Terrace Portabellas

A tasty appetizer, or a nice ' little warm thing' to serve  for lunch with a salad. Use what you have on hand- feta instead of blue cheese; some cooked spinach; let your imagination and your refrigerator leftovers be your guide.

For 3 or 4 average-size portabella mushroom caps: gently cook the caps in a skillet in butter for just a few m inutes to soften the ( backs ) tops slightly, after scooping most of the gills out and removing the stems. Soften 8 oz cream cheese, add 3-4 TB blue cheese crumbles, and a TB or two of cheddar cheese. Spoon into the caps, and gently press to cover the surface. If you think of it ahead of time, marinate some cherry tomatoes, halved, in some salad dressing: Italian, caesar, whatever. Today I used a bottled red-wine vinaigrette. Drain the tomatoes, place on top of the cheese mixture, and bake in a preheated 450 oven for about 10 minutes, and check to see if it's starting to bubble. I usually get impatient about this time and start the broiler- if you do that, keep an eye on them. When they start to brown just a bit and the centers look hot, add some chopped avocado , and a pinch of shredded cheddar cheese for color, and broil again for 1-2 minutes.

Lake Forest Cafe Potatoes

Colorful  and a little different, great for breakfast or with burgers (serves 6), or as a veggie main dish.(serves 2-3)  I  discovered  these at a  renovated house-turned-Cafe in the Sacramento area, near  Folsom, California.  I think if the prison  there had served these potatoes to the inmates  Johnny Cash would  never have written " Folsom Prison Blues."


Melt 3 Tb butter in large heavy skillet over medium high heat. Add 3 cooked medium baking potatoes, skin on, coarsely chopped.  Cook til crisp, stir frequently.  Then add 1 ¼ c shredded monterey jack cheese, 1 ¼ c. shredded cheddar cheese, 2/3 c. chopped tomato, 2 TB  chopped green onion,  gently stir til cheese melts. Season with salt and pepper. Gently stir in ½   diced avocado. Spoon onto plates and top with sour cream. Serve immediately.