Sour-and-Hot Mushroom Soup

Hot-and-sour soup is one of my favorites. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to find versions of it with no pork when ordering at restaurants. There are plenty of recipes for vegetarian versions of the soup to make at home, but I was particularly drawn to this mushroom-forward take. This is from Every Grain of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop, and since I usually mention when I’ve received copies of books I want to point out that this is one I purchased. I was browsing the cookbook section at the bookstore which I can spend hours doing, and when I started looking through this one I lost count of how many dishes I wanted to run home and try. There’s a rainbow of sticky note flags marking pages in this book. The dishes are true to authentic Chinese cooking, but they’ve been made very accessible to home cooks in the West. Not too many ingredients are hard to find, and often those are optional. I’ve made the Tiger Salad which is a mix of cucumber, cilantro, green chiles, Chinkiang vinegar, and sesame oil. I made the Salt-and-Pepper Squid and added Shrimp lightly dusted in potato starch, fried, and topped with stir-fried garlic, green onion, and red chile. I tried the Sweet and Spicy Cold Noodles with sesame paste, sesame seeds, chile oil, and topped with shredded chicken. Everything has been outstanding. I can’t wait to take a stab at Dumplings in Chile Oil Sauce, the Stir-Fried Oyster Mushrooms with Chicken, and the wonderfully simple Silken Tofu with Avocado. This book hasn’t spent much time on the shelf and probably won’t. Now, back to this soup I started talking about. It’s described as subtler than the hot and sour soups from Chinese restaurants in the West. The sour comes from Chinkiang vinegar, and the hot was to be delivered by white pepper. I have a preference for black pepper and crushed red pepper, so I made a very unauthentic change to the dish by using those instead. However, I did seek out dried day lily flowers which were an optional item in the ingredient list. 

The recipe includes both fresh and dried mushrooms. We usually have a pretty good selection of types of fresh mushrooms at our local grocery stores, but on the day I was shopping for this dish shitakes were available but no oyster or enoki. I bought dried oyster mushrooms instead. The dried mushrooms and the dried day lily flowers were to soak in hot water for an hour before using. Meanwhile, I started cutting the ginger into tiny slivers. The fresh mushroom caps were also cut thinly, and the tofu was cut into thin shapes similar in size to the mushroom pieces. To start the cooking, oil was heated in a wok and ginger was sizzled until fragrant. The dried mushrooms which had been sliced thinly as well along with the fresh mushrooms and lily flowers were added next. The mixture was allowed to cook until the mushrooms were almost cooked through, and then, warm chicken stock was added and brought to a boil. The tofu was added and carefully stirred to prevent breaking it too much. Light and dark soy sauce were added, and after a short simmer, the vinegar and pepper were added. Off the heat, sesame oil was stirred into the soup, and it was topped with green onions. 

This was a fantastic hot-and-sour soup or sour-and-hot soup. The fresh and dried mushrooms gave it great flavor, and there was a nice mix of textures with the lily flowers and tofu. It lacked the shreds of cooked egg that often appear in a hot-and-sour soup, but there was enough going on here that I didn’t miss them. I’d like to just keep cooking page after page of this book, so a feast of a dinner party might be in order. 

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Broccoli, Cheddar, and Mushroom Flipsides

It's fitting that a book with the title Cutie Pies was made in a cute little shape. It's a small square of a book, but there are 40 recipes for pies in various shapes and sizes including cutie pies which are baked in a muffin tin, petit-5s baked in a mini muffin tin, pie jars baked in mason jars, flipsides or hand pies, pie pops which are tiny lollipop pies, and full-sized pies. This is the new book from Dani Cone of Seattle's High Five Pie and Fuel Coffee, and I received a review copy. Although some pies are recommended for specific shapes and crusts, there are also tips for mixing and matching the fillings with other pie shapes and crusts where possible. And, there are both sweet and savory options in most configurations. A few ideas that caught my eye were the mac 'n cheese cutie pies, banana-blueberry pudding petit-5s, peach-ricotta-honey pie jars, caramel-pecan pie pops, and the peanut butter and jelly full-sized pie. I'm always drawn to the idea of hand pies since they're so easy to grab and go, and making savory ones sounded like a great idea for lunch. I zeroed in on the flipsides filled with broccoli, cheddar, and mushroom which are made with the all-butter crust.

The crust recipe is a straightforward one, and the mixing technique suggested is using a pastry blender or your hands. I actually prefer to work butter into flour with my hands so I can feel when the pieces seem to be about the right size. So, flour, salt, and a scant teaspoon of sugar were combined in a large bowl, and cold, cubed butter was worked into that mixture by hand. Ice water was slowly added while hand mixing until the dough came together. It was wrapped in plastic and chilled for an hour before being rolled and cut into circles. For the flipsides, six-inch circles are suggested, but that seemed kind of big to me. I found a round plastic lid to use as a guide, and it measured just over five inches in diameter which seemed fine. Before cutting the dough into circles, the filling was made by combining chopped broccoli florets, chopped mushrooms, and salt and pepper. Some cheddar was grated, and I left that in a separate bowl rather than mixing it with the vegetables. That way, I could top the pies with some extra cheddar, that wasn't mixed up with the vegetables, before baking. I found that the twelve ounces of suggested cheddar was a lot more than I needed, and I think six to eight ounces would have been plenty. With all the fillings ready, the dough circles were filled, pinched to close, and then cut with a fluted-edge pastry wheel. They were brushed with egg wash, topped with more grated cheddar and a sprinkling of sea salt and black pepper, and they baked for about 30 minutes.

They came out of the oven golden, crispy, and delicious. Leftovers can be re-warmed in the oven to bring back the crispness of the crust, or you could freeze extra pies before baking and then bake as needed straight from the freezer. The flipsides were fun to make and delightful to eat, and now I can't wait to try making a cute little pie on a stick.

Broccoli, Cheddar, and Mushroom Flipsides
re-printed from Cutie Pies with publisher's permission, Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC

makes 10 flipsides (or 16 cutie pies, 36 petit-5s, 8 pie jars, or 50 pie pops)

1 pound fresh broccoli florets, chopped (about 5 cups)
4 ounces fresh white button mushrooms, sliced (about 1 cup)
3 cups (12 ounces) shredded shard cheddar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
All-Butter Crust (recipe follows)
1 egg, slightly beaten

All-Butter Crust
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 cup ice water

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, and sugar, and mix well.
2. Add the butter to the flour mixture, and mix gently with a pastry blender, a fork, or your hands. The goal is to lightly incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients. The butter pieces should be well coated with the dry mixture and somewhat flattened.
3. Gradually add the water to the flour mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, and continue mixing the dough until it comes together and forms pea-sized or crouton-sized crumbs. The dough should look like coarse individual pieces, not smooth and beaten together like cookie dough.
4. With your hands, gather the dough crumbs together to form 2 patties, gently molding the crumb-like mixture into a patty shape and being careful not to overhandle the dough. Wrap each patty in plastic wrap.
5. Chill the dough for at least 1 hour, or up to 3 days. The dough can also be frozen for up to 2 weeks.
6. When you're ready to use the dough, let it sit at room temperature for at least 10 minutes to soften it and make it workable. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each of the 2 dough patties to about 1/4-inch thickness, lightly dusting it with flour, if needed, to prevent sticking, and making sure to roll the dough evenly.

For the flipsides:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place a rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, a silicone mat, or lightly spray with nonstick spray.
2. To make the filling, in a large bowl, combine the broccoli, mushrooms, and cheese, stir to thoroughly combine.
3. Pour the salt and pepper over the broccoli mixture, and toss to evenly distribute.
4. To make the crust, follow the All-Butter Crust recipe and roll out the dough per the instructions.
5. Cut 10 (6-inch) circles from the dough. Reroll the dough to make all the circles, being careful to avoid overhandling the dough. Brush each circle lightly with beaten egg, making sure to brush right to the edges.
6. Spoon the broccoli mixture evenly onto the center of the 10 circles. Pick up a dough circle so that it's lying flat(ish) in one hand. With the other hand, fold the circle up (like a taco) and tightly pinch the edges together flat to seal the crust, starting at one corner and pinching around to the other corner. Lay the circle down on the work surface, and with a fluted-edge pastry wheel, cut around the outermost edge to give the crust a neat finish. (This edge is for looks, not to seal the crust, so make sure you've thoroughly pinched the crust together.) Make 3 small slits in the top of the Flipside, and place it on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat this process for each of the 10 Flipsides.
7. Lightly brush the tops of the Flipsides with the remaining beaten egg.
8. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until the crust is golden.

Note: I used only six to eight ounces of grated cheese, and I left the cheese separate from the vegetables rather than mixing it all together. After brushing the flipsides with the beaten egg, I added extra grated cheddar on top and sprinkled them with sea salt and black pepper.

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Mushroom Socca Stacks

Chickpea flour flatbreads with cheddar, slow-roasted tomatoes, and herby sauteed mushrooms had me thinking about this dish since October. It appeared in that issue of Vegetarian Times, and I have to tell you about my subscription. This is one subscription that I don’t receive in the mail. I subscribe to an online version that arrives in my email inbox. I flip through the pages on-screen, and they look exactly the same as the printed version. I can print pages if I want or go back to the issue at any time. I’m definitely a fan of having physical magazines and books to read, and I don’t think I’ll ever entirely switch to e-reading, but having a subscription here and there in electronic form is a good environmental option. So, when I saw this ‘page,’ it immediately became part of my to-try list.

This is very easy to prepare, but you need to plan ahead for roasting the tomatoes. Since fresh, ripe tomatoes aren’t a February crop, I opted for canned, whole tomatoes instead. They worked great. Just cut the tomatoes in half and place them on a baking sheet. Sprinkle them with chopped thyme, rosemary, oregano, and garlic. Then, drizzle them with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, and roast them at 300 F for two hours. Once roasted and full of concentrated flavor, half of the tomatoes were pureed to form a sauce, and the other half were reserved for garnishing. The socca were made by whisking together chickpea flour and salt and pepper, and then lukewarm water and oil were added. That was left to sit while finely diced onion was sauteed with thyme. The mushrooms were added to the onion, and then some dry white wine was splashed into the pan. That was left to cook until the wine evaporated. The socca mixture was poured into a loaf pan, and it was baked for about 10 minutes. Grated cheddar was sprinkled on the socca, and it was returned to the oven just to melt the cheese. The socca wasn’t as firm as I expected, so I may bake it a little longer next time.

The stacks were formed with a base of tomato sauce topped with sauteed mushrooms, then one piece of socca, and all the layers were repeated with whole roasted tomatoes scattered here and there. This was hearty and rich-tasting, and those tomatoes were bursts of incredible flavor. A little more crispness from the socca would have been nice, but it was still delicious just as it was.




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Spaghetti alla Trapanese and Funghi Ripieni di Ricotta

The other day, I mentioned cooking a few things from Jamie's Italy and then went on to mention a black bean mango salad and a meal in San Antonio before finishing the story. After making the farro salad, I found a couple of other items to try. The funghi al forno ripieni di ricotta became the first course before the spaghetti alla trapanese. The stuffed mushrooms were filled with ricotta mixed with oregano, lemon zest, parmigianno reggiano, and finely chopped red chile. It was so simple but a little different than a usual stuffed mushroom. The lemon and chile were great accents to the smooth, mild ricotta.

The spaghetti couldn’t have been easier to prepare, and if you have homegrown or locally grown tomatoes, this dish highlights them perfectly. The sauce is a raw pesto of sorts to which chopped tomatoes are added. Because they’re not cooked at all, the dish is really all about the freshness and flavor of the tomatoes. This was a fun meal to make, and as noted in the recipe, the prep work can easily be finished while the pasta water boils. Jamie also notes that he prefers cherry tomatoes for this, but any good, ripe tomatoes will work fine.

I used a food processor, but a mortar and pestle are recommended. I’ve always heard resulting textures are better with a mortar and pestle, but I’ve never had the patience to try it. So, while the pasta water was brought up to a boil, almonds were chopped to a coarse, powdery consistency in a food processor. That was placed in a large mixing bowl, and then garlic and basil were chopped in the food processor and added to the ground almonds. Parmigiano reggiano was grated and added to the other ingredients, and olive oil and salt and pepper joined all of that. Last, one and a half pounds of tomatoes were chopped, placed in the bowl, and then they were squished and smooshed to break them up and release their juices. The pasta was cooked, drained, and placed in the bowl. While stirring the sauce into the pasta, a little more olive oil was added.

The ingredients don’t actually form a proper pesto. The amount of olive oil was not as much as that needed for pesto, and the tomatoes provided most of the sauce liquid. Instead, the ground almonds added mild, nutty flavor and substance to a basil- and garlic-inflected sauce that was really a vehicle for juicy, ripe summer tomatoes. I pulled this out of the refrigerator for lunch the next day and was faced with a dilemma. I didn’t think the sauce on cold pasta would be as good but I also knew that heating the tomatoes and basil would be disappointing. I went with a half-way approach to re-heating. I got it just warm enough to loosen the olive oil on the pasta but not so much that the tomatoes would start to cook. It was still good, enjoyable, certainly not a bad lunch. However, it simply could not compare to the range of textures and bursting-forth tomato flavor it had when first made.




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Parmigiano Reggiano Polenta Crisps with Blue Oyster and Shitake Mushrooms

On Monday, I started the story of last weekend’s dinner party. The chilled soup course was followed by roasted sockeye salmon with nasturtium jalapeño aioli and a salad of beets, beet greens, and carrots with a horseradish-orange vinaigrette. Also served with the salmon was this polenta with sauteed mushrooms. This dish was inspired by one seen in the December 2007 issue of Bon Appetit. As seen in the magazine, it was served in small squares with the mushroom ragout placed on top of each piece of polenta. Since seeing this over a year ago, I kept it in mind for a future party because it could be largely prepared in advance and would be easy to serve in pre-made portions. I made a few changes to the recipe in hopes of making the dish a bit lighter and more spring-like.

The original mushroom ragout included creme fraiche and grated Comte cheese. I opted to make the mushrooms dairy-free and flavor them with green garlic, shallots, and truffle salt instead. I used local blue oyster and shitake mushrooms. One day early, I made the polenta with all milk for the liquid and a half cup of grated parmigiano reggiano stirred in at the end of the cooking time, and I let it set up overnight in the refrigerator. The day of the party, I cut the polenta squares and cooked them in butter and olive oil in a non-stick skillet for a few minutes on each side. Once crispy on top and bottom, they were transferred to paper towels to drain. Then, they were kept warm in the oven until needed. When the salmon was ready to be served, I placed some mushroom mixture on top of each polenta square and sprinkled the truffle salt on top.

Crispy surfaces on the polenta squares gave way to tender middles full of parmigiano reggiano flavor. That richness carried the mushrooms nicely, and the truffle salt was a subtle, additional boost to the topping. I’m sure the creamier version with cheese in the mushroom ragout would also be delicious, but this spring version worked well for our meal.


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Mushrooms and Leeks with Pecorino Fonduta

Mushrooms and cheese are a pretty perfect pairing for me. I'm very fond of both. But, there was more than that to the pairing concept here. In the April issue of Food and Wine, Shea Gallante of Manhattan's Cru suggested wine pairings for several of his dishes. All of them were extremely tempting, especially the pizza with charred cherry tomatoes and pesto, but I chose to first try the mushrooms and leeks with pecorino fonduta. The wine pairing for this was a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo because its tannins would make this cream- and cheese-filled indulgence seem lighter.

The intro to the recipe states: "Gallante makes this dish at Cru with morels that are poached in butter then topped with pecorino fonduta, Italy's fondue." Well, knock me over with butter-poached morels. If only it was April and I was in Illinois where my uncle used to give us bags full of hand-harvested wild morels. They may be the most delicious mushroom there is, but I don’t think I've met a mushroom I didn’t like. Since it's September and the Austin Farmers' Market is the best I can do right now, I chose some locally grown, beautiful, oyster mushrooms. They were added to sauteed leeks and garlic and cooked until the liquid was evaporated, and chopped rosemary was added. I always thought thyme was my favorite herb with mushrooms, but I may change my mind because rosemary was just right on this occasion. The mushrooms and leeks received a tiny drizzle of balsamic vinegar and then a rich, luxurious bathing in pecorino and parmigiana cream fonduta.

Grilled bread, this delicious fonduta-covered melange, and a good Italian, tannic red wine. I don't think I even have to describe how good that was. The wine did cut the richness of the dish, and its earthiness was very nice with the mushrooms and the rosemary. The combinations here, oyster mushrooms, pecorino and parmigiana cheeses, rosemary, and the Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, were well-matched all around. This will definitely appear on our table many times over in the coming months and beyond.
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