For The Love of Food
by Susan Linyear, Personal Chef

There is no love sincerer than the love of food. George Bernard Shaw

Each February, we turn our minds to love. We eat and drink to the theme of love. We long for new culinary experiences that will capture feelings of romance and passion. Such a pursuit can draw one to a new farmer’s market, an untried restaurant, or progressive dinner party at friends’ houses. Any or all routes can be profitable but I challenge you to a higher pursuit. Roll up your sleeves and closely examine the very object of your culinary desires! Whatever it is, commit to learning more about it.

Is it cheese? Then search for the finest cheese store in your area. Commit to the stink and the ooze that stands between you and the richest Camembert. Learn about pairing your dinner with a cheese course. It is the perfect post-dinner enterprise. Follow the "Rule of Three" here -- either three different soft cheeses (Boursault, Brie and Explorateur for example), or a mix of soft, semi soft and hard cheeses Fresh Mozzarella, Danish Feta and Vermont Cheddar). Any combination makes a wonderful addition to any meal and will leave you and your guests in a dreamy state.

Maybe you have a passion for the sweetest berries on the vine? Long honored for its’ anti-oxidant properties. Instead, we take this time to consider the heritage varieties. We have blueberry, chokeberry, red currant, elderberry and gooseberry to name a few. Some have been altered through cultivation but others have not. Get out your day timer and pick a date for you and your beloved. During the first two weeks of April, visit a farm where you can pick your own berries. Lastly, never fear freezing the excess that you don’t immediately use. find others wild for cheese. The sweetest berry? Or earthiest mushroom?

Or maybe it's not cheese or berries that turn you on, but the fungus feared by so many North Americans and cherished by our Asian counterparts – the mushroom. The local, upscale grocer might stock nine of the two hundred plus varieties. Whether you are partial to agaricus, enoki, beech or maitake, there are numerous types to be indulged. A mushroom-themed candlelight dinner might start with Mushroom Chili, round out the middle with Mushroom and Red Pepper Crostini and conclude with Caribbean Shrimp and Mushroom Pockets.

Like George Bernard Shaw, we all seek the deep and tender solicitude that good food can evoke. Whichever food draws these feelings out in you, take time this month to partake of it in as many variations as you can find. And if it is mushrooms that you adore, here's one of my favorite recipes that's easy to make and full of flavor. If mushrooms aren't on your hit list now, they will be after you try this delicious bread with your favorite meal. 

Oyster Mushroom and Red Pepper Crostini by Chef Susan

Ingredients

12 slices of baguette
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup oyster mushrooms, finely diced
1 (7 ¼ oz.) jar, roasted red peppers
2 teaspoons shallots, finely chopped
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

Blending and Cooking

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice baguette into 12 parts. Brush each side with extra-virgin olive oil. Toast in oven until crisp.

2. Meanwhile, melt butter in sauté pan. Sauté shallots and oyster mushrooms until water is rendered. Add sliced red peppers for last 3 minutes of cooking. Remove baguette rounds from oven and top with mushroom mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and return to oven until melted.

3. Eat and discover a new passion!

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Chef Susan Linyear launched Maryland-based Heart of the Home Dining in 2003 to help women re-establish a sense of genuine fellowship at family meal times. She prepares healthful meals for busy home managers, small businesses, assisted living facilities and health care organizations. Chef Susan graduated from the Culinary Business Academy and studied at L'Academie De Cuisine (Maryland) and The Culinary Institute of America (New York).