Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Dried Porcini Mushroom Soup



 Dried Porcini Mushroom Soup

This wonderful slow cooked mushroom soup recipe feeds eight to ten people and it makes a wonderful appetizer if you want to serve something hot. Obviously, soup is better for a sit-down dinner than for a buffet or picnic where finger food would be more suitable.

Another benefit to serving soup as an appetizer recipe is that you can leave it bubbling away on the stove or in the crockpot without having to keep an eye on it all the time. You can start crockpot mushroom soup in the morning and know that it will be ready by the evening. This is timesaving and if you are using a slow cooker that leaves the oven and stove free for other dishes.

Catering for vegetarians does not need to present any problems because there are so many vegetarian recipes you can use. If you are feeding strict non meat eaters you can replace the meat broth and consomme with vegetarian broth but this will radically change the flavor of the recipe.

You can use any wine you like for this recipe. Either white or red would be fine because the wine is just to add flavor to the recipe so just use a cup of whatever you have open. Alternatively, you can throw in a couple of tablespoons of brandy or sherry instead. This is a winter warmer of a recipe and it is perfect for the cooler seasons.

What You Need:

1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms
2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup boiling water
1 can condensed beef consomme
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 minced cloves garlic
2 finely chopped onions
2 lbs fresh sliced cremini mushrooms
3 cans condensed beef broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons cracked peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 cup wine (red or white)
Crumbled soft goat's cheese
Heavy cream
Finely chopped fresh parsley, thyme leaves or chives

How To Make It:

Soak the Dried porcini mushrooms in the hot water for half an hour, then drain them through a sieve and keep the liquid. Pat the mushrooms dry with paper towels and chop them finely. Heat a tablespoon of the butter in a skillet over a moderate heat, then cook the fresh mushrooms until their liquid comes out. Put them in the slow cooker.

Melt the rest of the butter in the skillet and saute the onions until they are soft. Add the reserved porcini mushrooms, as well as the thyme, garlic, peppercorns and salt. Cook the mixture for a minute, and then transfer it to the slow cooker. Add the wine, bay leaf, broth, consomme and reserved liquid. Stir well and cover the slow cooker. Cook for six to eight hours on low or three to four hours on high.

Throw away the bay leaf. Stir in the balsamic vinegar, then ladle the soup into serving bowls and drizzle some cream on top. Sprinkle the fresh herbs and goat's cheese on the soup and serve it immediately.

Hedgehog Mushrooms With Blackened Seasoning

           
Hedgehog Mushrooms With Blackened Seasoning





INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch of swiss chard, chopped
2 cups of hedgehog mushrooms, sliced
1/2 clove garlic, Diced
2-3 tablespoons of butter
Blackened Seasoning of your choice


DIRECTIONS
  1. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the garlic and toss until a bit brown
  2. Add the hedgehog mushrooms and stir fry for about 5-6 minutes on medium heat.
  3. Add the chard and stir fry again until tossed with butter and mushrooms. About another 5 minutes or so.
  4. Sprinkle liberally with blackened seasoning and enjoy!

Sirloin With Hedgehog Mushrooms


                                                                  Sirloin With Hedgehog Mushrooms


I started by picking out two of the best looking steaks I could find. Wagyu-calibur, at $6.49/lb (Yep!). I also saw some hedgehog mushrooms, which look kind of like chanterelles, and since mushrooms and steak are always a winning combo, quickly had a meal going in my head.
I seared the steaks with salt and pepper in my grill pan over medium-high heat for exactly 3 minutes per side, while I worked on the hedgehog mushrooms.
For those, I first melted about a tablespoon and a half each of ghee and duckfat in a pan over medium heat, then dropped in the mushrooms, making sure not to crowd them. After about 5 minutes, I added a generous few sprigs worth of fresh thyme, 4 minced cloves of garlic, a pinch of salt, and – secret ingredient time – a generous dusting of porcini mushroom powder.
Porcinis are kind of like truffles in their intense umami mouth-feel, and since I tasted a hedgehog mushroom prior to adding this stuff, I knew they could use a little help. 5 minutes later, I finished the mushrooms with a quick drizzle of REALLY nice balsamic vinegar. This stuff is like $50 a bottle at Williams-Sonoma (luckily it was a gift).
After final taste and seasoning with salt and pepper, what we had was possibly the richest, most umami-concentrated explosion of flavor ever. I dumped the whole contents of the pan over the steaks, then put them in the warming drawer to rest and marry all the flavors.
Then I started the puree. This was nothing fancy, but it worked brilliantly as a mop for the intense flavors and juices that would soon go over top. I used my previous technique but I omitted the nutmeg and garlic and added 2 small bulbs of fennel.
This was a nice, neutral bed, and when I finally took those very well rested steaks out, you wold have thought they were cooked sous-vide. What was probably VERY rare at the onset settled into a brilliant top-bottom medium rare that really exemplified the importance of resting steak. Wish I had a pic.
So long grain fed steak. I’ll miss you!