Guest Contributor: Roast Mushrooms and Tilapia

I absolutely love the Green Market in Chicago. It’s Chicago’s organic farmer’s market. It can be a bit of a caricature–a friend once joked that if you wanted to eliminate the portion of Chicago that listens to NPR, drives hybrid cars and may be wearing clothing made of out of hemp, you could simply destroy the Green Market and that would be that. It’s partially true. But it’s also a place where people who are really passionate about food and food issues interact and a great way to try to eat more locally and seasonally. Many of my Saturday mornings start there. A few weeks ago I had an excess of mushrooms from a Green Market trip and was trying to figure out what to do with them. I wondered how roasting them would be and thought that they might be very good with fish. So I sort of made this up as I went along and loved it. I think it’s very adaptable, and it’s pretty quick in terms of prep work and actually cooking. {Image from MyRecipes}

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. While that’s happening, assemble the remaining ingredients:

• One ten ounce package fresh mushrooms (or more), quartered (or however you think you’re going to like them). I used Cremini, which are also called Baby Portabella, but you can use whatever kind you like.
• One large shallot, chopped into one quarter inch pieces (or, again, however you think you’d like it, shallots are nice and mild, so I used a bigger chop)
• One garlic clove, minced (I actually used two, but I tend to like a lot of garlic). The easiest trick I have learned about garlic is to smash it with the side of a big chef’s nice first, which allows you to peel the skin right off, and then chop it. Basically, you end up with some combination of mushrooms and shallot and garlic – (any onion would work, but you might want to chop up a regular yellow, red or white onion a little finer than a shallot). I’m a big believer in adapting recipes to whatever you may have left over, which leads me to my next ingredient:
• Two slices of pancetta, chopped (I usually keep some pancetta in my freezer – you can always use a bit for flavor in soups and I also really like the smoky flavor with most fish. I think this was left over from some pancetta wrapped scallops I made). Any left over ingredients you have from recipes can usually be used in something else, so stick them in the freezer.
• Two-Three pieces of tilapia. If you can, try to make sure it’s from the U.S., Central America or South America - according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium: “Avoid farmed tilapia from China and Taiwan, where pollution and weak management are common.”

Combine the mushrooms, pancetta, shallots and garlic in an oven safe baking dish. Drizzle a tablespoon and a half of olive oil on the mix, and put in the oven. Stir about ever ten minutes or so and make sure the mushrooms look like they are roasting (you’ll see they are “releasing their juices” as every recipe always says). If it looks like any are burning or sticking, add a little more oil.

After twenty five minutes, remove and add salt to taste. If you’d like, you can also add a splash of white dry white wine and/or a tablespoon or so of unsalted butter – I didn’t the first time I made this, but did the second. It adds a different type of flavor, but I think it is really good both ways. Then add the tilapia –push the mushrooms over, add the fish to the dish, and then top with the mushrooms. Return to the oven and roast for about ten more minutes (until the fish flakes and is white all the way through).

I steamed some spinach and served the fish over the spinach with a side of rice, but you could also serve this with mashed potatoes – just something to catch some of the sauce.

Meet Beth...

Please allow me to introduce to you my lovely friend Beth, who is both an adorable person and an amazing cook, and who has the distinct honor of being the first guest contributor on With This Nest (which, as you know, is about *this* close to winning an Oscar...just one small step down, really). Beth will occasionally be sharing some of her recipes and culinary knowledge with us, and since I have personally consumed the results of her cooking prowess I can assure you that you should pay attention. She will be back later this afternoon with her first recipe, but for now I give you her introductory post:

It’s a little nerve-wracking sitting down and trying to explain why I’m qualified to tell any of you how to cook. I don’t have any degrees in food, I am not a published food writer (or any kind of writer, honestly, unless a story entitled “The Squirrel Family Christmas” from the fourth grade counts), and I have never worked in the food industry. So, forget a little nerve-wracking. It’s a lot nerve-wracking.

However, in my twenties, I taught myself to cook after a lifetime of not being interested in the preparation of food and learned that I enjoy it tremendously. And believe it or not, I think this ties in with the story I mention above, penned by my ten year old self. When we are young, most of us spend a lot of time being creative. We paint, we draw, we write, we molded ashtrays and vases out of clay, (or for those of you who grew up when smoking was waning, just vases). Although I don’t know for a fact if most of you have stopped spending time creatively, I know I have. I have a feeling that is why we all love Darci’s blogs. They tap into a strong need inside each of us to be expressive, to create, to immerse ourselves in a project. And that’s what cooking has been for me, a way to connect back to that part of myself.

Cheers,

Beth

Louella Press

I've been a fan of Louella's wedding invitations for quite awhile, and now they have an Etsy store! I think this "Appreciation" print is my favorite, but there are also some seriously cute birthday and thank you cards, among others.

Silhouette Notebooks

This combines two of my favorite things - silhouettes and moleskin notebooks. This adorable little journal also comes in black, which might be even cuter. I wonder if I could get one with Lola's silhouette...

Strawberry Jam

This is probably one of the easiest and most rewarding recipes I've tried - I had no idea how good homemade jam can be. We don't exactly eat a lot of it around our house, but the store bought stuff will likely never be purchased again...its that good. The whole process took me about a half an hour from start to finish, so its definitely worth the effort as well. Here's the recipe, adapted from Martha Stewart:

Ingredients:
1 Quart Strawberries (about 4 cups)
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 Tbsps Fresh Lemon Juice

1. Clean and hull the strawberries, then put them into a food processor until they are coarsely chopped. Don't over chop them, they should still be chunky.
2. Place the chopped strawberries into a skillet and stir in the sugar and lemon juice
3. Cook the ingredients over medium heat, about 10-15 minutes. The jam should be thick enough that if you move a spoon through it, it leaves a path, and there should be bubbles all over the surface.
4. Transfer to a jam jar and let cool

The Desk Hunt Continues...

We still haven't pulled the trigger on the hanging desk situation, it's mostly the rails that are giving us pause. That, and the fact that the husband says we don't have studs in our walls and the shelves would be on the same wall that already houses the majority of our kitchen cabinets. Our building is old, and I don't want to wake up one morning to find that an entire wall that houses most of our wordly possessions has come crashing to the ground. There is no amount of coffee to make me face that Monday morning.

So I've found this option from Pottery Barn, which is a more than I want to spend but we still have some gift certificates hanging around from the wedding. I like that the open shelves can go on either side and that they can be switched out in the future with a filling cabinet or other necessity. But again, not sure. What do you think?

Finding Center

{Image found here via oh, hello friend}

When I was feeling a little "off" last week, you all had some great suggestions for how you relax and find balance in your lives. The common theme that struck me through several of the emails and comments was - exercise. Its something I need to do more of for sure (don't we all?) and you've all motivated me to get moving. But other than that, I thought I would put all the suggestions into one list so everyone can benefit. Take a look below and definitely leave a comment or send me an email if you have more ideas!

• Exercise
• Good Wine
• Comfort Foods
• Deep Cleansing Breaths
• Pedicures
• Facials
• Sleeping
• Cuddling
• Talking it out with someone you love
• Going to a movie by yourself
• Writing letters you never intend to send (just to let out any overwhelming emotions)
• A Good Cry
• Warm Baths
• Good Books

Ahhhh - who wants to come over for some wine and a some deep cleansing breaths?

The Weekend

It turns out that the cure for my ailments was a quiet weekend at home with the husband and the dog. Although, the dog did her best to disturb things with a rather intense illness that contaminated multiple sets of sheets, but that's another story all together.

There were homemade pancakes, crossword puzzles, a nice dinner at a new restaurant and good wine. Thank you all for your sweet emails last week - I am going to compile a list of all your stress relieving techniques and will share them sometime this week. In the meantime, I hope you all had a lovely weekend as well!

Balance. Let's Discuss It.

I've been feeling a little off kilter lately. Stressful situations at work and in our family have left me almost totally tapped out of energy, and also feeling unappreciated (that would part would be solely from work, not family). I think I have low energy reserves to begin with so when I start to feel extreme stress I am basically reduced to a slug who is only capable of staring into space, eating and lashing out at people who both do and do not deserve it. And at some point, I usually wind up getting sick.

I know everyone reacts to stress differently, but do any of you ever feel this way? If so, how do you deal with it? Maybe we can come up with a list of stress relieving solutions. In the meantime, I'll be staring into space and fantasizing that I am reading a book on that swing/bed thing pictured above...

Hanging Desk?

We need a new desk...badly. Our current desk (which sits next to the kitchen in our small condo) was purchased rather hastily after months and months of renovations. I've never liked it and we bought it on the cheap, so while I am not exactly sorry that we have to replace it I am finding it really hard to come up with an alternative. The space it can fit in is small, and our iMac is big (note: do NOT take your husband into the actual Apple Store when purchasing an iMac. They will instantly be dazzled by the size of the screens and you will wind up taking home a computer the size of a small television...that is unless said husband also purchased your television that is the size of a football stadium...but I am losing focus)
I need a nice desk that is small but still has storage. And seeing as how we won't be in the condo for several more years, I don't want to pay too much for it. I've been looking all over rather unsuccessfully and then saw the above image at the container store. What do you think? We wouldn't have the drawers underneath and only two of the three shelves that are pictured. Are those white rails just too ugly? I am having a bit of a hard time getting over them...

Affordable Renovations

Did you see this article in the NY Times last week? You really must read how this couple found a house (an inexpensive one) in need of some love and spent just over $2,000 on all the decor. The total cost of renovations were more of course, but they not only finished without killing each other they had their wedding at the house! Anyone who has undertaken a project of that degree with their significant other (ahem) can truly attest to what an accomplishment that is.

I am sure I don't need to bring it up, but stop for just a small second and consider my overwhelming love for that refrigerator. I actually made a noise when I saw it for the first time.