I am finding uses for the Korean Aged Black Garlic I recently bought. It has a very unique flavor that pairs well with mushrooms and soy sauce for a complete umami experience. Have you tried cooking with black garlic yet? I don’t know a lot about it, but I’m interested in finding some new flavor combinations to play around with.

For this dish, I coarsely chopped some black garlic. You’ll see for yourself upon handling black garlic that it is easier to give it a coarse chop than a fine mince. It is very soft, yet not as soft as roasted garlic. It’s interesting. I like it. It is also black… very black.

I had some of my favorite mushrooms on hand- Hazel Dell, of course. I sliced up some cinnamon cap, cremini, oyster, and shiitake mushrooms, as well as some bok choy I received from my CSA with Ollin Farms.

This side dish is very simple to make.

Heat up a pan with 1/2 TB peanut oil and 1/2 TB butter. When this is hot, add your mushrooms and get them going. After a few minutes when they start to almost stick to the pan, add a TB of soy sauce, some chopped black garlic, and give it a stir.

After a few more minutes, add the chopped bok choy and 1/3 cup or so of white wine to get a little sauce going.

When the bok choy is bright green, it’s done. I sprinkled some toasted sesame seeds on top.

I kept this really simple for three reasons. 1) I wanted to taste the black garlic. 2) the mushrooms and bok choy were super fresh, so I wanted to allow their flavors to show through without added spice. I just might change that if I make this again without farm-fresh foods. 3) I served it with my super flavorful Best Grilled Shrimp.

I came home from Rudi’s Gluten-Free Gourmet Dinner at Root Down, Denver, with a loaf of Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bread and a recipe for the delicious gluten-free bread pudding that had been served for dessert. Root Down made a really good bread pudding, so I was eager to re-create it using my gluten-free loaf of bread.

I cut off most of the crust and cubed one loaf of Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery Bread for this recipe.

I altered the recipe slightly to accommodate the ingredients I had on hand. Here’s what I mixed up:

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• a pinch of sea salt

I poured my liquid mixture over the bread cubes and let it sit, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes. Then, I added 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut, mixed it one more time, and poured it into a pyrex baking dish to bake at 325 for 30-40 minutes, until it was golden brown and cooked through the center.

I patiently let it cool, then served it with farm-fresh strawberries, some peach, and a drizzle I made with equal parts heavy whipping cream and maple syrup.

This recipe is a winner! It is definitely some of the BEST bread pudding I’ve had.

Every time I take my first sip of a glass of Oregon Pinot Noir, I decide then and there that Oregon pinots are the best wines. Period.

That is exactly what happened upon my first sip of Stoller’s 2007 estate grown pinot noir. My taste buds understood exactly what the label said about being “an extremely approachable” wine.

Two thumbs up to 2007 Stoller. I highly recommend it.

I love having this grilled shrimp recipe as an easy stand-by because it takes a few minutes to prepare and tastes fantastic. I followed my Best Grilled Shrimp recipe exactly except for the oil: I used peanut oil rather than olive oil in this dish because I served these shrimp with Asian-influenced side dishes.

Try my Best Grilled Shrimp… and let me know what you think.

I served this with an avocado salad and Mushrooms and Bok Choy in Black Garlic Sauce.

Enjoy.