Portabella Mushroom and Goat Cheese Flautas

My sister, although I do not see much of her these days, did give me a cookbook for Christmas. Her being the world traveler, and me being a junior adventurer myself, she wanted to give me something that had an international flair. Of course I put the cookbook through a test run by selecting a fairly simple recipe (plus I adore mint chutney), and one were the photographers gave you the impression that if you could cook like Padma, then you might end up looking like Padma.

I decided to have a go at the recipe for Portabella mushroom and goat cheese flautas with mint and date chutney. I always love chutney (on everything) and it gave me a chance to see if I could make the recipe in my small galley kitchen. The recipe was not only delicious and easy to execute, but using a friend as a guinea pig, she also declared the dish to be tasty. (Since making it a second time, I have already tweaked the recipe, for some additional flavor not originally stated in the recipe.)

To make the filling for the flautas you needed to sauté in a saucepan on medium heat for about 5 minutes, until brown, the following ingredients:

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup diced shallots

1 small container (8 oz.) baby Portabella mushrooms, diced

1 tbsp. minced garlic (I use the jar stuff)

1/2 tsp. ground red pepper

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. dried dill

1 tsp. dried thyme 

pinch of sea salt, to taste

Once the mushrooms and shallots are browned, in a medium sized mixing bowl, add the cooled mushroom mixture with the following ingredients and stir until you have a paste-like mixture.

5 oz. low-fat ricotta cheese

5 oz. low-fat Feta cheese (depending on your love of Feta you could add more cheese)

Once you have completed the mushroom and cheese mixture you want to spoon the mixture (about 2 spoonfuls per flauta) unto ten 8-inch flour tortillas (make sure they are room temperature because they separate easier). Carefully spoon the mixture unto one side and fold the ends together before rolling them (while gently pressing down) towards the opposite end. (The cookbook suggests using toothpicks parallel to your fold to secure the flauta to keep it from unrolling, but I didn't have any, and didn't really have a problem cooking them.)

In a large saucepan, heat about 1 inch of oil (I used light canola oil) using medium heat. (To check the temperature, just throw in a piece of shallot to see if it starts bubbling.) Putting two flautas in at a time, use tongs to fry the flautas until their just golden brown on each side (about 60 seconds each). Remove from the saucepan, and set them on paper towels to soak up the excess oil while they cool down.

While the flautas are cooling, or after you have removed the mushrooms from the heat to cool (which is what I did), you need to make the mint and date chutney. You can use a blender or a food processor (which is what I used) to make this delicious and colorful sauce. (My food processor was a gift from an ex-boyfriend for Christmas who had dreams of me being his domestic servant. We broke up, I have my food processor to cook what I want, and he married someone who is happy to be a housewife). 

To make the date and mint chutney, you will need to add the following ingredients to the food processor.

2 cups fresh mint leaves (2 packages if you buy it in the produce section) 

2 tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon (half a lemon)

1 Serrano chile, with the seeds removed and rinsed

5 dates 

1/4 cup cold water (Add additional water or a little bit of extra virgin olive oil to get it to the right consistency, but not too much or it will be runny.)

Once you are finished, on a cutting board, use a knife to cut the flautas in half diagonally and put on a serving plate. (They taste best when warm, I reheat leftovers in the oven and the extra chutney can keep for a couple days in the fridge). If you are like me, you may also end up doing this recipe under direct supervision from someone who may impatiently demand a sample or two himself. 

The recipe makes a good appetizer for 4 people, and it is a dish which is relatively inexpensive to make. Purchasing the mint leaves ($3/package), Portabella mushrooms ($3/container), flour tortillas ($2/package of 10), Feta cheese ($5/6 oz. container), ricotta cheese ($3/10 oz. container), Serrano chiles ($1/5 chiles), dates ($4/container), and lemons ($1/2 lemons) left me with about $25 grocery bill with enough ingredients remaining to make it a second time (had to purchase more mushrooms, mint, and Feta cheese). 

In the summer, mint is easily available or you can grow it yourself, (just remember they have runners, and need to be in a separate pot from your other herbs), which means you can reduce the grocery bill (we also grow our own chile peppers in the summer too). 

If you end up making this recipe yourself, let me know how it fares. Bon Appétit!