Pot Roast and Stuffed Mushrooms

Oh my gosh! Looking back over the two main summer months they were dismal to say the least. It was unseasonably cool with above average rainfall. Our main living level hovered around at a balmy 20ºC (68ºF) for most of the summer. Several nights the temperatures dipped down to 15ºC (60ºF) tempting me to turn on the gas fireplace but I didn't. Instead I curled up in a cozy, homemade knit afghan. Most days I wore sweaters and long pants indoors. It definitely was a summer unlike our normal hot, humid weather! Unlike other summers where most food is cooked outdoors it became a summer of finding excuses to cook indoors just for a bit of extra heat.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Sunday afternoons are usually set aside for family and in the summer boating. The cooler temperatures meant less boating and more home time. My husband had picked up mushrooms for one of his he said/she said contest recipes (Burgers with Mushroom Sauce) so the following day I decided to use half of the remaining mushrooms to make stuffed mushrooms topped with Asiago cheese. I posted earlier about escargot stuffed mushrooms, one of our favourite appetizers.

I stuffed the mushrooms for the pictured appetizers using a simple bread stuffing. The stuffing consisted of a couple of left-over hamburger buns broken into small pieces, chopped onion, homemade poultry seasoning, salt, pepper and a few dabs of soft butter. Then I pressed the stuffing into walnut sized balls and placed them in the prepared mushroom caps, topped with Asiago cheese and baked at 176º C (350ºF) until the cheese was golden brown and bubbly. This is a simple yet sure to please appetizer!

Pot Roast

Later that same afternoon we debated hauling our our winter jackets, gloves and hats so we could go out on the boat. We had planned on a day of boating and eating out but it was seriously one of the coldest days of the summer, more like a very crisp fall day! I took one look at my husband curled up in an afghan on the couch watching golf and made the executive decision we were staying home. I pulled a small rump roast from the freezer and popped it into the countertop roaster set to 120ºC (250ºF) with a bit of water and seasoned with sliced onion, Montreal steak seasoning and a couple of small bay leaves. About and hour before dinner I added potato and carrot pieces. The gravy was thickened in the roaster once the roast and vegetables were removed. This was a very easy meal to put together on a very unseasonably chilly, lazy summer day!