If you asked me a couple of years ago if I would be creating recipes to enter into cooking contests where I could win trips to Culinary School in Napa Valley, I would have laughed and said … whatever. I’m a competitive gal, but when it comes to cooking…well, I just love to cook, not necessarily to win anything, but just because I enjoy it. But here I am…sharing with you my creation for the Everyday Chef Challenge.
Here’s the scoop for the Everyday Chef Challenge:
I am one of 5 Featured Bloggers chosen to part of a cooking challenge where a secret ingredient plus a Pacific Natural Foods staple item are revealed. We have one week to create, cook and then share a recipe for voting. There are two Challenges in total, and winner of each Challenge moves on the the Final Round where voting starts over and the competition is really on for the Grand Prize – all expense paid culinary bootcamp at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley.
Now…I don’t have to be the only one having this much fun! There is a totally separate Challenge going on here too…that includes YOU. YOU can enter a recipe using those same “secret ingredients” and compete for the same prize! Don’t you want to go to Cooking School with me??? I’ve already recruited a blogger friend, Merry, to enter…I put the idea in her head and 24 hours later her recipe is entered!
Okay…so do you want to know about my recipe? Challenge 1’s secret ingredients were Mushrooms and any Pacific Natural Foods broth. After thinking about it for a couple of days, I was pretty much stuck on the idea of Mushroom Marsala. But how to serve it was my challenge…
The Mushroom Marsala is definitely where the flavor of this dish is…but the Garlic Herb Quinoa Pilaf is no joke either. I wanted to keep the dish meatless, so I bulked up the veggies by adding fresh spinach leaves and sundried tomatoes to the baby portobellas. I seasoned and floured the mushrooms before sauteeing them to add a little more texture too. The marsala wine and Pacific Mushroom broth combo made an awesome sauce for it.
As for the quinoa…I wanted to kick it up a bit and cook it in a way I hadn’t before. I looked up the term “pilaf” on Wikipedia (culinary research!) and it says:
Pilaf … is a dish in which a grain, such as rice or cracked wheat is browned in oil, and then cooked in a seasoned broth.
So that’s what I did. I started the quinoa with a quick saute of minced garlic and onion in a little olive oil, then added the quinoa and toasted it till fragrant and slightly brown. Instead of water I used vegetable broth and then added toasted pine nuts at the end. Wow is all I have to say. If you’ve tried quinoa and haven’t been impressed, give it another try cooked this way.
If you think this sounds delicious (I assure you, it was.) then I would love to have your vote! You can vote one time a day everyday until next Wednesday so you may get a friendly reminder or two from me! Thanks so much!
Yield: 4 servings
For Quinoa Pilaf:
For Mushroom Marsala:
Additional Toppings
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