

Spoon about 1/4 cup avocado pesto into the center of each plate; using the back of a spoon, spread out to a 5-inch round. Place 2 cakes on each plate. Drizzle with red pepper coulis.

The adventures of Freddie

There is a creature project at school currently. Two sock monkeys. One named Freddie and one named Minnie. Freddie takes turns going home with the boys in the class. Minnie takes turns going home with the girls in the class. Each child has the monkey for 3 days. Taken home on a Monday and returned to class on a Thursday. During that time they are encouraged to write down in a journal the things they are doing with the monkey while they have it. Here are the excerpts from the book of Freddie while Levi had him in our house.  Some of the letters are hard to read since these are kindergarteners :) I did my best to translate here.

The Adventures of Freddie

Noah.

I had a race

Catch Him

Eat

Tell jokes

At Blue Palm

Elijah

br ovae in the can. way cncecdht ons play chekel.  sat esna ok. read stories. He slept with me.

Dominique

Banana

Play Karate

dancing

We sleep

Brayden

I looking at my dad 

Watch me

Played 

Swinging back and forth

Freddie holds his tail

Slept with me the bed

Justin Jones

I go

Freddie to bed with 

Freddie I karate

Freddie is at the concert

Aiden

Freddie danced on my knee

Freddie slept in my bed

Freddie waited in the car when I get my hair cut

William

(looks like maybe an older sibling or parent helped with this one)

All about Freddie the monkey

Freddie slept with me, one morning it was beautiful outside. Freddie met my friends and we had lots of fun. We had loads of fun playing fun games. The end.

Levi

3/18 Me and freddie have been making ironed animals. We went riding on the track with our bikes. Freddie's tail got dirty.

3/19 We made ironed animals again

3/20 We ate spaghetti then we raced our on our bikes

Recent projects

Here are some of the recent projects that Levi has brought home from school this week.

I have to admit that this one quickly became a favorite. The little arms open up to reveal a secret message:

I love you this much

Levi proudly told me that he colored it to look like himself.

He also did this drawing of a cat. I guess the kids were told to draw the animal that they thought one of the students was recently given as a gift. Often when Levi draws things he will tell me "Look, I drew a fictional ____"  He likes to use the word fictional because it means that it is not real.

Here is some of his classroom work. Coloring the V words, practicing writing his letters and identifying what letter words start with. For the car that was colored brown I told him "oh yes, V for vehicle." To which Levi replied, "No, V for van." Well, either way it's still a V word.

Valentines Day is only two short days away. We were given a list of all the children in the classroom in case we wanted to give out cards for the Valentines Party. Well, I had ordered some adorable (Star Wars) cards from Scholastic and the order has shipped but no way to know if it will arrive by tomorrow so that we will have time to label them all! Hope so!

Kindergarten Midterm Report

I haven't been able to post anything lately on the blog, and to my loyal followers, I apologize. I hope to add some more things in the near future. There just hasn't been much time since I joined the ranks of the employed again.

Levi brought home another Kindergarten Midterm Report dated 1/25/13.

Since I have to sign it and return it, I will copy it down here first for longevity.

1.  S  Shows respect for other's property
2.  + Cooperates with others
3.  + Participates in group activities
4.  S Assumes responsibility
5.  + Works independently
6.  S Pays attention and follows directions
7.  S Adequate attention span
8.  S Completes work within a reasonable time
9.  S Works neatly
10. + Works at grade level
11. + Performs well on skills tests

Teacher comments: Levi is a fabulous student. He is very bright and excels in academic areas. He is quite good at problem solving and loves to figure out how things work. Levi is very respectful and polite with his classmates and staff. He is such a delight. I look forward to his stories.


Key: + = Excellent, S = Satisfactory, .... etc

We are very proud and promised to take him out soon for a treat. His request: McDonalds, for the ice cream.

Midterm Grades

This morning was my turn to volunteer in the classroom. The children are learning about pumpkins this week so that is what their book was about during story time.  I was assigned the blue table with my group. Veronica was absent so it was just Levi, Kyler, Bianca, and Armando. As it turns out, four kids were more than enough today!

Our assignment was to roll a die and take a block of that shape (on the die) and put it into our hexagon on our sheet. There were three hexagons and they all had to be different, made up of what each child rolled. It was an interesting game. Once they had the three filled in then they could select colored paper shapes to glue in to the hexagon below to chart what they had done. After that they could put their blocks back and then color in the top row with crayons to match the bottom row.

The Hexagon Game on the left, a pumpkin puzzle on the right.

Armando and Levi got theirs done quickly so afterwards they used other guide sheets to put the blocks on to keep them occupied while the remaining kids finished up. Armando jumped up at one point and ran over to the fish tank, lifted the lid and threw something inside. I went over and couldn't tell what it was, but it was floating, so I alerted Ms Houchin and she fished (ha) it out and we saw that it was a cardboard tube of some kind. I don't even know where he had picked it up since he had been in his seat working on his project.

One of the other groups were on a mission to study pumpkins so they had left the classroom to go outside (I think they were testing to see if a pumpkin would float in a puddle). Armando pulled up his sleeve and showed me a scratch. I told him it looked ok but he could show Ms  Houchin when she got back. He jumped up and ran off. I took chase and he made it half way to the front office before I was able to get his attention and turn him around for the classroom. I think he was running for the school nurse but it was nothing that needed medical attention so I told him to go sit down. He is bilingual and I am not for sure how well he understands me which can be frustrating.

When the kids had completed their game-boards they were to write their name at the top and then put it in their mailbox. Following that they take a seat on the rug for another story while the other groups are cleaning up for lunch time. The kids are released one group at a time to seek out their name tag (if eating the cafeteria lunch) or lunch boxes and jackets. Then they stand in line and head out for lunch.

It's an hour that goes by in a flash.

* * * *

Today Levi had a lot of interesting things in his backpack. Having a child in school is almost like having another mailbox. You never know when there will be a "good mail-day." Today was one of those days.

It was pouring rain at 2:30 when I went to pick him up. He hopped in the car and says to Ellie and me, "I checked out my first book from the classroom library, and I think it is one that you two will really enjoy."  He also said he had read it in school so I was curious to see what he picked out.

Upon our arrival at home the kids sprinted inside and were about to start playing when I reminded Levi that he hadn't shown me what was in his backpack yet! He happily obliged me. We sat on the sofa and he pulled out artwork and other projects from school.

The book he brought home was called The Airplane. The paperwork with it suggests that you read it to your child and then have your child read it to a family member. Levi said I didn't need to read it to him,  he would just read it to me. He did perfectly.

He had a book that he had put together that told the story about the growth of a pumpkin. From seed to jack-o-lantern and on each of the pages he had written the word "the" and added an element.

I was not expecting to see was his midterm progress report, and that was a fun surprise!  I was very proud to see that he scored Excellent and Satisfactory in all 11 areas (listed below.) There was also a nice comment from his teacher.

1.  +  Shows respect for other's property
2.  +  Cooperates with others
3.  +  Participates in group activities
4.  ✓  Assumes responsibility
5.  ✓  Works independently
6.  ✓  Pays attention and follows directions
7.  ✓  Adequate attention span
8.  ✓  Completes work within a reasonable time
9.  ✓  Works neatly
10.  +  Works at grade level
11.   +  Performs well on skills tests

Teacher comments: "Levi is such a bright, eager student. He loves learning and sharing his knowledge. Levi is very creative which his classmates enjoy. He is such a delight."

Key + = excellent
        ✓ = satisfactory
        I = shows improvement
        N = needs improvement
        W = work is too difficult.

Thoughts from a child

Driving this evening we went past a house with a lot of political yard signs. Levi wanted to know why that house had so many signs in the yard. I told him those were political signs, it appeared as though that house was Republican, they were supporting Romney and they wanted everyone to know who they were voting for. Levi sat back in his seat and after some thought replied, "well I am voting for Obama." I was pretty proud of him for putting it all together and knowing who was running against Romney.

When we got to the gas station Ellie thought she had seen Oma's car. Levi, exasperated, says to her "That is not Oma's car unless she got another boyfriend." (rolling eyes) I laughed so hard I had to call my mom to tell her all about it.

In the evenings after dinner we have been spending about an hour (what we have of daylight) and walking the neighborhood to try and sell popcorn for the school fundraiser. It has been fun to meet our neighbors and talk with them a little. Levi is outgoing and enjoys talking to everyone and explaining all about the promotion. He sold $267 worth of popcorn, with an additional $10 in donations from people who didn't eat popcorn but who still wanted to support the cause.

Just another day in Kindergarten

Today I attended class as a volunteer. That means I take on about six kids for an hour during the morning while they have a learning time. Monday is my day to go in and although I missed last week (Levi was sick), I appreciate the opportunity to be involved and get to know the other kids.

Ellie gets to go along since she is old enough to either play alone or participate. When we got there they were out to recess, so Ellie explored the play area. The box castle was a new addition. 

The kids got back within minutes of our arrival. They line up at the door and then come in single file, taking turns at the water fountain before finding their spot on the rug. Then Ms Houchin reads them a story from a book that has the same theme as the rest of their projects for the week, before breaking into groups for individual projects, or "jobs." When the book is small she will project it onto a screen so all the kids can see it well. Ellie went and sat next to Levi today and put her arm around him, it was just so cute. I wish I had taken a photo of it.

Levi was in the Yellow group and I recognized most of the kids in his group. Armando, Bianca, Valerie and Yvette. One boy, Kyler, was absent today. Since it was a four-day week (no school Friday) there was an extra kid in the group that wasn't there last time, Dominique.  Usually there are five groups of children and five stations for a five-day week.

Ms Houchin plans out different activities for each station and then as the week goes by the groups of kids are rotated through each of the stations. This week the theme is castles, so the book was about castles. Colors and shapes are used throughout the stations in different capacities. 

Our first activity was BINGO with colors and shapes. I passed out the boards to each child, and this time Ellie wanted to participate also. Each child was given eight red circles, which Valerie told me were called "tokens." Then I held up a card and said what the color and shape was. If the child had that on their bingo card they could use a token to mark it and when they got them all they could say BINGO. Ellie actually got a lucky card and was the first one out.  We kept going until all the kids had their Bingo. I should have asked if they wanted to play again because that didn't last very long. I will know better for next time to try and maximize the activity.

The second activity was a shape necklace. There were precut shapes in all colors and the kids could choose one of each shape for their necklace. Then they got to use a hole punch on the shape to make the hole for the yarn for their necklace. This didn't take very long either, even though we all had to share the hole punches since there were only three. 

For the third activity there was a coloring exercise in which the kids had to color in their picture using a guide on the table. Red = circle, yellow = rectangle, green = square and blue = triangle. They had enough time to do two pictures, some of the faster ones even did three.

After that it was time to wash their hands and get in line for lunch. The kids with a packed lunch retrieved it from their cubby and the ones who ate from the cafeteria got their name tag from the box with their lunch account number on it.

It was a fun morning and seemed to go pretty well. There were two other adults helping out this morning in addition to myself and Ms. Houchin.