Mushroom Soup

This mushroom soup is to die for. We originally began to make it to add to our Saucy Chicken recipe, but it is just as delicious on it's own.

Mushroom Soup
original recipe from Food Network

6 tbsp unsalted butter
1 c. chopped yellow onions
1/2 c. chopped celery
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
6 oz. shiitake mushrooms, wiped clean, stems trimmed, and sliced
6 oz. oyster mushrooms, wiped clean, stems trimmed, and sliced
8 oz. cremini or button mushrooms, wiped clean, stems trimmed, and sliced
2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/3 c. brandy
6 c. chicken stock 
1 1/2 c. heavy cream

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, and cayenne and cook for about 5 minutes, until tender. Add in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Toss in the mushrooms, thyme, salt and pepper and cook until the mushrooms become soft and start to brown, approximately 7 minutes. Pour in the brandy and bring the entire mixture to a boil for about 2 minutes, or until the alcohol forms a glaze. Pour in the stock, return the mixture to a boil and then simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Remove from the heat and puree with a hand-held immersion blender. Add the cream, return to a simmer, and cook for 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings.

We usually freeze the soup in 2 c. Ziploc containers for Saucy Chicken or to eat with a baguette and side salad as a light meal on it's own.

Thanksgiving ReMix - Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie was an easy recipe to think of - the amount of leftovers this recipe used was amazing. We used half a turkey breast, turkey stock, gravy, 2 cups mashed potatoes, two carrots, 3 ribs of celery, 3 turnips, 1 white onion, thyme and mushrooms - all of which we had floating around in the fridge from either our Thanksgiving dinner or from making our vegetable stock (which was made for Thanksgiving). Our refrigerator breathed a sigh of relief as we unloaded crisper drawers and tupperware containers.

The recipe we used was based on this recipe. We made a few changes based on our leftover situation, but isn't that the point of these types of recipe - to use up all the mis-matched ingredients you have on hand? So, you can use this as inspiration and throw in whatever else you may be needed to use from your fridge. Ours turned out a bit on the runny side, so in hindsight, I would sub butter for olive oil and use 2 tbsp with 2 tbsp flour so that the rue was thicker, but other than that, the flavor was awesome. We will be keeping this recipe for use with next year's leftovers.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 cups chopped white onion

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

3 celery ribs, chopped

1/4 tsp Essence (see Emeril's recipe for it here) 

2 pinch salt

pinch of ground black pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 tsp thyme leaves (we used dried)

 6 oz. mushrooms, stemmed, cleaned and sliced

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp flour

1/3 c. tomato sauce

2 1/2 c. roasted turkey breast, meat shredded

1 1/4 c. turkey stock (you could use chicken)

2 cups leftover mashed potatoes, mixed with blended turnips

3 turnips, boiled and blended with immersion blender 

1/4 c. Manchego cheese

1 c. grated Goat's milk Cheddar

1/2 c. leftover gravy 

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or saute pan. Saute the onion, carrots and celery with the Essence, salt and pepper.

Once the onions are clear and tender, toss in the garlic and saute for about 30 seconds to a minute. Then toss in the mushroom, thyme and bay leaf.

Once the mushrooms have wilted, toss in the flour and coat everything in the flour. Then add the tomato sauce and turkey breast and stir to combine. Slowly add the turkey stock and stir to combine. Simmer for about 10 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.

Pour the mixture into a 9" x 9" pan and top with the turnip mashed potatoes. Top with the Manchego cheese (which melts into the potatoes and adds a nice buttery flavor). Top that with the Cheddar and place in a 400 F oven for about a half hour, until the potato is crisp and the cheese is bubbly and golden.  

Serve and drizzle some leftover gravy for a yummy use of all those odds and ends.

Creamy Mushroom Noodles

I got this recipe a few years ago from Whole Foods Meals for 4 for $15.00. The original recipe included chicken, but after making it several times, I prefer a meatless version.

Ingredients:
1/4 c  butter
1/4 c flour
1 c. sour cream (Toffuti dairy-free sour cream substitute was used in this recipe)
1 c. chicken stock
1 1/2 c mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 1/2 tsp paprika
8 oz egg noodles

Melt the butter in a large pan, mix in the sour cream, chicken stock, mushrooms, paprika and flour. Stir or whisk to avoid lumps from the flour. I add a little at a time so I can mix it thoroughly and to avoid lumps. You may not use all of the flour, so stop adding when you have the creaminess and thickness to the sauce that you like.

In a separate pot, cook the egg noodles in salted boiling water until tender. Once cooked, drain and toss in the mushroom cream sauce in the sauce pan.

I typically add more mushrooms since I have omitted the meat from this dish. It's a quick and easy dinner or side dish. Enjoy!

Mushroom Lasagna

Who doesn't love lasagna? Creamy layers sandwiched between layers of pasta? This twist on the traditional lasagna (original recipe from Food & Wine) was not only delicious, it was meat-free. Nick adores meat, and so making a meat free meal is pretty rare. This lasagna, though, is a keeper. We'll definitely be making this one again!

Ingredients:

2.5 tbsp butter
1/8 c flour
1 1/2 c. heated milk or cream
3 cloves garlic, 2 finely chopped, 1smashed
pinch of nutmeg
6 lasagna noodles (we used no-boil to save a step)
1 large onions, diced
2 lb whole portobello mushrooms, sliced
1 bunch basil, diced
1/2 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. Pecorino Romano, grated
salt and pepper

Melt 1.5 tbsp butter in a pan over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour and incorporate into the butter, creating a rue. Add the cream to the rue and stir so that there are no lumps and the milk/cream is thoroughly incorporated into the mixture. Throw in the crushed garlic clove and nutmeg and simmer, stirring. Once it has thickened, turn off the heat and set aside. Salt and pepper to taste. In another pan (I recommend one that's deep), saute the onions and garlic in the remaining butter. Once the onions are clear, about 5 minutes, add the mushrooms and saute until tender. In a food processor, mix the cream and basil. Mix half of the cream mixture into the mushroom and onions and set aside the other half.

In a greased 9" x 9" baking dish, layer the bottom with the cream garlic sauce. Add a layer of lasagna noodles and top with the mushroom mixture. Add another layer of noodles and mushrooms and continue until the mushrooms are used up (I think we had 2 layers). Place noodles on top of the last mushroom layer. Mix the remaining cream garlic sauce with the basil cream and half the pecorino. Pour on top of the noodles. Top with the remaining cheese and bake in a 450 F oven for 45 minutes. Let rest before serving for 10 minutes.