After coming home from work and not eating all the while there, we feel quite hungry when we get home. We usually have some wine first then eat some leftovers at 2am before we call it a night. That is a bad habit but we fast with water for at least 10 hours in between eating.
I thought it would be fun and wiser to have some snacks while we sip, instead of the regular plate of leftovers warmed up at the end. I told Marc that we should be more French when we drink wine. We should sip and graze, while we complain about the lazy kids at work. The complaining wasn't part of the French thing.
On my day off I got some things ready, for our next after work soirée for two.
I am always stocked with mushrooms so I thought mushroom pâté would be a good start.
I usually use walnuts for my mushroom pâté. Cashews and almonds are fine but I prefer the deeper woodsy taste of walnuts with mushrooms. I don't know how else to describe it.
By the way it's really cold and I refuse to turn on the heat. We want to see how far we can go by wearing layers inside.
Mushroom pâté
14 oz mushrooms
170g onion
5g shallot
30g garlic
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon fresh or dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried sage leaves
5 or 6 sprigs of chives
2 cups toasted walnuts
1/2 cup ground almond
1/2 cup wine
Juice of half lemon
1/4 cup vegan butter
Salt to taste
These amounts are approximate and if you do it you should do it to suit your taste. Parsley, rosemary, or scallions could be added or substituted. A few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar or more lemon instead of wine. A little sweetener if desired.
Portobellos and cremini are the least expensive. For pâté, they're perfect.
I rough chopped everything including the garlic and shallot, because they would be ground up at the end.
While raw walnuts are more nutritious, I chose to pan roast them, in order to bring out a nutttier taste, I also find that this takes the edge off the slight bitterness that they have.
I chose vegan butter for cooking the mushrooms. This was started kind of like duxelles. Duxelles are mushrooms cooked down in butter. I also added red wine to give it the extra boost. Balsamic would also do.
The onions were cooked first in the butter. I made sure the butter was not too hot that it would burn.
When the onions were translucent I threw in the garlic, shallots, seasonings and wine.
Everything was cooked down for a while until the items were slightly golden.
The mushrooms were added to the mix at the end and rendered down until as much liquid was gone as possible.
I used a processor to grind everything to a smooth but not too smooth texture.
I added fresh chives at the end and some ground almond to firm it up to my liking. I wanted it to be spreadable.
For my next act I have a simple onion fig jam. I don't often eat something this sweet, but with a savoury onion flavor with added vegan cream cheese, I was sure we would enjoy this on a cracker or toast.
450g onion
200g dried figs
1/4 cup cane sugar
1/2 lemon juice and zest
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon fresh or dried thyme
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Salt to taste
I'm not sure if it was necessary to soak the figs before, but I thought it would make it easier to chop.
I felt that a red onion would be my choice for this but any onion would do.
I diced it fairly small .
The figs were also chopped.
I used olive oil to sauté the onions. When they were translucent I added the figs, sugar herbs and balsamic.
I added lemon zest as well as juice then simmered until it became like a jam.
My herbs of choice were fresh thyme. I like the combination of onion and thyme.
In the past when I consumed dairy, I have had the combination of cheese and savoury jam or jelly. I remember liking it quite a bit so in order to have a vegan version, I went for the classic cashew cream.
Cashew cream
100g cashews soaked
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast(optional)
Fresh chives to your liking (I like a lot)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
Juice of half a lemon or 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon agave (optional)
The cashews were soaked for a few hours. Sometimes I soak overnight. If I'm in a hurry I just pour hot water over them and wait for twenty minutes.
Using nutritional yeast gives it a pseudo cheesy taste but without this, the added lemon is enough to make it an enjoyable spread.
After blending to a smooth cream, fresh chives were folded in.
I don't often attempt bread making, because of my rate of failure. This time I did.
Although I didn't bother adding the making of the bread to the post, I have to admit, that it was quite satisfactory. I used the oven heat to warm up the apartment for a while.
The bread was cut into rounds and toasted in the oven.
I added some olives and capers to the canapes.
The onion jam and cashew cream were great together. The olives were good with the mushroom pate.
Cucumber tomato and radish were a nice crown.
For some, this would be considered an appetizer but for us it was our late night dinner. We had quite a bit leftover which was made into sandwiches for lunch.
Thank you for joining me and I wish you all the best.
design by: @KidSistersPhotos taken with a Nikon D7500 and are of my ownership
Wow! Where have you been?
Life must be quite busy and demanding. How are the elderly relatives doing this winter?
I hope you do have some relaxing time this winter month!
Good luck and take care.
I am around but always running to work. I will be back soon. All the best.😊
Oh! Good to know you’re still busy as ever and have the strength and stamina to soldier on!!
See you soon! 💐🌷🐈🐈
😊
Wow! These look super good! What a great! Your own mushroom pate! Yummy.
Wanna some with a glass of wine too. Such an complicated recipe for me!🙀😂
This is not complicated at all!!!!!! Thank you though. I would raise a toast to you but I just woke up so I'm having coffee.😊
Thank you very much. A cup of coffee will be good too!
Delegations welcome!
Thank you @plantpoweronhive.
Good post dear friend. you have to take care of yourself, I understand the work is important but you must eat in between, This is the time the body needs energy and good care we are now in Northern winter, and with warm food, a warm place, warm clothes, warm drinks, good snacks (you did already.) very important for us. Take care of you both, dear friend. we are also having -4 here and windy. even a warm house is not helpful when the wind is blowing heavy and I wear sweaters in the kitchen imagine it is not my style but I do. It is a good idea to make some nice snacks, you are creative, and I am sure you do like today's recipes. A hug Have a nice weekend.
I am warmed by your caring my friend but I don't eat for at least 10 hours because it actually gives me more energy. We could eat all day at the vegan restaurant if we wanted to for no cost but we do what makes us feel more energetic.
We are 4 C today but that's too miseralble for me. We don't put on the heat as a challenge. We have to pay double the electricity if we have it on. We'll wait as long as we can. The people in the other apartments have their heat on so we are a little sheltered.
We have the day off work today so we will relax.
Thank you for your kind words my friend. Keep warm.😊❤️
It is nice to hear from you dear. yes here is also a problem with electricity so high charges even though they produce electricity. It was very cheap before but since they started supplying to Germany, it is so high up 10 times more than before. We also try to use less electricity. But we live exactly close to the harbor. where the wind blows more around. anyway take care and stay warm and healthy. A hug :)
Gracias @mayvileros
This look absolutely delicious! I must try onion fig jam as I absolutely love figs!
i actually prefer figs like this savoury otherwise fresh ones are my favoutite. The fresh ones are much too expensive here. Thank you for your visit @kathrynkw.
Que rico y que mezcla de sabores ideales para unos ricos snacks....gracias por tus recetas
Gracias por sus amables palabras @leidys01
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Thank you @hivebuzz!
The delicious combination of ingredients is completely uncontrollable and makes me hungry. I think this is also suitable for your happy dinner.
One more thing, for me even an appetizer can replace any meal late at night, right?, that's the hunger factor.
Aww thank you for your lovely comment @nurfay. Appetizers also can last longer haha😊
You are admirable, after working all day, and returning home late, you still have energy to prepare your meals.
I have never tried mushroom pâté, I appreciate that you share the ingredients and the way to prepare them, as well as the steps of the jam
Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge
enjoy the weekendHow are you dear friend @carolynstahl good morning
Hello dear @jlufer I hope you are fine and well.
Let us be clear that this was made the day before work on my day off. The purpose is to have something ready because I cannot do one thing when I get home. 😄
Thank you for your kind words and visit.😊
I love the idea of a plate of delicious, healthy snacks right after returning home. Accompanied with a glass of wine sounds delicious. I will definately try this recipe out one of these days. The photos really sold it for me.
I really appreciate your generous comment. Thank you so much @libra.gardener.😊
Thank you @lovinggirl!
so delicious, whatever you made is beyond the prefect... i wish i gone into the picture and grab the piece from your plate...
Haha I have felt like jumping into pictures here on Hive as well. I appreciate that comment @gargi.
hahahahaha..🤣🤣
This is delicious and full of good health my friend. Even when we did not eat after a while, this very dish covers all we have lost. Those mushrooms are awesome. Thank you for always inspiring us here. Sending love 💕 and hugs beautiful. Enjoy your weekend .
I appreciate your lovely words and support dear friend. Wishing you a wonderful day.❤️😊
what an extraordinary combination.. it looks so delicious.. I want to taste it🥰
It would be much more common here in the north to have such things but we really enjoy it.
Thank you for you compliment and visit @cacasa26
Yes, I can also quite taste the difference in our food. Even though I really love the cuisine of my country, I feel like I want to try all the cuisine from all over the world. 😆
Greetings Carol,
Cooking while sharing a glass of wine with your partner -and hungry- is fascinating?
The three protagonists of these exquisite creams are my favorites, the figs with onions caught my attention and the mushrooms with olives such vibrant flavors to the palate and the presentation is beautiful!
Take care of the winter and rest ❤️
Your compliment is selling me the idea all over again haha. I appreciate that very much @aguamiel ❤️
Aw, come on! Can they be more gorgeous?!
I loved these canapés. I think there's everything to like about this post. My favorite part was the onion fig jam. I'm crazy about figs and I'm crazy about jams that contain onions (and/or garlic, and/or peppers).
I'll try to make it when I find figs; they are not so easy to find around here, and they're certainly expensive. But this provocative jam is definitely worth the effort.
Thank you so much for sharing your marvelous creations with us, my gorgeous friend.
May wine and good food be always there for you guys after your busy and long day. Bug hug! 💚💚
Pepper jam!!!!!!! I have to get on that. Do you have a good recipe. Actually hot pepper jam!!!! Thanks for the idea and the nice wishes. Hugs.😊💚
The recipe is not mine. I think I can write it for you. I just need to call my sister 😁
This food looks amazing, and so delicious, as always!Hey @carolynstahl, where are you, my friend? I hope you're ok.
Thanks for your message. I just had to take a break in these busy times of a Canadian winter. I wish you all the best dear friend.❤️
I'm so glad to hear from you Carolyn, I was getting worried!
Wishing you a Merry Christmas tomorrow (if you celebrate it).
Nevertheless hope that 2024 is going to be a very good year for you, if I don't see you before the 31st❤❤❤
I wish the same for you and happy Christmas. The very best wishes are sent your way!
Missing you, my friend. Hope you're OK.
I am okay and will come around soon. Now I have to run haha. Thanks for this message my friend. Happy Christmas!❤️
I'm so happy to know that you're OK. Looking forward to seeing you around again, my beautiful friend. Have a wonderful Christmas ❤️
I wish the same for you. I hope you are having a wonderful celebration. Thank you for your concern and wishes!❤️
Hi @carolynstahl! How have you been?
We've missed you in the vegan community, we wanted to know if you're okay.
A hug.
It warms my heart to know this. Busy times keep me running. I really miss you all too and will be back soon.❤️
I hope so dear friend, you have a Merry Christmas, a hug!
Same to you!!!!