Sketchbook Wednesday - Mushroom Soup!

 One of my favorite savory delights is this quick and easy Mushroom Soup. I got the recipe from my mother (I'm not sure where she got it from) and have been making a variation of it for nearly 30 years.

 As I've mentioned before, I pretty much cook to taste, or with what I have on hand. For this batch I started by sauteeing crushed garlic in butter until it is golden. I then added thinly sliced mushrooms (the more the better, IMO. I think I had a couple of cups of mushrooms on hand). If your pan feels too dry, add more butter - I probably used 1/3 cup of butter all told. 

Season your mushrooms as they cook as desired - salt, pepper, chili pepper, until they are savory and delicious. I also tend to saute them until they are well cooked and starting to caramelize. You can stop sooner if you prefer them that way.

By now, you should have cooked mushrooms swimming in liquid. To this I add a Tablespoon or so of flour so that the liquid bubbles and thickens up. When it's thick, turn off the heat and add a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice so they are tangy and delicious.

 While your mushrooms are cooking, you can start the broth part of the soup. You'll need about 8 cups of broth of your choice. I used herby homemade chicken stock, but you can use veggie broth or beef or your choice of bouillon. The more flavorful your broth though, the better your soup will taste. To add some extra richness to your broth, you can bring it to a boil and then use some of the hot liquid to temper a couple of eggs to add (if you haven't tempered eggs in soup before, you can see how to do it here). 

When your broth is hot and your mushrooms are done, add your mushrooms to the soup base, stirring until everything is well combined. 

Taste, and adjust your seasonings. Many times I end up adding more lemon at this point. I like it tangy as well as savory. 

Serve with warm, crusty bread and get ready to revel in the yum!

Sketchbook Wednesday - Cooking Quince

 Earlier this fall, I posted a picture on instagram of some of the funky pineapple quince ripening on the tree in my backyard.

 Quince is not your typical fruit. It is rock hard and astringent.  Not really something you pick and eat out of hand.

 Cook it though, and it becomes a totally different story! There are lots of recipes out there on the interwebs (I used this one for the crop I harvested this fall).

Cooking - with the addition of some sweetening and spices, it transforms into this highly fragrant, spicy elixir of deliciousness. Plus! The fruit magically turns pink and tender. It is a delightful surprise to your palate. If you can run down some quince of your own, give it a try.

Sketchbook Wednesday - Beef Stroganoff

After a lengthy blog break, I thought I'd try to start up again.

After a month of #inktober sketchbook journaling, (you can see them all on instagram. My instagram name is tlchang37 if you want to see them, or follow along) with requests for things like actual recipes and instructions, so this month, I will attempt to do so.

However, much of my cooking uses things like recipes as a guild line, rather than rules. I'm listing the ingredients I use and some directions that may help, but outside of baking, the rest of my cooking is more by taste and what ingredients I have on hand.

That said, this is what I did for this latest batch of Beef Stroganoff.

Stroganoff happens at my house when we have leftover Sunday roast.

I started off heating some olive oil in a large frying pan and added a few cloves of crushed garlic. 

When they turned golden I added a diced onion and continue sauteing until they were golden brown.

Add some butter to the pan, and then add sliced mushrooms.  Saute until they are as done as you would like (I like them very done. Browned and starting to caramelize). Season with salt and pepper and a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Add roast beef (cut into bite-sized pieces), and just cover with beef stock. If you don't have any stock, use beef bouillon dissolved in warm water. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. (If you are using raw beef, rather than pre-cooked, you need to simmer long enough to cook it through before proceeding further).

While this is simmering start adding the dairy. Many recipes use milk or cream. We like it really tart in our house, so we add sour cream. A bunch. Sour cream is quite thin though, so I also add cream cheese. Up to an entire brick. Stir until it melts and incorporates.

Add a generous splash of Worcestershire sauce.

If this is not tart enough for you (which it never is for us), add lemon juice - to taste. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. Play with spices!  You can also add other veggies you have on hand.

It will thicken up as it cools. Serve over rice, pasta, quinoa (my favorite) or greens (I had leftover stroganoff over sauteed zucchini tonight).  

Let me know in the comments what you do with stroganoff, or let me know if you try this out and how it works for you.

At the very least, let me know if this is a useful thing, and if I should blog more of it in the future..?

Happy cooking!

Raise your hand if you love your garden!

Mine is being surprisingly forgiving. After two years of nearly complete neglect, I am beginning the rather daunting task of clean-up/edging/weeding/re-planting, etc! It is a fascinating process to watch the rather organic evolution of the shape and composition of beds and planting areas as we get to know each other better. Who knew that chervil would absolutely thrive in a newly partially shaded bed (the neighbor's tree has grown big enough in the last year or so to hang over the fence and block the sun), and I'm amazed at where I find borage and parsley and oregano spontaneously showing up. So many things have overwintered - the arugula, cicely and johny-jump-ups are all blooming so profusely, I can hardly bear to pull them out so that I can plant my spring crop of vegetables.

After getting a bundle of strawberries planted in a new bed, I had to tear myself away and address the making of dinner (another long-neglected activity). The sorrel and chives were so prolific and lush, I decided that Jerry Traunfeld's "Spring Sorrel and Chive Soup", from The Herbfarm Cookbook (*best* cookbook ever!) must be part of the menu. I had boiled a chicken carcass earlier in the week for stock so it was just a matter of saute-ing some onions and mushrooms and then pureeing the hot soup with the greens -

If you get your soup temperature right - not quite boiling, but hot enough to wilt the greens - you get a bright emerald liquid that is savory and tart and full of springy-goodness. (My stock was a bit too hot here - the green begins to dull when cooked. Still yummy.)

Unfortunately, it was near-dark after cleaning up from dinner, so I got to address the taming of the studio instead. Glad to say that progress was visibly made. Still quite a ways to go, but I am feeling a bit less overwhelmed today.

And tomorrow, I get to 'play' out in my gardens some more!