Monday, January 4, 2010

Soup Weather!

We had more snow on Sunday! A dusting, maybe a little more, but enough to cover, combined with the wind, it's been freezing cold and we needed soup here! This is the perfect chill chaser...




I can't follow directions exactly, never could. Just ask my first grade teacher, my second, my third, the list goes on. And I know this because it says so, in red, on all those old report cards my mother saved. But not a problem when it comes to cooking, it's usually fixable. I cooked the rice separately, but the mushrooms and leeks, in my case this time, shallots, sauteed all together. This time instead of the porcini powder, I used dried porcini's and reconstituted them in warm water, then used the mushroom broth in the soup as well as the chopped porcini's! Served with a quiche and a salad, easy dinner for a cold, snowy night!

Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup
Source: Martha Stewart Living - September 2003
Printable Recipe

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, plus more for seasoning
1/2 cup wild rice
3 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/4 pounds assorted mushrooms, such as button, cremini, shiitake (stems removed), and chanterelle, sliced into bite-size pieces
Freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 leeks (white and pale-green parts only), quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon Porcini Powder
1/2 cup sherry or Madeira
3 tablespoons soy sauce
6 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh, flat-leaf parsley

In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup water to a boil.  Add salt and wild rice. Cover; reduce heat to medium-low. Cook until tender, 45 to 50 minutes. Drain; set aside.

In a large saucepan, heat half the oil over medium-high heat. Add half the mushrooms; season with salt and pepper. Cook until browned and tender, about 7 minutes; transfer to a bowl. Repeat with remaining oil and mushrooms.

Reduce heat to medium-low. Melt butter; add leeks. Cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in mushroom powder; cook 1 minute. Add sherry and soy sauce; cook 1 minute more.

Add stock to pot; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; return turn to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook 20 minutes. Stir in wild rice, cream, and parsley; adjust seasoning, and serve.

PORCINI POWDER (1/3 cup)
1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms

In a spice mill or coffee grinder, pulse porcini to a fine powder. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. You can use this in soups, stews, sprinkled on steak, in sauces, risotto. Adds a nice depth of flavor.

I made a quiche for dinner, it's easy, and you can throw whatever you have in the frig in and end up with a really good combination. This one had slices of tomato, cheddar cheese, broccoli, mushrooms and shallots. It was filled! and now my refrigerator isn't! Good way to use up whatever you have.




Mrs. Anderson whoever she is came up with the best idea since sliced bread. The pie shield. Comes in two sizes and it's so much easier than crimping tin foil around the crust. My edges always cracked off when I did the tin foil thing. Works great! You can see on the slice, I still have my edge!




 The basic recipe I use for quiche is here.



17 comments:

  1. Wonderful recipes and your photos looks yummy. I going to have try that soup and the quiche.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Soup and quiche sounds like a perfect meal for a cold, wintry day. I have that same pie shield and it certainly comes in handy, and yes, much better than crimping foil.

    Your soup sounds fabulous and the quiche looks delicious. It doesn't look like either suffered from not following directions. IMO following directions is really overrated. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's soup weather here. 19 below this morning.

    I found your blog this weekend and have enjoyed reading your blog!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love it! I have tried the porcini mushrooms the first time from a recipe (roast) I got from Giada de Laurentis, it was so delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm still using crimped tin foil! Love the pie shield..thanks for the tip.
    The mushroom soup recipe looks divine. I may live in Florida, but it is COLD right now! A cup of soup sounds wonderful.

    I followed directions, but my report cards always said: "talks in class". Hmmm. I wonder if that's why I blog?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I smiled at your post. I can't follow directions to save my life-It drives my husband nuts. I guess that is why he can bake and I can cook... I have those red marks on my report card too-not only for not following directions, for talking too. :-)
    Your dishes look wonderful. I would be so useless in temps that cold..Stay warm.

    Velva

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, that soup sounds really good, especially on a cold night, like it is here tonight. I have one of those pie shields but forget to use it. I made tourtière for New Years Eve and forgot to turn the oven down after the first 20 minutes...crust was a little dark, or should I say black!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I jsut love soup in Winter! This one sounds so flavorful with the porchini mushrooms in it!

    A pie shield sounds like a good gadget to have..I'll check out the link..Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Had to laugh at you and "can't follow directions". Mine was "doesn't live up to potential."
    Love this soup recipe. Soup is a staple in our house now.

    ReplyDelete
  10. YUM ... both look delicious to me even though it's anything BUT 'soup weather' here ;-)
    Hugs and blessings,

    ReplyDelete
  11. Yum! Wish I had a bowl of mushroom soup, lol. And of course YOU would have a pie shield, lol! Never heard of 'em. I can't get the foil to stay on to save me. Course it doesn't help that I use the 12" stuff and have to do it piecemeal.

    ReplyDelete
  12. You can have my snow and ice, I a m good at sharing!
    Soup and quiche look delicious.
    I need one of those shields..

    ReplyDelete
  13. A bowl of your warm yummy soup on one of these cold nights sounds so good!

    Never knew about the pie shield - I crimp the foil. Thanks for the link.

    ReplyDelete
  14. The soup and quiche both sound wonderful. I have seen those pie shields - great to know they work so great.

    Now, if they would only invent a potholder shield :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Looks great and yep, I have that pie shield too!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Carol, I love mushrooms, but picky DH doesn't so I don't have them much. I would like mushroom soup... maybe need to make some just for me. Quiche, HE eats... I love making them to use up stuff in the fridge. I NEED the pie shield. The one I have is in four parts, but they seem to fall off... not stable at all. Anyhoo, your food looks so good. I'm off to catch up on all your blog postings that I've missed while on vacation. Missed you too, pal!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh please, I'd be glad to share my snow and 18°F temperatures. And you wouldn't even have to share your soup or quiche, though I'd be mighty thankful.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment. They are fun to read and very much appreciated! Sorry for comment moderation, the spam has been overwhelming lately.

Back to top