Friday Stuffed Mushrooms & Drinks

Don't abandon me, reader. I'm working on great, exciting projects for this blog. But in the meantime, I'm swamped with more pressing things, like, say, real work.

Here's the most exciting meal I made this week: stuffed mushrooms and a nice, stiff cocktail. Buy some big white mushrooms, remove the stems, and saute the caps in olive oil for 8 to 10 minutes until they've started to release liquid. Make the stuffing--do something easy like feta, ricotta or farmer's cheese mixed with some chopped tomatoes and basil.

Preheat the oven to 425. Place the mushroom caps in a foil-lined pan. Salt the mushrooms and fill each one with a tablespoon of stuffing. Bake under the broiler for 10 minutes, or until the cheese is hot and golden brown. Wash down with a sugared-lemon vodka cranberry.

Sugared-lemon vodka cranberry & other notes

*I often make sugared lemons to sweeten my tea, but lemon syrup works just as well in cocktails. Here's a little drink I came up with a few days ago: one part vodka, two parts cranberry juice, a tablespoon of sugared lemon syrup, and a slice of lemon. Tastes like a $10 foofy cocktail.

*Read about Ukrainian chef Vasyl Lemberskyy, who runs Transfer restaurant in Milwaukee. I've heard good things about Transfer, a pizza place.

*Anyone got a good recipe for Russian marinated mushrooms? I've searched high and low, but nothing I've tried tastes quite right.