Tag: Mushrooms

Recipes

Cream of Mushroom Soup

by Teri Mae2 Comments on Cream of Mushroom Soup
Cream of Mushroom Soup

Happy Valentine’s Day! To tell the truth, my husband and I don’t actually celebrate this one… Not that we have anything against it, but with birthdays and holidays so close to this date it just feels like too much to celebrate yet another holiday where giving gifts is recommended. So tonight we will be celebrating by eating take out and watching Overwatch League, which has finally started up again (YAY!). But, in honor of the holiday, I have the least romantic dish possible to share with you. Guys, I don’t know why I didn’t plan this better, but I totally spaced that this post would come out on a holiday celebrating love. So instead of sweets, dessert, or even a romantic dinner option, I bring you Cream of Mushroom Soup…

Cream of Mushroom Soup
time and difficulty

I need to admit something. I relied heavily on the recipe of Cafe Delites for this one. I’ve never in my wildest dreams thought of making cream of mushroom soup from scratch. Frankly, the only time I use it is in my stroganoff recipe. So I needed a lot of guidance to even know what direction to head in. I changed a few things, made a few additions of my own, but definitely check her recipe out if you want the pure, unadulterated version!

We start by chopping mushrooms, dicing onions, and mincing garlic. All pretty basic stuff at this point.

Next, heat some butter in a pot… or dutch oven (you guys know me so well) over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until golden and shiny. Then add the garlic and stir for just a minute or so. Garlic burns so easily and we don’t want to overdo it. When everything smells nice add the mushrooms and salt and pepper and saute until they start to change color and become soft. We don’t really want to cook them too much or they’ll be rubbery at the end.

When everything is ready add the seasonings and flour and stir until everything is completely coated. Then we deglaze the fond. I’ve talked about deglazing before and it’s my favorite way to ensure that all the seasonings stay in your dish. Just add a few tablespoons (or splashes, we aren’t fancy here) of your chosen broth to the pot and scrape the bottom until all that delicious brown stuff comes up.

Once it’s all off the pot add half the remaining broth to the pot and stir continuously until it heats and starts to thicken. Then add the remaining broth, stir until combined, and allow it to simmer for about 10 minutes. It’ll start to thicken up and smell delicious. If it doesn’t look thick enough for your tastes at this point simply add some flour to the pot and whisk it until there’s no lumps. Allow to cook for a few more minutes until it thickens.

Add all the milk and allow to heat until barely simmering. Add more salt and pepper as needed and serve while it’s hot! This soup will even save for a few days to add to other recipes you may have (like the aforementioned stroganoff). It actually turned out way better than I thought it would! I’d eat it as it is next time, just because it smelled so delicious!

Link’s Veggie Cream Soup:

  • Fresh Milk
  • Rock Salt
  • Any Mushroom
  • Any vegetable, herb, or flour

Cream of Mushroom Soup

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

A savory, fragrant cream of mushroom soup

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons salted butter- 1 medium yellow onion- 2 garlic cloves- 1 pound fresh mushrooms (can be white or brown)- 1 teaspoon kosher salt- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper- 1/2 teaspoon oregano (or 1.5 teaspoons fresh oregano)- 1 teaspoon thyme (or 2 teaspoons fresh thyme)- 10 fennel seeds- 1 bay leaf- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour- 4 cups vegetable broth (for vegetarian) or beef broth- 1.5 cups milk

Directions

  1. Chop the mushrooms into bite-size pieces. Dice the onion and mince the garlic. 2. Heat the butter in a pot over medium heat.3. Add the onions and saute until golden and shiny.4. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.5. Add the mushrooms and salt and pepper and saute until they start to change color and become soft.6. Add the seasonings and flour and stir until everything is completely coated.7. Deglaze the fond by adding a few tablespoons of your chosen broth to the pot and scrape the bottom until all the brown bits are removed.8. Add half the remaining broth to the pot and stir continuously until it heats and starts to thicken, about 5 minutes. 9. Add the remaining broth, stir until combined, and allow it to simmer for about 10 minutes. If it doesn’t look thick enough at this point simply add some flour to the pot and whisk it until there’s no lumps. Allow to cook for a few more minutes until it thickens.10. Add all the milk and allow to heat until barely simmering. Add more salt and pepper as needed and serve while it’s hot!
Recipes

Mushroom Risotto

by Teri MaeLeave a Comment on Mushroom Risotto
Mushroom Risotto

I tried making risotto once.  It did not turn out.  So why did I decide to tackle something that was this intimidating this early on?  Come on, guys.  It’s obvious.  I’m a gamer and gamer’s do not give up and do not take the easy road when it comes to conquering a difficult challenge.  How many of you have come across a puzzle that was difficult and said to yourself “Nah.  It’s too hard.  I’ll just pretend like this side quest doesn’t exist and that’ll be just fine”?  The answer is none of you.  Guys, we are the ones who stick with it to the end.  The completionists.  The puzzle-solving-it’s-2-AM-because-once-more-will-do-the-trick kind of people.  And that’s why I attempted this terrifying food so early on.  Why not chalk up the win from the get-go?  And with this recipe I found it was definitely worth it.

Mushroom RisottoDifficulty and Time for this recipe

A few pointers before we begin:

  • Risotto should never be made in a regular pan.  A heavy-bottom pot or enameled cast-iron pan are really the best.  They keep a hot temperature that isn’t easily changed by adding liquids.
  • I cannot say this strongly enough: once you start stirring your rice you can. not. stop.  If you stop the rice will burn to the bottom, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!
  • You must use Italian rice.  It has a special type of starch that allows the rice to stick together, unlike any other kind of rice.  The best (according to one author) are: Arborio, Vialone Nano, and Carnaroli.  I use Arborio, myself
  • Musrooms are versatile but you definitely want some with flavor.  I used portobellini’s for this recipe but other options could be portabella’s, porcini, or shiitakes.

Ingredients for Mushroom Risotto

Now that the rules are over with, we start with the prep work.  Once you start cooking your Risotto you can’t, and I do mean that (see warning above), stop stirring it.  So keep everything nice and handy and ready to throw in the pot.  Start with getting your diluted vegetable  broth simmering.  It needs to stay at a slow simmer the entire time you make your risotto.  Then fine dice onion, large dice mushrooms and get them soaking, grate Parmesan cheese, cut 2 tablespoons butter and separate into 1 tablespoon pats, measure out your vegetable oil, and ready your salt and pepper.

Adding the Rice to the potHeat up your nice, heavy pan and add the oil and butter.  Cook the onion until it’s nice and tender and get ready for the fun/exciting/scary/hot part: the rice.

Add all the rice, stir it around until every grain is coated in the butter mixture, and start adding your broth 1/2 cup at a time.  I found that using a ladle was perfect for this.  It was easy to keep in my left hand while my right stirred like crazy to keep the risotto from sticking.  I made sure my set up was broth on the left, risotto on the right.  But feel free to switch it up!  We don’t discriminate against lefty’s here.

The broth and risotto set up

Stir and scrape the bottom of the pan until all the liquid has been absorbed and then add a second ladleful of broth.  Keep stirring and keep repeating until it’s been 10 minutes.  At this point, when you would add more broth, instead add the mushrooms and soak water.  When that liquid is evaporated and absorbed add more broth.  Continue until the rice is tender but still has a bite.  Some like it crunchy in the center.  Mine was definitely not crunchy but you don’t want it soft.  It’ll go mushy if your rice isn’t still al dente.

Adding butter and Parmesan cheese to the risotto

Add Parmesan cheese because it’s delicious, correct for salt and pepper, and enjoy while it’s hot!

Close texture of risotto

Link’s Mushroom Risotto recipe:

    • Hylian Rice
    • Goat Butter
    • Rock Salt
    • Any Mushroom

Mushroom Risotto

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: moderate
  • Print

Mushroom Risotto with Parmesan cheese from Breath of the Wild



Adapted from Essentials of Italina Cooking by Marcella Hazan

ingredients

  • 5 total cups diluted vegetable broth, 2.5 cups broth + 2.5 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoons onion, diced very fine
  • 2 cups Arborio rice (or other Italian rice-see note above)
  • 3 ounces Portabellini mushrooms (or other mushrooms-see note above), diced, soaking in 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Bring broth to a very slow, steady simmer on a burner near where you’ll be cooking the risotto.
  2. Heat your heavy-bottom pan on medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of butter and the vegetable oil.
  3. When the butter is melted add the onion and cook until it becomes translucent.
  4. Add all the rice and stir quickly and thoroughly until the grains are well coated.
  5. Add 1/2 cup of simmering broth and cook the rice, stirring constantly with a long wooden spoon or spatula until the liquid is gone. Make sure you wipe all the sides and bottom of the pan clean as you stir. You must never stop stirring and you must wipe the pot completely clean frequently or the rice will stick.
  6. When there is no more liquid in the pot, add another 1/2 cup of broth and stir as described in step 5. Continue to add broth and stir in this manner.
  7. When the rice has cooked for 10 minutes, add the mushrooms and water. Continue to stir until there is no more liquid.
  8. Finish cooking the rice with broth, or, if you have no more broth, with water. Cook the rice until it is tender, but firm to the bite, with no more liquid remaining in the pot. This will take anywhere from 18-25 minutes total.
  9. Off heat, add a few grindings of pepper, the remaining tablespoon of butter, and all the Parmesan cheese. Stir thoroughly until the cheese melts and clings to the rice. Taste and correct for salt. Transfer to a platter and serve promptly with additional grated cheese on the table.