Padre Peredur's Pork Chili Verde

It's the end of summer and harvest time is upon us. There are lots of great fruits and vegetables available now which is a stark reminder that I haven't written anything on my blog for months now! I've been so busy with other things for the past several months that I've had almost no time to be in the kitchen. 

Last week, Kat came home with a very large box of fresh tomatillos and I knew that my "vacation" was over! Tomatillos are one of my favorite autumn fruits. Like a little green tomato wrapped in a husk, tomatillos are perfect for both salsa verde and chili verde. Both are welcome in my house anytime! Kat made salsa verde last week for a barbecue we had and it was fantastic! For all the tomatillos she used in that recipe she only put a small dent in our supply, leaving me lots to make chili with.

This is a recipe I came up with a few years ago and has been one of my favorites ever since. I start with a bone-in pork shoulder roast. Of course, this means I have to bone it myself, which can be tricky as the shoulder blade is a rather twisty-curvy bone and can be difficult to get all the meat off of. If you are completely intimidated, ask your butcher to de-bone the roast for you.

I also like to roast my vegetables under the broiler before making the chili. I roast all the tomatillos and fresh chiles that I am putting into the pot. I usually do not use all fresh chiles, however, as roasting and skinning that many peppers can be rather labor intensive. If you wish to put the time into doing this, by all means do so! I usually roast a few peppers and use canned for the rest. Today I have fresh jalapeños, a banana pepper and a poblano pepper that I will be roasting with the tomatillos.
 

What I have done today is to start with:

1 bone-in pork shoulder roast ("Boston Butt"), approx. 4 lbs

Carefully carve out the bone and trim the meat. Cut the meat into bite sized pieces, season with a small amount of salt and pepper and set aside in the refrigerator for an hour or two. Also make sure to save the bone and any odd bits of meat. Meanwhile, rend the fat over low heat until well liquified. Set this aside as well.

Take a cookie sheet and line it with foil. Wash and halve:

approx. 2-3 lbs of fresh tomatillos (you may substitute up to half of these with green tomatoes, if you choose)

Arrange the tomatillo/tomato halves on the cookie sheet along with:

5 fresh jalapeños

and broil for about 10 minutes or so, flipping the peppers about halfway through. When finished broiling, remove the pan from the oven and dice everything. Do not skin the jalapeños or tomatillos. The charred skins add a nice color to the chili. The tomatillos will let off a bit of their juices while broiling. Do not throw this away! Save the juices and add it to the pot when the time comes!

Using a little of the fat rendered from the pork, brown the pork over medium-high heat. Do this in 2 or even 3 batches if necessary, so as not to overcrowd the pan. Once the pork is browned, set it aside. Add to the pan:

1 large onion, diced

Saute the onion over low heat until soft, scraping up the fond from the bottom of the pot as the onions cook. Add:

7-8 cloves of garlic (roughly 1 small head), finely chopped

Stir until garlic begins to cook, about 1 minute. Add in:

2 T flour

Stir to combine. Add to the pot:

1 qt. chicken stock

2 c water (if needed)

1 large can mild green chilies, drained, sliced

1 large can hominy, white or yellow (optional)

2 T dried oregano

1 T sugar

2 t salt

2 t ground cumin (I prefer to roast and grind my own with a mortar and pestle)

1 t chili powder

juice from 2 limes

Add in the browned pork, along with the pork bits and the bone from the roast. Bring to a near boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 1-1/2 to 2 hours. The chili should thicken quite a bit. When the soup is nearly finished, remove the pork bone. Clean off any remaining bits of meat and add them back into the pot with:
1/2 c chopped cilantro

Serve topped with shredded Monterey Jack cheese and a garnishment of fresh cilantro, with either corn chips or corn tortillas on the side.

Enjoy!

*burp*

Peredur vs Squashzilla

Banana squash - the behemoth of the squash family. Known for taking on entire armies and feeding them all!

Kat and I had a mammoth sized pink banana squash in the basement for the past couple of months and I finally decided that it was time to take up the gauntlet and create a very large pot of squash soup. Besides, I just got all sorts of new kitchen toys - including the top thing on my list, an immersion blender! - and I was dying to use them. 

Squashzilla done been kilt!

The first task at hand was to slay the giant. It put up quite a fight but, in the end, I was able to overpower it. Using a large chef's knife, I kilt the squash!

Secondly, I needed to bake the squash. Oh, I suppose I didn't actually need to bake it but I kind of prefer it to boiling. I hacked the squash, now dead, into 4 (still very large) pieces. I baked them at 350° for about 50 minutes or so, until the meat was tender. I removed it from the oven and cut it into pieces, discarding the skin.

At this point, I decided to roast the seeds. The seeds for this squash are, as you can imagine, huge! They are plump and fat and just screaming out for someone to roast them! I rinsed off the seeds real well, just as I would do with pumpkin seeds. I generously covered them with:

2 T kosher salt

2 t garlic powder

2 t cumin powder

1 t onion powder

1 dried Dundicut chili pepper, ground with a mortar and pestle (I just happened across these little peppers at a store the other day. They are extremely hot. You may use chili powder instead.)

Toss the seeds with the seasonings and bake at 300° for about 45-60 minutes, stirring them every 10 minutes or so. Roast them until they get a nice dark golden color. Yum!

Anyway, back to the soup. I did not use fresh onion or garlic this time because I was using a quart of homemade turkey broth. I usually make my broth rather strongly flavored and didn't think I would need too much more onion or garlic, opting to use a small amount of powdered instead.

Taking out my favorite stock pot (which turned out to be barely big enough to hold the monster), I combined:

1 qt homemade turkey stock

6 c water

about 8-10 c roasted squash meat

1 T ground sage 

1 T brown sugar

2 t kosher salt

2 t allspice

1-1/2 t garlic powder

1 t onion powder

1 t thyme

1 t fresh ground black pepper

1 t ground cardamom 

Gently bring the soup to a simmer and cook over low-medium heat for about 20 minutes or so to let the flavors combine. Using an immersion blender, carefully blend the soup until it is creamy and there are no chunks of squash. Reduce the heat to low and add:

1 c white wine

Stir in the wine and then slowly add:

2 c milk or half-and-half

Stir well. Adjust seasonings as desired. Serve topped with:

grated Asiago cheese

chopped parsley (optional)

The soup turned out fabulous, the Asiago really adding a lot of character to the mildly sweet flavor of the squash and spices. If your soup doesn't come out thick enough, for whatever reason, you might also consider mixing the cheese right into the soup!

A tasty New Year to all!

A Wild Hare for Stew

Courtesy www.failblog.org

Bunnies. They're cuddly, fuzzy, adorable - and oh so delicious! And they are definitely on the menu tonight!

Every now and again, one of our local markets brings in some rabbit. I've been getting a strong craving for a good rabbit stew for some time now and so I jumped on the opportunity to pick up a little while I had the chance. Unfortunately, I could only get a 2 lb. rabbit. I would have preferred more like 3 lbs.

There are several methods of going about making Rabbit Stew. Having just acquired a couple of cases of 2006 Mia's Playground Pinot Noir, I thought it would be appropriate to use that as a base for the stew. I added a bit of homemade chicken stock as well, as I thought it might compliment the flavor. If you do this recipe at home, you should know that I make my chicken stock strong - a 1/2 cup of mine is the same as at least a cup of store bought stock. I also thought that using sweet potato instead of Yukon Golds. (Note that when I say sweet potato that I am not referring to yams, which are orange in color, but to white colored sweet potatoes which are a different species entirely.) With fresh herbs from the garden and double-smoked bacon from the Russian market down the street, I was ready to prepare a mean pot of rabbit stew!

To begin, take a stock pot and, over medium heat, rend the fat from:

6-8 oz. slab bacon, cut into 1/4" cubes

Once the bacon is crispy and the fat has been rendered, remove the bacon and set it aside, leaving the fat in the pan. In a large plate, whisk together:

1/2 c flour

1 t kosher salt

1/2 t black pepper

Clean, dry and then dredge in the flour:

3 lbs. rabbit

Brown the rabbit in bacon grease over medium heat. You may have to do this in 2 or 3 batches. If you need more fat, use bacon grease if you have it or vegetable oil if you don't. When rabbit is nice and brown, remove it from the pan and set aside. Add to the pot:

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

1 c chopped celery

Saute in stock pot, stirring up the fond from the bottom of the pot. After about 5 minutes or so, when the onion and celery begin to become tender, add:

4 large garlic cloves, minced

Stir the garlic into the onions and cook for about a minute. Add:

a bottle of good Pinot Noir

4 c water

1/2 c chicken stock

1 t dry mustard

Increase the heat until the liquid begins to simmer and add the rabbit, bacon, and an herb bundle consisting of:

2 large sprigs rosemary

2 sprigs thyme

1 bay leaf

Cover and simmer for about 2 hours. Open a second bottle of Pinot and drink it while you wait. It was about this time that a couple of friends dropped by, one of whom brought a bunch of chanterelle mushrooms that he had picked. They were beautiful and fresh and I couldn't resist the idea of adding them to the stew.
After 2 hours, remove the herb bundle from the pot. Make a beurre manie by mixing together:
2 T melted butter
2 T flour
Mix well and add in some of the liquid from the pot. Continue to do this until the beurre manie is runny, then whisk the mixture back into the soup. Add in:

2 medium sweet potatoes, diced

2 carrots, sliced

In a saute pan, cook over medium heat:
1 T butter
1 c chopped chanterelle mushrooms
a pinch of salt and a dash of pepper

Cook the mushrooms until they are heated through but still firm. Just before the vegetables are cooked (which should take about 20 minutes), add the mushrooms. Adjust seasonings as necessary. Remove from the heat and serve with lots of napkins!

The mushrooms were just the ingredient the stew needed. It gave the stew an even more rustic flavor and reminded me a bit of boeuf bourguinon. The unfortunate thing was that the rabbit I purchased was rather lean on meat and left us working hard for minimal return. Still, it was delicious and went well with the pumpernickel rolls I had on hand. All in all, a very tasty meal!

The Flavor Bible: A Review

One of the most exciting cooking books to come out in a very long time is Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg's joint effort The Flavor Bible (Hachett Books, 2008). This book is an absolute must have for the creative cook's kitchen!

The Flavor Bible is essentially an encyclopedia of ingredients and flavors; herbs, spices, meats, vegetables, grains, etc. Everything you can think of is listed alphabetically in these pages. With each entry is a list of other flavors and ingredients that pair well with that item. For example, let's say that I have almonds in my pantry and am trying to figure out what to do with them. I look up "Almonds" in The Flavor Bible and I find a lengthy list of things that work well with almonds. Some are obvious, of course, like chocolate, vanilla, and honey. Then come seasonings and flavors I hadn't thought of, like rosemary, plums, Italian sauces, and such. I also find recommended flavor combinations, like "almonds + chocolate + coconut" or "almonds + green anise + figs".

It's amazing how quickly this book became an indispensable part of my kitchen library! It's now the first book I pick up when I start planning a new recipe, or am trying to figure out something new and inventive to do with leftovers. The book has gotten me to consider flavor combinations that I might have overlooked if I were sticking to recipes tried and true.

The Flavor Bible took authors Page and Dornenburg eight years to put together. They drew upon the wisdom and experience of some of the country's most renowned palates, dozens of chefs whose knowledge gave this book the depth required to make it a truly effective tool for the modern cook. In addition to being an outstanding guide for ingredients, it contains helpful tips, dish ideas, recipes, antidotes and more. It is well worth the price and a fantastic gift for anyone you know who loves to cook!

Curry Cauliflower Soup

I've never really cared for cauliflower. I've turned my nose up at it for most of my life. It was only when I had real Indian food that I came to truly appreciate this vegetable. Inspired by the curry and the heat, as well as the dark and rainy weather outside in Portland, I decided tonight to turn a head of cauliflower into a pot of delicious creamed soup.

I used chicken stock in tonight's soup because I had some on hand. To keep the recipe vegetarian, simply substitute this with vegetable broth. I also went heavy on the garlic - 7 large cloves! - for no particular reason than it struck my fancy at the moment. They turned out not to overwhelm the soup, however, and supported the curry and spices quite well. I also used evaporated milk, as I usually do, instead of cream to cut back a little on the fat content.

I began by sauteing in a large stock pot over medium heat,

4 T butter

1 medium onion, chopped

I cooked the onions for about 5 minutes until they became translucent. Then I added:

7 large cloves garlic, chopped

I cooked the garlic for a minute or so and added:

3 T flour

I stirred the flour into the onions and cooked it for a few minutes until it began to brown a bit. Then I added:

1 qt chicken stock

1 qt water

1 c vermouth (or white wine)

1 bay leaf

1 T curry powder

1-1/2 t cardamom

2 t kosher salt

1 t turmeric 

1 t paprika

1/2 t black pepper

1/2 t white pepper

a pinch of saffron

I increased the heat to high to bring the liquid to a simmer. Once the broth began to simmer, I added:

1 head cauliflower, trimmed and cut into pieces

Setting the heat to low-medium, I covered the pot and allowed the cauliflower to cook through. It took about 20 minutes or so. Once the cauliflower was nice and tender, I creamed it in the blender, working in small batches and being careful to cover the top of the blender. I creamed it until it was smooth and poured the soup back into the pot. I added:

1 12oz can evaporated milk

1 T lemon juice

1 T grated parmesan

I stirred the soup well to incorporate the above ingredients real well. I adjusted the seasonings a bit and that's it! Dinner's served! I ate mine in a mug with a dash of paprika. It could also be served garnished with croutons and/or cilantro.

I love cauliflower!

Roasted Squash Soup

With a basement full of squash and an unexpected day off, I decided that today I would come up with a  new recipe. My squash selection is quite varied and includes a few varieties I've never tried before, as well as an unidentified variety from our backyard. We had a sizable harvest of what my wife and I began calling "mystery squash" this fall. We didn't plant it, rather it grew from seeds that had apparently gotten tossed into the compost pile and then redistributed in the garden. In early summer I started seeing squash plants popping up in several places that I hadn't planted them. One turned out the be an acorn squash plant. Another was "mystery squash." The fruits are green and oblong, looking and smelling from the outside much like a watermelon but maturing with a light, meaty flesh that is almost white in color and is very mild. Whatever it is it's delicious, which is a good thing because we have lots! We also had a generous harvest of acorn squash and had recently gotten several squash of various varieties through our food buying club. I settled in on a butternut, an acorn and a mystery squash to make soup out of, along with a bright orange-red gourd called a red kuri squash that I decided to halve and use as 2 serving bowls.

My original intention was to make a soup using a base of chicken stock, topping the finished soup with crumbled bacon. I had a change of plans, however, when I got a call from my friend Tracy who just got back from Alaska and whom I hadn't seen in several months. I invited her over and planned on an extra for dinner. The thing is, Tracy is vegetarian! I was not going to be able to use either the chicken stock or the bacon! I ran down to the freezer and got a quart of the vegetable broth I had made the other day. I also grabbed another acorn squash to provide myself with two more soup bowls.

To begin with, I cut the acorn, butternut and mystery squash into pieces, cleaning out the seeds and discarding them. I lightly sprinkled them with salt and baked them at 425 degrees for about 40 minutes, until the squash was soft and tender. I peeled the squash and scraped out all the meat I could, setting it aside. This step can actually be done ahead of time. You should have at least:

5-6 c cooked squash

If using squash bowls, prepare them now by cutting the squash in half from stem to base. Scrape out and discard insides. You might need to shave a bit off of the bottoms of each half to get them to sit straight. Pierce the flesh with a fork, salt lightly and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake at 425 for about 40 minutes, or until the flesh is tender, while the soup is cooking. 

Using a large stock pot, cook over medium heat:

4 T unsalted butter

1 medium onion, chopped

2 T chopped fresh sage

Saute the onions until they begin to soften, then add:

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

Cook until the garlic becomes fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in:

3 T flour

Combine flour well and cook for several minutes until flour begins to brown slightly. Add:

1 qt homemade vegetable broth

1 c white wine

1 c water

2 t kosher salt

1/2 t white pepper

Cook over medium-high heat until broth begins to simmer, then add squash meat. Stir well, cover and reduce heat to low. Continue cooking for another 20 minutes or so.

If you have an immersion blender, use it. Otherwise, place the soup a little at a time into a blender and puree it until it is smooth and creamy. Remember to use caution by covering the blender with a towel and holding the lid on while blending! Clean out any bits that might still be in the stock pot and return the soup to the pot. Over low heat, slowly stir in:

1-1/2 c evaporated milk or half-n-half

1/2 t ground nutmeg

Stir well, adjusting seasonings as necessary. Remove the squash halves from the oven and place each half into a bowl or on a rimmed plate. Fill the squash with soup and sprinkle the top with fresh ground nutmeg.

Delicious! The flavor was light and creamy, delicate enough so that the nutmeg just came through. A fabulous vegetarian meal that was surprisingly easy to make, which is good because I will certainly be making this soup again!

The Gentle Art of Ratio Cooking

Often as I have watched other more experienced cooks ply their trade, I have marveled at their freedom from using recipes, how they just seem to know how much of what to mix together to make a delicious moist cake or a creamy custard. Of course, experience has much to do with this skill but just as important is the understanding of cooking ratios - what they are and how to use them. This is where Michael Ruhlman's book Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking comes to save the day!

This might just be the most important book about cooking that I have ever read. Sure, there are some fun and interesting recipe ideas within its pages but the point of the book is to get you away from thinking in recipes and to get you to see why the recipes work the way they do. If you know, for example, that a basic cookie dough is 1 part sugar, 2 parts fat, and 3 parts flour, you can use this 1:2:3 ratio to make just about any cookie your imagination can come up with! When you understand that muffins are 2 parts flour, 2 parts liquid, 1 part egg, and 1 part butter, you will have hundreds of recipes at your fingertips and will have the freedom to improvise with whatever flavor combinations you might have on hand at the moment. That, I believe, is what this book is really all about - culinary freedom. As Alton Brown put it, "...having a ratio in hand is like having a secret decoder ring that frees you from the tyranny of recipes." So many cooks are slaves to the recipe to the extent that when they are forced to forgo a pre-written recipe, they are lost and their cooking suffers. Knowing what works and why it works is a big part of elevating your cooking from being just food to being art.

One of the best things about reading this book was that fact that I constantly found myself stopping and pondering the possibilities of the ratios Ruhlman discusses. I had never thought of using a Pâte à Choux (cream puff dough) as a base for dumplings in chicken stew but I can't wait to try! His explanation of the difference between a roux and a beurre manié has made me rethink the way I was making gravy, a basic sauce that I thought I had completely mastered.

The approach discussed in this wonderful book is so basic and yet is the foundation for literally everything else that happens in the kitchen. These are, as the title of the book claims, simple codes. With practice and technique, you will be whipping up handmade seafood sausages, fresh wild mushroom raviolis, and homemade butterscotch without ever cracking open a single cookbook. And that my friends is what the true Art of Cooking is really all about!

Cheesy Broccoli Goodness!

It was a long day of work for both Kat and I and neither of us felt like investing too much time in the kitchen this evening. We needed something quick and easy for dinner tonight.

Kat called me on her way home and reminded me that we had several small crowns of broccoli in the refrigerator from our recent produce haul and requested that I make a pot of Broccoli Cheese Soup. I was all over that idea like stink on garlic!

 

The thing is, I’ve never made Broccoli Cheese Soup before so this was going to be something new. I figured it couldn’t be too hard and I had everything I needed right in the refrigerator. To add creaminess, I could have used cream or half-and-half but chose to use evaporated whole milk instead. Using chicken stock and wine are key to the rich flavor, though vegetable broth could be used instead of chicken stock, if that’s what you prefer.

The following recipe is small, the two of us had a hearty dinner and had a small serving left over. Start by making a roux with:

3 T butter

3 T flour

Combine and cook over medium heat until the roux begins to take on a nutty scent. Add to this:

1/2 c finely chopped onion

a pinch of salt

Stir the onions into the roux and cook for about 5 minutes until the onions begin to soften. Add:

3 c chicken stock

Blend well, thoroughly combining the flour into the stock. When the soup begins to simmer, stir in:

about 2 c chopped broccoli florets

1/2 c white wine

1 T lemon juice

1/2 t black pepper

salt to taste

Allow the soup to simmer until the broccoli is “al dente.” Slowly stir in:

3/4 c evaporated milk

Reduce heat to low and, a little at a time, stir in:

2-1/2 – 3 c shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 c shredded parmesan cheese

a pinch of ground nutmeg (optional)

Stir until the cheese is melted and serve.

Simple and fast, the whole meal took about 30 minutes to prepare. And best of all, Kat raved about it and made me promise to make it again. That’s a promise I plan on keeping - often!

Making Basic Chicken Stock

Frequently, my recipes will call for using chicken stock. I used to purchase this at the grocery store but over the past couple of years I’ve been making it exclusively from scratch at home. It’s remarkably easy and much better tasting than anything you will ever find on a grocer’s shelf. It develops the flavor of every dish you add it to, without fail. Make rice with a bit of stock instead of just water and you bring it to a whole new level. Do the same with pasta and you add a delightful twist to an ingredient that most people take completely for granted.

Kat and I eat a lot of poultry. We usually have a turkey or two in the freezer, sometimes a few chickens as well. As a result, I have plenty of access to chicken carcasses and that’s all I need to get a good start. Onions and carrots are a necessity, and I will often use celery, broccoli stems and herb stems as well.

One may use a variety of herbs when making stock and experimentation is always encouraged. I have found that, because I make stock on such a regular basis and always have a supply in the freezer, it’s best that I use the same herbs every time. This way I am not surprised by the flavor of the particular batch I happen to be using. My herb garden is full of choices but I prefer to use rosemary, parsley and thyme. One could also use savory, sage and/or oregano.

I am not giving this recipe in the same format that I usually do, with measurements and such. I don’t really measure anything here, preferring to wing it each time.

The approximate ratio of water to bones and pieces is around 3:2. I use the biggest stock pot I have available. I will season the water with salt and will also add peppercorns, either whole or cracked. I will also use red pepper flakes here, about a two-finger pinch. Bring this to a near boil and then simmer over low heat, skimming off any scum that rises to the top. At this point I will also add the herbs; a few sprigs of parsley, 2 sprigs of rosemary, several sprigs of thyme, and a couple of bay leaves. I let the stock simmer for 45 minutes to an hour and then add 2 or 3 carrots, cut into large pieces, and a large onion, also cut into big chunks. I will smash several garlic cloves with the flat side of my large chef’s knife and throw those in too, along with 2-3 stalks of celery, leaves and all. Sometimes, if they are available in my garden, I will just use celery leaves. Another thing I’ll add at this point is a tablespoon of tomato paste, which gives the stock a nice color and brings out a lot of the flavor of the other ingredients. Once I’ve added the vegetables, I let the stock simmer over low heat for another 45 minutes to an hour, until the carrots are cooked through. Place a heat resistant colander over a second pot and drain the stock, being careful to catch all the liquid in the second stock pot. Discard everything else. I will clean out the first pot real good with a paper towel, making sure to get all the small pieces of chicken out. Place a fine mesh strainer over the first pot. I will also place something inside the strainer – cheesecloth, a fine cotton towel, even a coffee filter. Pour the stock through the filter and strainer, catching any remaining bits. These, if left in the stock, will turn its flavor. Place the stock back on the stove over medium heat and add a half cup to a cup of white wine, vermouth, or sherry. I will also add a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice. Adjust the seasonings, adding salt and maybe white pepper, but nothing that will cloud the broth or leave chunks of floating debris. I will continue to heat the stock until it reduces a bit. Keep tasting, you’ll know when it’s done. Allow the stock to cool and skim off any fat that rises to the top. Pour the broth into pint or quart jars, finish cooling, and freeze or keep it in the refrigerator and use it right away.

Another storage option is to continue reducing the stock until it is very strong. Cool it, pour it into ice cube trays, and freeze. Once the cubes have frozen, pop them loose and store them in a freezer bag. This allows you to use only small portions of stock if you are, say, cooking for 1 or 2 people.

This basic recipe can be used to make stock of any kind, not just chicken. Try it with beef or veal bones, lamb or, if you have plenty of vegetables, omit the meat altogether and make a hearty vegetable broth. The possibilities are endless and once you have a good supply of homemade stock on hand, there is almost nothing you can’t make taste wonderful!

Fresh and Creamy Mushroom Soup

It’s been a long and busy week, leaving me no time for cooking. Today, however, I am off work and I just spent the morning with several people from our neighborhood food buying club receiving a huge produce order. Now my kitchen is filled with a spectacular array of fruits and vegetables including pineapple, fresh figs, rainbow carrots, purple bell peppers, apples, peaches, etc. Yet for all the wonderful colors and flavors I have to choose from, my eyes are drawn to the 2 lb bag of crimini mushrooms and I find myself filled with the desire to make a big pot of Creamy Mushroom Soup! The other veggies will hold for a bit but the mushrooms will start to turn real soon if not used. That’s all the justification I need!

I have toyed with several different mushroom soup recipes over the years, trying to keep the dish simple to prepare and yet hearty and mouthwatering. Unlike Cream of Mushroom soups you buy at the store which have a white saucy appearance, I feel a good mushroom soup should have a deep rich brown color, almost like gravy. This recipe achieves that goal, highlighting the earthy flavors of the mushrooms.

There are two ingredients I find to be absolutely necessary in making a really good mushroom soup; chicken stock and white wine. The stock adds an undeniable body without overwhelming the mushroom flavor while the wine, particularly a dry white, seems to “tickle” the flavor a bit, adding just enough complexity to make the soup really interesting.

Another change I made while making today’s recipe was to replace the cream in the recipe with evaporated milk. I used a 12oz can and added milk to make 2 cups. This way there is slightly less fat than using cream but I still get the same thick consistency as half and half.

Begin by taking a large stock pot and melting:

1/2 c butter (1 stick)

To this add:

1 large onion, chopped

Sauté the onion over low-medium heat until soft. Meanwhile, clean:

1-1/2 lbs crimini mushrooms

Remove the stems and chop the caps into large chunks. I will usually halve each top, then slice across every 1/4” or so. Add the chopped caps to the pan with the onions and brown for 20 minutes or so over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, place the stems in a blender with:

1 qt chicken stock (preferably homemade)

1/4 c flour

Blend until smooth. Once the mushrooms have browned a bit, add the blended mixture along with:

1/2 c dry white wine

2 t dried oregano (or 2 T if fresh)

1 bay leaf

2 t garlic powder

1 t paprika

1 t fresh ground black pepper

salt to taste

Warm over medium heat but do not boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer covered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. I recommend using a flat edged spoon, as to better scrape the bottom and corners of the pan and make sure the flour doesn’t clump or stick. After 30 minutes or so remove the bay leaf and, in small increments, stir in:

1 pt cream or half and half

Reheat but do not boil. When the soup has warmed again, add:

1/2 c fresh chopped parsley

Stir well and ladle into serving bowls or mugs. This recipe will make about 6-8 servings. It is quite excellent on its own with fresh baked rolls or as an appetizer for any meat course, as mushrooms compliment beef, pork or chicken equally well!

It's So Easy Being Green - Split Pea Soup with Bacon

It's raining in Portland today. It's cool and cloudy and it's the perfect day for soup! So far this week I've made Garlic Soup and a quick thrown-together chicken noodle, both of which were in response to the colds going around. Today I'm in the mood for something different and have decided to make a pot of Split Pea with Bacon.

I can already hear all of you Split Pea purists out there screaming "What?! No ham??" You will hear no apologies from me, however, as there are a couple of reasons for my replacing ham with bacon. First, and most importantly, I really can't stand ham! Something about the flavor just doesn't sit well with me. I don't mind fresh ham but I don't usually have any on hand since I tend to avoid this cut of pork. Secondly, and of equal importance, we have a wonderful little Russian meat market called Overseas Taste right down the street from us that smokes all their own meat! They have what I feel to be the best bacon anywhere, a twice smoked slab bacon that is out of this world! I will find any reason I can to use it, including tossing out the ham in pea soup! 'Nuff said!

In addition the the wonderful local bacon, Kat (as I mentioned in the last post) had brought home an assortment of fresh veggies, among them a colorful variety of carrots! Besides the standard orange, we also have yellow and purple carrots. These will make for an unorthodox but vivid looking pea soup!

I start with:
3/4 - 1 lb. slab bacon, diced into 1/4" chunks
Brown the bacon over medium heat in a large stock pot until it is nice and crispy. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon and set aside to drain. Pour off the excess grease and add to the pan:
1 large onion, chopped
Cook until the onion just begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Add:
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
Stir in to the onions and cook for a couple of minutes, then add:
1/4 c white wine or vermouth
Stir up the fond from the bottom of the pan. Increase heat to high and add:
8 c water
2 c dried peas
2 bay leaves
1 large sprig fresh rosemary
2 t fresh ground black pepper
1 t salt (or more, to taste)
Bring the soup to a boil and reduce heat back down to medium. Simmer for one hour. Add the bacon along with:
2-3 carrots, chopped
Continue cooking until peas have softened and carrots are tender, about 30-45 minutes. Remove the rosemary stem and the bay leaves. Serve, garnished with chopped parsley if you like.

The nice thing about pea soup is that, of all the dried legumes, peas cook fairly quick. A bean soup can take all day but Split Pea can be cooked in less than 2 hours. Plus, it's one of the simplest soups you can make! Who says it's not easy being green?

Garlic Soup Update

Kat, lucky girl that she is, seems to have caught the bug that has been going around and, after looking at an earlier blog post (Garlic Dreams, Sept. 15) requested a pot of Garlic Soup. As it turns out, we have a freezer full of homemade chicken broth, due to the fact that we make a pot every time we eat a chicken or turkey (or anything else I can make broth out of) and freeze it for winter soups. Even though in my post the other day I said that I've tried working with different broths in making Garlic Soup, it occured to me that I've never tried making this recipe with chicken broth. Now seemed like an ideal time to try.

I pulled out 2 quart-sized jars of broth from the freezer and thawed them. In a large pan I bought the broth to a boil and turned off the heat. I didn't add black pepper, as my broth tends to be well seasoned.

From there, I made the recipe as I usually do. Instead of french bread, I cut and trimmed a couple of thick slices off the loaf of Egg Bread I baked a couple days ago and toasted them under the broiler. The house was so pungent with the smell of garlic, even Kat with her clogged sinuses noticed. After whisking in the egg yolks, the soup took on its signature cloudy, almost creamy, appearance. I ladelled the soup over the top of the cheese covered bread, which melts the Monterey Jack into a mass of gooey goodness and sprinkled the top with chopped fresh parsley.

The flavor of the soup with the chicken broth was absolutely outstanding! It had a very different character from the beef based version and, because I used homemade broth, it was much more complex. It was every bit as good as the original version, if not better!

So there you have it, Chicken Garlic Soup. Something to keep you warm and healthy on those cold days when everyone else is sick!

Garlic Dreams

A reader writes...

"Dear Peredur's Kitchen,

I have always prided myself on my good hygiene. I shower at least once a day, brush my teeth after every meal, and wear effective deodorant. This is my problem. I don't stink and when I walk into a room no one notices. I want to be noticed. I want to have a bold smell that will turn heads! Do you have a recipe that will help me?

Signed, Stinks Like A Rose"

Dear Stinks,

Boy, do I have the ingredient for you! This will not only turn heads, but it has also been known to help cure colds and has, in some cases, proven to be an aphrodisiac! I refer of course to garlic, and one of the best ways to fully experience this divine little bulb is by making a nice pot of Garlic Soup.

We start with a simple beef bouillon base. I have tried to get fancy and use other types of beef broth but nothing seems to work as well as just using plain old-fashioned bouillon cubes. Take a large pot or heat proof bowl and combine:

8 c boiling water

7 beef bouillon cubes

1/4 t fresh ground pepper

Stir to dissolve the cubes and set aside. In stock pot combine:

2 T butter

15-20 large cloves garlic, finely minced

2 T chopped fresh parsley

Saute over low heat stirring constantly until garlic is cooked through and aromatic, about 5 minutes. Add:

1 T flour

Stir until slightly browned. Carefully pour in the beef broth and stir, scraping up all the garlic on the bottom of the pan. Increase the heat to medium-high until soup nearly boils, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the soup is about half cooked, slice:

1 loaf French bread

into 1" thick slices. Toast the bread on both sides. Just before serving the soup, whisk soup while drizzling in:

6 egg yolks, beaten

To serve, ladle soup over toasted French bread topped with shredded Monterey Jack cheese. Garnish with parsley, if that's your thing. This recipe makes about 6 servings, which is just enough for 2 people at my house. In the event that, for some reason, you have soup leftover, it happens to be just as amazing and flavorful reheated!

There you have it, Stinks! Make a pot of this soup and you'll have garlic coming out of your pores! People will make room for you on the bus! Garlic lovers will follow you home!

Enjoy!