Mushroom Herb Soup

I saw a recipe recently that did not appear to be too difficult involving mushrooms, herbs, and I thought let's try that!

So I grabbed the ingredients and went crazy with preparation. I would say this is an easy weekday meal for anyone wanting a change of pace from their normal fare.

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
Beef Broth (used bullion cube)
1/2 lb White Button Mushrooms (sliced)
Herb Mix*
1 White Onion (diced)
2 Celery sticks (diced)
1 Garlic clove (diced)
1/4 cup of Sherry
2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce

*Herb Mix consists of thyme, basil, oregano, rosemary, sage, marjoram, ground black pepper, and a dash of tumeric.

I began by slicing and dicing all of the ingredients needed and placing them in the saucepan with a dash or four of Olive Oil. I turned the heat to just above medium...so technically med-high but not by much. Stir so you get the Mushrooms, Onion, Herb Mix, and Garlic cooked properly.

Put a smaller pot on with water and your bullion cube at this point since you'll need it in a little bit!

At this point I also added the Worcestershire Sauce and Sherry, then stirred it all in. A few minutes of this, maybe 4, and turn the heat off. Grab your trusty food processor, or blender, and proceed to puree the vegetable mix. Add the pureed vegetable matter to a new saucepan/saucepot and proceed to turn the heat to medium.

While doing this either all at once in a blender or in stages with a food processor like I did, add the beef stock to the new saucepan/pot and stir. I tried to just add the stock in the food processor too....that was quite the messy learning experience!

Once all the vegetables have been pureed and the stock poured in, proceed to stir for about 3 minutes on medium. Then turn off heat and serve. Enjoy.

Stir Fry Salad

I was poking around several cookbooks this past week and noticed several variants of a stir fry salad meal. Well, I like to think of it as a lunchtime snack during the great amount of heat we are getting here in Texas.

So I grabbed the ingredients and went to work. It was quite simple when looking at it since I had everything at hand already.

Ingredients:
3 LG White Button Mushrooms (sliced)
5 Scallions/Green Onions (diced)
1 Handful of Snap Peas
5 Florettes of Broccoli
Frozen Peas and Corn
Sesame Seed Oil
Vegetable Oil
Teriyaki Sauce
Stir Fry Sauce
Soy Sauce
Sake
Salad Mix
Italian Salad Dressing
Parmesan Cheese

I grabbed my trusty Wok and poured some Vegetable Oil into it and let it cover the bottom and part of the side(by moving the Wok around, not putting in an entire bottle of Oil!), then turned the heat on to med-high.

Once I saw that the oil was heated properly, I added in the frozen vegetables. I also added in a little bit of Sesame Seed Oil at this point. Stir. Let them cook for a minute or three since they have more cooking going on since they were frozen.

After that, I added in the Sake, mushrooms, scallions, snap peas, and broccoli. Don't be afraid to be liberal with the Sake since most of it burns off anyways. You will most likely get an amazing blast of vegetable smells at this point. It's amazing. Don't forget to stir a lot here.

A few minutes after this, I added Teriyaki Sauce, Soy Sauce, and Stir Fry Sauce to the mix. Lots of stirring here to make sure the sauces get to everything in the Wok.

Cook until your frequent tastings of the stir fry taste about right. Turn off the heat.

NOW...you grab your Salad Mix and put some on a plate, making sure to wash them as well. Then once those are on the plate, a light dusting of Parmesan Cheese and the plate is ready for stir fry. So pile on however much stir fry you can handle in one sitting on top...or just enough so it is a good mix.

On the side you probably noticed the dipping sauce/salad dressing...well, that is a mix of Sake, Italian Salad Dressing, Teriyaki Sauce, and Soy Sauce. It is quite tasty and simply stirred together. Enjoy.

Amazing Cheesy Mac & Cheese

Everyone has their take on Mac & Cheese, and many others just buy it by the box with simple instructions. That stuff is crap compared to making your own. I love my cheese, so I went a little overboard on that part.

Ingredients:
1 box of Elbow Macaroni
1 Block of Meunster Cheese
1 Block of White Cheddar Cheese
Handful of shredded Gruyere Cheese
1/2 Block of Smoked Gouda Cheese
1/4 cup shredded Asiago Cheese
1/4 stick of Herbed Butter
1 cup or so of 2% Milk

In one saucepan, fill with water and dash of salt. Once boiling, add in the Elbox Macaroni. All of it. Pay attention to this on the side since cooking pasta is very simplistic.

In a second saucepan, throw the butter in there and allow it to melt. Once melted, either shred or dice up your blocks of cheese and add them in. Stir a lot. A lot.

Once pasta is done, drain it out and put back in same saucepan. Add your cheese mixture, stir it in a little bit. Add Milk a little bit at a time until it's a nice cheesy soup mixture with the pasta. I had the burner on here to speed up the blending of everything together, but it is not necessary. Once this was going on, I added the shredded cheeses in and stirred them in. It is done pretty much at this point, just take out and serve.

Homemade Hummus

Hummus is a great snack food for anyone who has or has not tried it. If you have not, I suggest you do. It's fairly simple to make as well.

Ingredients:
2 or 3 Cloves of Garlic (diced up)
1 can of Garbanzo Beans
1 spoonful of Cumin/Coriander Mixed Spice

I used my trusty food processor for this tasty snack. I started off with the Garlic Cloves. I peeled then diced them. Once that was done, I threw them in the food processor.

Second, I opened my can of Garbanzo Beans. There is a very pungent liquid in there with them, keep at least half of it. Pour the liquid with the Garbanzo Beans into the food processor.

Third, I sprinkled the Cumin/Coriander Mixed Spice on the top of everything in the food processor. Then blend...blend until it is smooth. Just take out and serve, easy as that.

Saucy Stuffed Mushrooms

As many of you who read my blog know, I like to cook mushrooms. They are so easy and versatile that who wouldn't enjoy cooking them?

Well this time, I upped the recipe I used for Stuffed Mushrooms. Yes, it could be done and was so.

Ingredients:
Large White Button Mushrooms
Green Onions(Scallions)
Lemongrass
Anaheim Peppers
Garlic Cloves
Ground Black Pepper
Sake
Soy Sauce
Teriyaki Sauce
Asian Hot Sauce

For the Mushrooms:
You will start with your saucepan on medium high, about 1/2 inch deep filled with Sake, Soy Sauce, Teriyaki Sauce, and Ground Black Pepper.
In this you will place the mushroom caps face down, flipping every few minutes until cooked to your preference.

For the Stuffing:
I used a food processor for this part, seemed the easiest thing to do. You grab the stalks from your mushrooms and dice them up before putting in the food processor. On top of that you grab your Lemongrass, which is just like chives for appearances. Dice up a good sized handful and throw it in. On top of this, add 2 diced up cloves of Garlic. Throw in a dash or two (or three if you don't work the next day) of Sake. Puree it until it's almost soupy, but has a bit of texture left to it.

(Green Onions will be cut into small portions as evidenced by the pictures, do not need to put them in anything)

Once the Mushroom Caps are done, arrange on plate. Use a spoon to scoop some of the stuffing out and place in the caps. Top them with some Green Onions and use some Asian Hot Sauce to complete out the meal.