Russian Mushroom-Potato Soup

I, also, was feeling in the mood for mushroom soup but wanted some potato in the mix. Bittman came through as he so often does; I modified the recipe slightly based on not having the called-for porcini mushrooms.

Ingredients

• 4 oz. fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and roughly chopped [I also chopped and used the stems]
• 6 oz. baby bella mushrooms, sliced
  
• 2 medium carrots, sliced
• 6 small potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 large onion, diced
  
• 6 c. stock [your choice; I used homemade chicken stock but you could use veggie or mushroom water if you're reconstituting]
  
• 2 tbs. olive oil
• 2 bay leaves
  
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• salt to taste

Procedure

1. Pour olive oil into medium saucepan and turn heat to medium-high
2. Add mushrooms, onion and carrots, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown – about 10 min.
3. Add the potatoes and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until they begin to brown [add a bit of stock to keep from sticking to the pan]
4. Add bay leaves, pepper and remainder of stock
5. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook until potato is very tender, 20-30 min., adding salt and pepper to taste
6. Serve hot or cover and refrigerate for up to a day before reheating, adding more water to thin soup
7. Enjoy!
   

Penne col Sugo di Funghi Coltivati

Mushrooms were on special at WSM today, and I immediately thought: that'd make a great pasta sauce. So I tapped Marcella's Italian Kitchen and was, of course, not disappointed. Slightly modified a mushroom penne recipe of hers (subbed out the anchovies and parsley, and a few other things) and it worked like a charm. Highly recommended.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. fresh mushrooms
• 1 tbs. butter
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 tsp. chopped garlic
• Salt
• Ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup rosé
• 1/2 cup canned peeled plum tomato, drained and cut up
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 lb. penne

Procedure:

1. Wash the shrooms under cold water and pat dry
2. Cut shrooms lengthwise, thinly
3. Heat butter, oil and onions in large sauté pan (with lid, for later) on medium high heat
4. When onions become translucent, add garlic
5. When garlic turns golden, add shrooms, salt and many grinds of pepper. Stir thoroughly and lower heat to medium.
6. Cook until shrooms have exuded all liquid
7. Add wine; stir 2-3 times
8. When wine has cooked off, add tomatoes and bay leaves. Stir thoroughly, cover and cook for 10 minutes
9. Cook penne; transfer to serving bowla dn toss with mushroom sauce and a thin stream of olive oil
10. Enjoy!

Verdict:

Huge success. Highly recommended.

MKD Foodstravaganza: Recipes

Of course MKD's visit is marked by incessant consumption of foodstuffs and beerstuffs. Recipes follow, and beer reviews below.

Mexican (?) Chicken a la MKD

Ingredients:

• 2 split chicken breasts
• juice of 1-2 limes
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 of 1 medium white onion (sliced)
• kosher salt
• black pepper
• chili powder
• cayenne or other spicy pepper powder
• (all spices to taste, don't over-do it)

Procedure:

1. Place chicken in an oven-safe pan, cover with liquid and dry ingredients, toss to coat
2. Dust top of chicken with a touch more pepper and/or salt
3. Cover pan tightly with foil
4. Place in oven preheated to 375F for about 25 minutes
5. Remove foil, toss chicken in remaining liquid, and continue to cook uncovered until thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast reads 165-170 (another ~20 minutes)
6. Let the chicken cool for at least 10 minutes, then using a fork, pull it into shreds.

Verdict:

Delicious, tender, tasty.


Mushrooms with Roasted Poblano Peppers

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced
• 4 poblano peppers, roasted, skinned
• olive oil
• kosher salt

Procedure:

1. Roast poblano peppers. Place in paper bag to cool and sweat, remove skins and slice in 1/2" strips
2. Wash and, if mushrooms are not already sliced, slice them
3. Heat olive oil over medium heat in sauteé pan
4. Add mushrooms, sprinkle salt over them, and continue adding olive oil until mushrooms are well coated
5. Cook mushrooms until they begin to soften, and add peppers
6. Mix peppers and mushrooms and cook for several more minutes until thoroughly combined
7. Serve and enjoy!

Verdict:

Super-good and, obviously, very very easy.


Ancho-Roasted Jalapeño-Roasted Red Fresno Salsa

• 4 dried ancho chili peppers
• 4 large jalapeño peppers, roasted
• 2 red fresno peppers, roasted
• white vinegar

Procedure:

1. Rehydrate anchos by setting in a bowl and pouring near-boiling water over them; let sit until they swell, and then chop roughly
2. Roast jalapeño and red fresno peppers. Place in paper bag to cool and sweat, remove skins and chop finely
3. Combine all peppers in a small blender and blend on low, adding small amounts of white vinegar to desired consistency (should be a usable paste)

Verdict:

A real winner – smoky, spicy-but-not-too, and compliments a wide range of other foods. Very highly recommended.


Refried Pinto Beans

Ingredients:

• 2 cups pinto beans (either from a can, or rehydrated)
• 1 head garlic
• 1 jalapeño pepper
• 1/2 white onion
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
  
• salt
• water
• vegetable oil
  

Procedure:

1. Skin garlic, and either chop very finely or combine in blender with jalapeño and onion
2. Heat oil to medium in large cast-iron skillet with high sides
3. Add garlic, pepper and onion and fry in oil for 1-2 minutes
4. Add pinto beans, salt and cumin. Mix all thoroughly.
5. Add water covering beans thoroughly; raise heat to medium-high
6. Allow beans to cook down, adding water periodically, for 30-45 minutes
7. When beans soften, begin mashing (potato masher works well), adding more water and some more oil as necessary
8. Beans will begin to stick to the pan – this is good, just make sure they don't burn too much
9. When it looks like refried beans, you're done

Verdict:

An old stand-by, this never does me wrong. Also works quite well with black beans, subbing in a section of fresh ginger root for the cumin powder.


Roast Tomatillo Salsa

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. tomatillos, de-husked and washed
• 1 jalapeño pepper
• 1/2 large white onion
• 2 roast poblano peppers
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 limes, juiced
• white vinegar
• salt

Procedure:

1. Roast tomatillos and poblano peppers in separate pans (make sure the tomatillos are in a deep baking pan)
2. Place poblanos in paper bag to cool and sweat, remove skins and set aside
3. When tomatillos are blackened on top and beginning to fall apart, remove from oven and set aside to cool
4. Add onion, garlic, jalapeño, poblano and lime juice to blender and blend until fine
5. Add tomatillos and their juices to blender; blend until all is combined
6. Add several liberal dashes salt, and liberal pour of vinegar; blend all again, adding vinegar until reaching desired consistency (anywhere from very viscous to more liquidy)
7. Enjoy!

Verdict:

Been making this one a while and there was a little too much lime juice in this iteration, but adding the poblanos (which I did late) saved it. Very much a favorite, there's always some of this in the fridge.

Poblano Peppers and Mushrooms

An altogether successful experiment, this dish was just good enough that it left open the tantalizing possibility of perhaps being great with a little tweaking.

Ingredients:

• three poblano peppers
• two packages/hefty number of white mushrooms
• garlic
• two serrano peppers

Procedures:

• slice poblanos lengthwise; mushrooms across; garlic lengthwise; and chop serranos very finely
• heat oil to medium in a pan; add garic and serranos, cook for a minute or two
• add poblanos and sauteé until softening
• add additional oil; wait one minute until heated, then add mushrooms
• sauteé until mushrooms are cooked

Very good already, but what's missing here? Some wine? Something else?

UPDATE: maybe orange juice?