My favourite soup is Cream of Mushroom, and I made one not too long ago. It was good... but it really wasn't what I was craving. The first cream of mushroom soup was with Crimini and White Button mushrooms. It was a little on the thin side. While it was great, I was wanting something that was a little thicker like a chowder, and I knew I wanted some more hearty, flavourful mushrooms. Since our local Farmer's Market has started up, we headed to it. Tons of mushrooms grow in the redwood forests here, so we get an awesome variety to choose from. I grabbed some Lion's Mane, which the vendor said had a lobster-like flavour, and that's not a bad comparison! And we also got some Maitakis, which are also real earthy and crunchy. The Knorr's Vegetable packet that I used threw me off. I had a few sitting in the pantry for quick dips, but I wondered how it would be as a seasoning? Using such great mushrooms, I was a little hesitant to use a pre-packaged mix in the soup... afraid it'd ruin the whole thing. But I took a gamble, used it, and actually love the way it came out.
Consistency came out so perfect. It's not too thick that it's like gravy, but it's also not got that coat-your-tongue thing like heavy cream based soups. The mushrooms were all al dente and meaty. So if you like thick, rich chowdery soups, this recipe is for you. And we can't stop talking about what kind of other things we can add to it that would be awesome - adding crab or lobster would be delicious, bacon would be great, some roasted poblano pepper would give it a southwest taste. It'd be perfect for a clam chowder, just add potatoes and clams and maybe some celery. And if you like the thinner soups, our Cream of Mushroom Soup, Mark I would be the one for you!
We've had a Swingin' Utters album playing in the car all week, and
Justin's been digging on this song a lot, so it's been running through
both of our heads - "Next In Line". -jen
CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP, MARK II
Top Left - Maitaki, Top Right - Lion's Mane, Bottom - Crimini
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
1/2 pound Crimini mushrooms, chopped
1/2 pound Lion's Mane mushrooms, chopped
1/2 pound Maitaki mushrooms, chopped
2 medium shallots, diced (about 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup flour
4 teaspoons wet chicken base
4 cups water
1 cup Half & Half
1 packet Knorr Vegetable Recipe Mix, 1.4oz
2 tablespoons dry sherry
dash of cayenne pepper (optional)
1/4 teaspoon Accent/msg (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
In a stock pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and shallots. Saute until tender, 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle flour over vegetables and stir until incorporated. Cook for 5 minutes.
Add chicken base to mixture, then whisk in water, Half & Half, and Knorr Vegetable packet. Turn heat to high and stir constantly until soup has thickened. Remove from heat and stir in sherry, cayenne, and Accent. Add salt and pepper to taste.
So Jen and I like doing meatballs for dinner every so often and last time we had done a nice marinara we happened to be discussing ways to vary them and thought that a Mexican style meatball would be awesome and easy to pull off. Here is my attempt at this meal and I believe it worked excellently, if I do say so myself.
This can be varied with any type of salsa that you want or if you were feeling extra adventurous you could cover it in a delicious mole. I went with a fairly straightforward salsa that would work warm or cold and be good with anything. Feel free to try a salsa verde or maybe a chipotle salsa if you dig the heat!
To accompany this dish I'm going with some Pulley, specifically "Crawl" because that tune has been stuck in my head and maybe this act will appease whatever gods are responsible for that sort of situation. - justin
1 tsp Caldo de Pollo (Mexican chicken bouillon with some herbs and spices)
Preheat oven to 425. Arrange your halved tomatoes (cut side up) on a, oiled baking sheet along with the halved and cleaned peppers (cut side down). Lightly brush peppers and tomatoes with 2 of the tbsp of olive oil. Place in the preheated oven and roast for 40-50 minutes. Cover with foil when they are done and let them sit for 10 minutes to cool. This will steam the skins and make them easier to remove. When the veggies have rested the skins should simply pull off of the peppers and tomatoes. Roughly chop them and set aside.
In a saucepan, add the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil and set burner to medium heat. When hot, add the diced yellow onion and salt and let the onions sweat until translucent, roughly 7 minutes or so. Add the chopped, roasted peppers and tomatoes, the lime zest and juice, the cilantro, the epazote, the Mexican oregano and the cumin. Stir together thoroughly, and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Disolve the caldo de pollo in the cup of water and add to the saucepan. Stir to incorporate. The salsa should be very chunky and a little watery at this point. Simmer the water off to thicken it to your desired consistency. If you would like a very silky, smooth salsa, use a blender to puree the mixture. I prefer mine to be a little chunkier so I just gave it a couple quick pulses and called it good after simmering it for an hour or so while I made the rest of the meal.
Meatballs:
2 lbs ground beef (80/20 lean to fat ratio is best for these)
1 tbsp minced garlic (about 1 large clove)
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 whole green onions, chopped
2 tsp ancho chili powder
1 tsp dried epazote
1 tsp Mexican oregano
2 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
Preheat oven to 425. I find that while the veggies for the salsa are roasting, it's a perfect time to make the meatball mixture and then the oven is already hot and ready to bake meatballs when the veggies come out and you are finishing the salsa.
Mix the breadcrumbs and the milk and let sit for five minutes to absorb. Add all ingredients to a large mixing bowl and use your hands to mix together. Roll into golfball sized balls and place equidistantly from each other on a lightly oiled sheet pan. It should make roughly 30-35 balls. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 20-30 minutes. Meatball diameter will determine your total time but check one of the bigger ones after 20 minutes and use that as a judge for how much longer you'll need. You want medium, not well done.
Tostones:
Frying set up, either a deep fryer or a skillet and a enough frying oil to be a couple inches deep
2 large plantains, peeled and sliced into 2 inch rounds
Heat oil to 350 degrees. Fry enough of your plantains so as to not crowd your oil. Do a couple of batches if you need to or your oil will cool and they will turn out greasier than you want. Fry them for 2 minutes per side (or 2 minutes total if you have them completely immersed in oil). Remove from oil and allow to cool for a couple minutes. Set them upright and smash them with your hand or a spoon so that they squish into a sort of disk. Fry again for 2 more minutes per side and remove to drain excess oil. Salt immediately and set aside.
Completion:
At this point I placed the salsa on the bottom of a plate, set the
tostones in the salsa like little boats and served the meatballs resting
on top of the tostones, like so:
However, you could do the salsa over the meatballs or tostones on the side or whatever you like.
So it's spring, supposedly, in NorCal and that means a lot of asparagus in general all over California. Most of it's grown in the central, or San Juaquin valley near Monterrey and Salinas. It becomes quite cheap and plentiful and makes for great soups and sautes and whatnot so here's a soup of it with some delicious Gruyere.
I have to apologize for not getting a pic of this recipe but it was too good to wait until the next making to get a pic and post.
And then there's the Buzzcocks, some classic British punk that I dig every so often, today being one of those days. - justin
Cream of Asparagus and Gruyere Soup Time: 45 minutes Difficulty: Medium Serves: 6-8
1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)
1/2 yellow onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt 1 tsp ground black pepper
2 lbs asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces (cut ends where stem becomes woody or tough)
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 1/2 oz sherry
1 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt (room temp)
2 oz grated Fontina cheese
4 oz grated Gruyere cheese
Melt butter in large stock pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and saute for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Add salt and pepper. Add asparagus and saute another 4 to 5 minutes. Add stock, sherry, and paprika and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for 30-45 minutes or until asparagus is tender. Puree until smooth or until you reach the desired consistency.
Return to pot and stir in sour cream or yogurt and bring back up to a simmer. Slowly add Fontina and Gruyere and stir until fully melted into the soup. Serve hot with some chopped scallion as garnish.
Either of these recipes can be used as a dressing or a marinade for meat or veggies. Feel free to substitute the fresh herbs for what you have available to you in your area. We use what we have in abundance out here.
For musical accompaniment, I decided to go with an old classic, Death, a rock group from back in '75 who happened to be one of the first black groups in the genre. These guys prove that Detroit didn't just have soul, they had some punk rockers as well. Marinade on that for a little while. - justin
Many years ago, when I was in South America (the duty free zone of Panama City, Panama if you want me to get specific), I encountered two boys selling one of the best meals I've ever had in my life from a street cart on the side of the road. The older brother was approx 13 or so and his younger brother was about 10. On their cart they had a flat top griddle where the older brother fried up bits of chicken, onion, and cilantro that were all marinated in a delicious citrus marinade and served up in a half pita. His little bro sat beside him squeezing oranges into fresh juice for the marinade but also as a beverage to accompany the dish. The price of this meal was $2. My friend and I ate two straight off and after a couple hours of shopping and wandering we decided to go back and get more before leaving because they were just that damn good! I think I had 4 or 5 pitas and a couple glasses of OJ that day. Delicious!
This is my attempt at recreating the flavors that the marinade brought to the poultry. I decided to use rabbit instead of chicken partly because I had rabbit in the freezer but also because why not post a rabbit recipe in honor of Easter? Stupid bunny always leaving damn eggs all over the place! I'll fix him! Anyway, this marinade would work perfectly with chicken or pork so feel free to substitute if you feel squeamish eating Thumper.
Since I can't go too long without listening to them I decided to compliment this meal with some Pixies. More specifically, Debaser. It's a classic from my childhood and one that never fails to get my blood going! - justin
Citrus Braised Rabbit Time: 8 hr marinade, 1 hr cook time Difficulty: Medium Serves: 6
1 whole skinned rabbit, 2-3 lbs, cut into 6 pieces
3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice, approx 2 large oranges
2 tbsp orange zest
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tbsp fresh chopped basil
3 tbsp white balsamic vinegar (you can sub white wine vinegar if you don't have white balsamic)
3 tbsp minced shallots
1 tsp celery seeds
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp water
Place your rabbit in a large ziplock freezer bag for marinating, or bowl if you prefer. Combine orange juice, zest, salt, black pepper, basil, white balsamic vinegar, shallots, celery seed, and coriander and place in marinating vessel with rabbit. Allow to marinate 6-8 hours.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Bring oven safe skillet to temp over burner on medium flame and add the olive oil. Remove rabbit from marinade, reserving the liquid, and brown in skillet, approx 7-10 minutes per side. After rabbit is browned, add reserved marinade and broth to skillet and bring to a simmer, approx 2-3 minutes. Place the skillet in the oven, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and transfer rabbit to a plate. Dissolve cornstarch in the water. Simmer the liquid in the skillet over medium burner and add the cornstarch slurry. Stir with whisk until sauce thickens. Drizzle sauce over rabbit to serve.
I'd grabbed a Chinese chicken salad at our local co-op the other day for lunch. Forgetting how much I love Chinese chicken salad, I came home and told Justin we should come up with one that we dig. So instead of Chinese, we went with Thai! I don't think we ever get tired of the combination of cilantro, basil, and mint! I was a little leery of the chipotle in the dressing (begrudgingly inspired by Bobby Flay), but it was really great! We both ate giant bowls of this and in between mouthfuls, we just kept exclaiming how awesome the salad was (and how awesome we are!)
For music... well, this is how the conversation went. Me: What do you want to use for music? J: I dunno. Me: Did we use Screeching Weasel yet? J: "What We Hate" is my favourite of theirs. Me: I like that one too.
Not very inspiring, but still a great song from a band we love. -jen
THAI CHICKEN SALAD Time: 20 minutes prep at most Difficulty: If you can use a knife, you can do it, Nicky! Serves: 6-8
2-3 cups cooked chicken breast, cubed
1/2 head Napa cabbage, shredded
2 heads Romaine lettuce, shredded
4 medium carrots, shredded
1 cup broccoli florets
4 medium scallions, sliced long and thin
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup basil, chopped
1/4 cup mint, chopped
1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons peanut butter (creamy or chunky, whichever you prefer)
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
2 tablespoons minced chipotle pepper
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fish oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon lime zest
2 tablespoons lime juice
2/3 cup vegetable oil
salt & pepper to taste
crunchy chow mein noodles
In a large bowl, mix chicken, cabbage, lettuce, carrots, broccoli, scallions, cilantro, basil, mint and almonds.
In a smaller bowl, whisk vinegar, peanut butter, ginger, chipotle, soy sauce, honey, fish oil, sesame oil, lime zest, and lime juice. Whisk in vegetable oil until completely blended. Salt and pepper to taste. Pour dressing onto salad and toss. Toss your salad until you can toss it no more. TOSS IT!!! Then serve with crunchy chow mein noodles on top (don't mix them in, they'll get soggy).
Tip: If you think you'll have leftovers, don't mix the dressing with all the greens. Just pour the dressing on your individual servings, that way your greens don't get soggy in the fridge.
I really love red cabbage and its EXTREME CRISP! (I just wanted to hop on the EXTREME bandwagon.) So the night after Justin made Ribolita for dinner, I found we had all the fixings for a vegetable coleslaw using the leftover red cabbage! I whipped out the box grater and went to town! The slaw came out real tasty - we ate it with some pulled pork, good call there. Simple, basic recipe - super easy.
When I think of coleslaw, I think of the south. And so I was trying to think of some southern punk... and instead, my mind popped up with this song. Not punk, obviously, but I got there by way of punk! I woke up to Dylan's version on the radio this morning, thought about how I liked Ness' version better, and so somehow Social D wires crossed with southern food and if I ramble any more about how I get from one thought to another, I'm going to sound ridiculous. Mike Ness - Don't Think Twice. -jen
RED CABBAGE & BROCCOLI COLESLAW
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 small shallot, diced fine
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional because of the celery salt, add to taste)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 medium red cabbage, shredded
1 medium crown broccoli, shredded
4 medium carrots, shredded
In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, Dijon, red wine vinegar, shallot, sugar, Old Bay, celery salt, and black pepper. Whisk until combined. Add cabbage, broccoli and carrot and toss until coated.
Tip: Make this the day before you want to eat it because the flavours meld deliciously once it refrigerates over night!
