Vegeterian Potato Kugel

I have this somewhat old recipe book which belonged to my mother, it has some really good recipes. I usually make a Zucchini Slice recipe from it which I really like, but I didn't have any zucchini so I thought I'd make the recipe next to it since it looked kind of similar and I had all the ingredients. I don't think it's that good by itself but it was great with the chorizo sausage and green beans that I served it with. I also think mine turned out too flat, since I have the impression that potato kugel is usually a bit thicker, but that was probably because of the pan I used to bake it in. This made me want to try other kugel recipes, I was looking around online and there are a million recipes with different ingredients !

Directions

• 3 medium potatoes, grated
  
• 2 small carrots, grated
  
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
  
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
  
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
  
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoons bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup milk powder
• 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup natural yogurt
• 2 shallots
  

Directions

1. In a large bowl mix together the potatoes, carrots, onion and garlic. Pour the egg and the oil over the vegetable mixture, then add the parsley, bread crumbs and milk powder. Mix well.
2. Spread mixture into a well greased pan, base measuring 7 inches, and dot with butter. Bake in a preheated oven of 300˚F for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with the Cheddar cheese and bake for a further 15 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
   
3. Serve warm or cold topped with combined yogurt and chopped shallots.
   

Stuffed Mushrooms

I am a big fan of mushrooms, especially stuffed mushrooms. I have made stuffed mushrooms in various different ways and they always turn out good, but I believe these are the best I have made so far. I never thought to try it with cream cheese, and when I saw this recipe I immediately thought that I had to try it. Next time I make these I will try sprinkling bread crumbs on top, I think they will be even better. I served these with grilled steak with rosemary, it was great. The recipe is for 12 large mushrooms, but I had smaller ones and it was enough for 24 mushrooms.

Ingredients

• 12 large mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Clean the mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off the stems and chop stems extremely fine.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and chopped mushroom stems and fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic. Set aside to cool.
3. When the mushroom and garlic mixture cools, stir in the cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper. The mixture should be very thick. Using a teaspoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing.
   
4. Place the mushrooms on a lightly greased cooking sheet and bake in a preheated oven of 350˚F for 20 minutes, or until mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under the caps.

The original recipe was from http://www.allrecipes.com.