Mushroom Barley Soup

I made this recipe last night for dinner. Unfortunately it was so simple and easy to make that I forgot to take many photos!! I was just chopping and carrying on, completely oblivious that there was a camera sitting right next to the cutting board. So, apologies for the lack of photos which I know most of you enjoy.

Mushroom Barley Soup
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients
2 medium onions, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
20 ounces button mushroom, sliced
64 fl oz chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 tsp dry thyme
2 bay leaves
1 cup of uncooked barley
1/2 cup white wine
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
salt to taste



In a medium sized pan, cook the barley in plenty of boiling water. It will take around 30-45 minutes to cook the barley.

In a large, deep-bottomed pan, heat the olive oil on a medium heat. Add the carrot, onion and celery and sweat until soft (5-10 minutes).

Next, deglaze the pan with the white wine, making sure to scrape off any bits that may have stuck to the bottom of the pan. After the alcohol has cooked off (2-3 minutes), add the mushrooms. Cook them until they start to let go of their natural juices which will take about 3 or 4 minutes.



Finally, add the thyme, bay leaves, pepper, salt, and stock. Drain the barley and add that as well. Stir well, and simmer for approximately 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaves. Enjoy piping hot.

Steak Wrapped in Beer-Bacon with Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients: 6 slices bacon, 1 bottle dark beer, 2 steak, salt, pepper, 150 grams mixed mushrooms, 175 grams button mushrooms, 100 ml beef stock,

Steak wrapped in beer-bacon:
Lay 6 slices ontbijtspek in a bowl and pour 1 this brown beer bottle. I choose this time for a bottle Maredsous beer). Cover the dish and leave to marinate for at least an hour in the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Put each on steak to 3 slices bacon and bind it down with kitchen twine. (set the beer aside, you need this for the mushroom sauce). Season the steak with salt and pepper. Cook the steak at both sides to brown in hot butter. Place the steak in an ovenprppf dish and put the ovenproof dish about 8 minutes in the preheated oven.

Mushroom Sauce:
Bake in hot oil 150 grams sliced mixed mushrooms and 175 grams button mushrooms until the mushrooms are tender. Add 100 ml beef stock and the beer (left from the steak). Bring to the boil so it thickens slightly. Place the steak on a plate. Shovel the mushroom sauce over it. Serve with the Suisse potato pancakes and a salad. Enjoy!

Mushroom Gratin

Ingredients: small mushrooms, Philadelphia Light with Garlic and Herbs, grated cheese,

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Grease 2 ovenproof dishes. Make the mushrooms (as many as fit in the dish) clean and remove the stalk. Fill the caps with Philadelphia Light with garlic & herbs. Place the mushroom caps in the ovenproof dishes and sprinkle with grated cheese. Place the ovenproof dishes about 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Enjoy!

Mushroom Onion Soup

Ingredients: 4 red onions, 250 grams mushrooms, 1 liter beef stock, grated cheese,

Number of persons: 3

Cook 4 in rings sliced red onions on medium heat in 8 minutes to soft. Add 250 grams sliced mushrooms and stir fry until the mushrooms have softened. Add 1 liter beef stock and let it simmer for about half an hour. Put on your plate some grated cheese to it. Serve with French bread. Enjoy!

JUST THE STUFFED MUSHROOM TIP

Let's play a little game called Just the Stuffed Mushroom Tip.

That’s how it all starts. An innocent maiden voyage evolves into an exploration deep into the unknown. Justify it any way you want to. We can pretend it’s a game. Start with the tip and see how it feels. If it’s no bueno, fair enough. But then again, we’ve already gone this far. What’s a few more steps into the abyss? I mean the collateral damage has already been sustained. So why not enjoy it for what it’s worth? We can write it off as youthful indiscretion. An official OOPSIE! Let’s blame the extra bottle of wine. We both should have known better. But we’re all adults and mature enough to move on. I’m glad we had this discussion. I feel better. Don’t you? Oh by the way, have you tried these killer stuffed mushrooms?

Total time: approximately 15 minutes
Projected cost: $10
Drinking Buddy: Red wine

Ingredients (serves 2):
1. 1 tablespoon of breadcrumbs
2. 1 pinch of salt
3. 1 tablespoon of honey
4. 2 handfuls of fresh spinach
5. 3 slices of bacon cut into small pieces (turkey and veggie ok)
6. 10 white mushrooms
7. 1 green onion diced
8. 10 small slivers of Brie cheese

Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Wash the mushrooms thoroughly before removing the stem leaving the cap intact and deep. Cut up the stems into tiny pieces. Place the caps in a small bacon pan.

Step 2
Warm up a pan on medium-high heat. Fry up the bacon slices with the green onions, chopped mushroom stems, spinach, salt and bread crumbs. Cook it all down into edible goodness.

Step 3
Scoop a teaspoon of the stuffing into each mushoom cap, place a sliver of brie on top of each stuffed cap, and then drizzle the honey over each cap. Bake the stuffed caps until they are warmed through and the cheese melts (approx 5-7 minutes). Serve it up classy on a plate.

Sherried Mushroom Empanadas

We have a thing for Spanish tapas. We spent a week last year at a cooking school in Napa (thanks Mom!), and one of the sessions was all about tapas. Our wonderful cousin took us to an amazing tapas restaurant in New York City, and it was literally the best dinner of our lives. Obviously, we like tapas. :)

Needless to say when we saw the food network feature on Tapas, we knew we had to try some. We’re doing a shrimp tapas recipe later this week, and you can definitely expect to see more.

These were delicious! Definitely a keeper. Especially when served with the fabulous Sangria (recipe to follow). Mmmm! They’d also be fun if made into little bite size empanadas, more work yes, but easier to eat.

Sherried Mushroom Empanadas

Recipe from Food Network. Makes 8-10 appetizer servings, 4-6 main servings.
We actually used olive oil to sauté instead of butter. Probably doesn’t make a huge difference, but obviously, we prefer olive oil over anything else. It also makes the recipe entirely dairy free.

INGREDIENTS
2 medium onions, finely chopped
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 pounds mushrooms, finely chopped
2 small red bell peppers, finely chopped
1 (6-ounce) piece serrano ham or prosciutto, trimmed and chopped fine
1/3 cup cream Sherry
1/2 cup packed fresh parsley leaves, washed, spun dry, and minced
3 tablespoons fine dry bread crumbs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (17 1/4-ounce) package frozen puff pastry sheets (2 pastry sheets) thawed
Egg wash, made by beating 1 large egg with 1 teaspoon water

DIRECTIONS
In a 12-inch heavy skillet set over moderately low heat, cook onions in butter, stirring occasionally, until softened. Stir in mushrooms and bell peppers and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated and mixture begins to brown. Add ham and Sherry and cook, stirring, until liquid is evaporated.

In a bowl stir together mushroom mixture, parsley, and bread crumbs. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and cool, uncovered.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

On a lightly floured surface roll out 1 pastry sheet into a 14 by 10-inch rectangle. Halve rectangle lengthwise with a long sharp knife and spread about half of mushroom filling on 1 half, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Brush edges of mushroom-topped pastry with some egg wash and put remaining pastry half on top of filling. Crimp edges of dough together with fork tines and cut several slits in empanada with small sharp knife. Carefully transfer empanada with 2 spatulas to a large baking sheet, leaving room for second empanada, and brush with some remaining egg wash. Make another empanada in same manner with remaining puff pastry sheet, filling, and egg wash.

Put empanadas in middle of oven and reduce temperature to 375 degrees F. Bake empanadas until golden, about 35 minutes. Empanadas may be made 1 day ahead, cooled completely on a rack, and chilled, wrapped in foil. Reheat empanadas, uncovered, on a baking sheet in a preheated 375 degree F oven until hot, about 6 minutes.

With a serrated knife cut empanadas into 3/4-inch slices and serve.

Wild Mushroom Ravioli with Hazelnut Butter Sauce

We had found a recipe for mushroom ravioli, but once we found out the filling was nothing more than sautéed mushrooms we were slightly disappointed. So we took it up a notch, and added our own touch using leftover ingredients in our fridge.

Let me just say, if you’re looking to indulge, or looking to impressive some important dinner guests, this is the way to do it. And it’s really not hard or time consuming at all. Granted, you could make your own pasta, but why bother when wonton wrappers work just as well.

Next time, because our hearts can’t take browned butter and hazelnut sauce every night of the week (boy, is it rich!), we’ll use the same filling but try out maybe a lighter sauce, something with white or even red wine, maybe lemon… mmmm…. we’ll have to play around with that one!

Wild Mushroom Ravioli with Hazlenut Butter Sauce

Makes 4 servings.

INGREDIENTS
1 package square wonton wrappers (your probably won’t use them all)
1 tablespoon olive oil
12 oz (ish) mixed mushrooms (we used some crimini and some porcini)
1 shallot, minced
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons tomato paste
salt and pepper, to taste

For sauce:
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup hazelnuts, roasted, skinned, and chopped

DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in skillet. Add mushrooms, and cook until most of liquid is gone (maybe 5 minutes). Push mushrooms to edge of skillet, and add shallot to center. Cook for 1-2 minutes.

Add tomato paste and stir until well combined. Add parsley, season with salt and pepper, and sauté for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and let cool.

Bring large pot of salted water to a boil.

Place a small spoonful of cooled filling on wonton wrapper. Brush edges lightly with water, and top with another wrapper. Carefully seal edges, pressing as much air out of the center as possible. Repeat until all of the filling is gone.

Add to boiling water 4 or 5 at a time (you don’t want them to stick together) and let cook for about 3 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon and drain well. Repeat with remaining raviolis.

For sauce, heat butter in small saucepan until barely browned. Toss in hazelnuts. Drizzle over ravioli and sprinkle with parmesan.

Asian Pork and Mushroom Burger Wraps

Yes, I realize posts have been rather sparse lately, and chances are they will remain so through the bulk of July. Why you ask? Well, something big and exciting, the likes of which I’ll post about shortly. But it has been keeping us more than occupied, and while we have still been cooking, I just haven’t had the time nor energy to write about it.

But I do have a few recipes backlogged, which tends to happen when things get busy. This one in particular, which came from the newest issue of Bon Appetit, was quite stunning. Asian Pork Burger Wraps – wrapped in butter lettuce rather than a bun, which made it a fun combination between a burger and a lettuce wrap (go figure).

I was drawn to this issue’s feature on summer burger recipes because of the photographs. You can see an example of the aforementioned asian pork burgers. The ‘deconstructed’ burger photos were all too familiar (and Jeremy – you will know exactly what I am talking about here!), because of an assignment I had in a drawing class in college. The project was ‘exploding food’, where we drew a food item in the process of exploding into it’s various parts and ingredients. An informational diagram of sorts, much like a blueprint tells you how to build a house, the drawings tell you how to build the food. While I chose to do an ice cream sundae, the example for the project was of a burger.

Maybe I could have skipped the long winded description and just shown more pictures?

From Bon Appetit:

Drawing from CDES333:

(I can’t believe I still had this drawing saved on my computer!)

Anyways, I think Chris Ficken (the awesome professor of aforementioned drawing class) would approve of this recipe, or at least it’s presentation!

Asian Pork and Mushroom Burger Wraps

Makes 6 servings. Recipe from Bon Appetit.

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons canola oil or peanut oil
2 tablespoons minced lemongrass (from bottom 3 inches of about 4 stalks)
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps chopped
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt, divided
1 3/4 pounds ground pork shoulder (Boston butt)
2 tablespoons soy sauce, divided
3 teaspoons Asian sesame oil, divided
3/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/2 cup hoisin sauce*
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon hot chili sauce (such as sriracha)*
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 heads of Bibb lettuce, cored, leaves separated
1 cup matchstick-size strips red bell pepper
1 cup matchstick-size strips peeled carrot
1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves

DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add lemongrass and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add mushrooms. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt; sauté until mushrooms are tender, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat; cool in skillet.

Place pork in large bowl. Mix in 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, cracked pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, then fold in mushroom mixture. Using 2 generous tablespoonfuls for each, shape into 18 patties, each about 2 1/4 inches in diameter; arrange on plastic-lined baking sheet.

Whisk hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar, chili sauce, and remaining 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 2 teaspoons sesame oil in small bowl for sauce. DO AHEAD: Burgers and sauce can be made 6 hours ahead. Cover separately; chill.

Spray grill rack with nonstick spray. Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat ). Grill burgers until cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Or heat a few tablespoons oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook burgers until browned and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes per side.

Arrange burgers on platter; set out sauce. Place lettuce, bell pepper, carrot, and cilantro in separate bowls. Serve, allowing guests to wrap burgers in lettuce and add sauce and vegetables as desired.

Pappardelle with Chicken and Mushroom Ragu

If you hadn’t noticed, I haven’t been posting quite as much as I did during the summer. The reason? Light. When it’s completely dark by the time we’re done cooking dinner, I have much less of a desire to photograph anything. I really just want to sit down and eat. Nothing beats natural light, and that lack of natural light cannot be replicated with the off-hued lights in our kitchen. Just felt like I needed to explain myself, just a little bit.

Surprisingly, though, I do have a few back-logged meals that I did manage to photograph. Unfortunately, back-logged means the memory of those meals is also back-logged in my brain. Take this meal. I managed to find the recipe, luckily, but gosh darnit I couldn’t tell you what it tasted like. I think it was good, I know I’d remember it if it was either fabulous or horrible, so it must have been somewhere in between. And it was probably a night that we really didn’t feel like spending much time cooking, because if we had been in that kind of mood, we would have broke out the pasta maker and made homemade Pappardelle (wide noodles) that I’m sure would have been outstanding in this dish. However, it appears (and again, I can’t remember), that we wanted dinner done and our bellies full as quick as possible, so we threw in a box of penne instead. Hey, in a pinch, it works. Just fine.

So there. A post for you. And a promise from me – that I’m going to make the most of limited light and try to get more photos, and be better about actually posting them while I can still remember what they tasted like.

Pappardelle with Chicken and Mushroom Ragu

Makes 4 servings. Recipe from Gourmet.

INGREDIENTS
6 ounces cremini mushrooms
3 garlic cloves
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/4 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 small onion, chopped
3/4 teaspoon chopped rosemary
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes in juice
1/2 pound dried pappardelle (or penne is just fine too)
5 ounces baby arugula (about 8 cups)
Accompaniment: Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

DIRECTIONS
Pulse mushrooms and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped.

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Season chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until just golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl.

Reduce heat to medium and cook onion, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes.

Add mushroom mixture, rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring constantly, until beginning to brown, about 4 minutes.

Add vinegar and cook until evaporated. Add chicken and tomatoes (with juice), then simmer, breaking up tomatoes with a spoon and stirring occasionally, until sauce is just thickened, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in a pot of boiling salted water (2 tablespoons salt for 6 quarts water) until al dente.

Add arugula to sauce and stir until wilted. Stir in drained pasta and cook 1 minute. Serve with Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and enjoy.