Tag Archives: onions

Sweet and Sour Mushrooms

This recipe is designed to help tide me over until I have time to blog about our Thanksgiving capers in Kentucky . . . a gorgeous photo shoot with my pregnant sister . . . my fabulous weekend trip to the Pioneer Woman’s ranch . . . and that gig Sunday night with my friend Carrie. So much to say! So many pictures to process! Soon Christmas adventures will be added to the list and my head just might explode. With joy. Good, old fashioned, blogging overload joy.

In the meantime, I thought I’d share this versatile little number with you. To the mushroom haters in the crowd: have you considered mushroom rehab? Where you work towards liking this fungus in a 30-day program? I hear there’s a similar program for blue cheese haters.

It’s just something to think about, you know. No need to get all defensive there. The little fungus guys and the moldy cheese should be welcomed into your home this Christmas season, not rejected and left out to freeze in a snow bank.

Anyway, enough proselitizing. This is super quick to toss together. It can be a delightful side dish, or it can be a main dish, piled on some rice with two fried eggs on top. I found the original recipe via TastyKitchen from food blogger Fuji Mama, but I couldn’t resist adding a little garlic. Just make sure to eat it with piles upon piles of white rice–that alone will make your life complete.

Ingredients

(Serves 3 as a side dish)

8 oz mushrooms, chopped (any kind works–I used Portobellini)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1.5 TBS sesame oil

1 TBS soy sauce (to taste)

2 green onions, for garnish (optional)

2 TBS rice wine vinegar

1 TBS sugar

pinch salt

2 eggs (optional)

First, wipe the mushrooms clean. Would you look at this beauty? Oh my.

I love mushrooms.

Oh wait, have I already said that? Like, a million times? Sorry.

I’ll try to be more interesting. And say things that are more unexpected.

As the punches swung right and left and the plate of stuffed mushrooms went flying across the reception hall, Marissa used her volleyball skills from 20 years prior to make a body dive across the slippery floor–not a single mushroom could go to waste! Leroy knew it was true love when he saw the concentration in her beautiful face, and the athletic arm-reach that enabled the platter of delicious little appetizers to land safely on her upturned palm. Then in a fit of love he cried “Marry me Marissa! We shall serve stuffed mushrooms at our wedding, and make them a cornerstone of our hearth and home!”

See? ‘Surprise’ is my middle name.

Slice them up.

This would also be a good time to mince the garlic.

Heat the sesame oil in a skillet over medium-high heat for a couple minutes. When the oil is hot, add the mushrooms and garlic.

Fry for 5 minutes. Don’t be like me and overcrowd the pot/pan . . . it will slow the process down significantly. In these pictures you can see that I had doubled the recipe, but I should have spread the mushrooms out into two skillets. If not, you can get in the way of the browning.

Add the soy sauce and continue to fry until golden and delicious, about 5-8 more minutes.

While the mushrooms are cooking, heat the rice vinegar, sugar, and pinch of salt in a little bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Stir to dissolve.

Bam! You just made something called ‘amazu’ (the sweet and sour sauce). Don’t you feel international?

Toss the cooked mushrooms in the amazu (the vinegar mixture) and serve!

Yum!

If you want to top the mushrooms with eggs to make it into a meal, fry the eggs in a tablespoon of oil and drizzle some seasoning on top: hot sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, or dark sweet soy sauce (kecap manis, which is what I used below) and a minced green onion.

About a week prior, I made this dish with a mixture of white beech, shiitake, and enoki mushrooms.

It was delicious, but the texture of cooked enoki gave me the eebly jeeblies.

Doesn’t it look like . . . alien innards?

I loved it the first day . . .

. . . but after a night in the refrigerator, I couldn’t bring myself to revisit it. The words ‘cold’ and ‘slimy’ did it to me.

So let’s go back to our friendly Portobellini–a little less photogenic, but so much friendlier after refrigeration!

I also want to make this with crimini mushrooms. And shiitake mushrooms. And oyster mushrooms. It’s so basic, and quick, and easy, and tasty–all mushrooms must be allowed to participate.

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Garlic Gruyère Soup

If you’ve looked at any of my recipes at all, you know one thing: I love garlic.

And I love cream. So that’s two things.

We could also add mushrooms in there for number three . . . and how could I forget rice?? So if you’ve looked at any of my recipes at all, you actually know four things. *Insert clever statement of your choice referencing Monty Python’s Spanish Inquisition skit*

This garlic soup recipe came to me from on high. It came via Tasty Kitchen, Pioneer Woman’s recipe sharing site. It came with angelic choruses singing in the starlit sky. It came with blazes of glory, strings of diamonds and pearls, and ribbons in its hair.

It is g-e-w-d. That means ‘good’ in case you’re a step behind things this morning.

I’m a step behind things this morning. But that’s another story, which my next cup of coffee with Peppermint Mocha creamer should put a lovely ending to–a lovely ending such as: “and then the girl with the saggy eyes poured herself a cup of office coffee laced with Peppermint Mocha creamer and she lived happily! Ever! After! Her eyes went from saggy to bloodshot! Then she started typing at 1,000 WPM and cranking out her morning’s work! And the people rejoiced!”

It’s the power of caffeine on a grey morning, folks.

Anyway, enough falderal. We’ve got to get this thing started or I’ll just keep jibber-jabbering all morning long and we’ll never get to the part with the soup in it. Let’s boil it down to the bare facts: cream. Garlic. Wine. Garlic. Cheese. Garlic.

Ingredients

1 TBS olive oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

16 cloves garlic, smashed

1 c dry white wine

4 c chicken stock

1 Bay leaf

2 cups French bread, torn into pieces

3/4 c heavy whipping cream

½ cups shredded Gruyère or Parmesan

First things first: slice your onion and smash your garlic.

You can see my container of pre-peeled garlic lurking there in the background. It’s one of the many delights provided by my local Asian grocery store.

Now heat the oil in a large pot and add the onion and garlic.

Cook over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, by the end of which they will start to get goldeny brown. It’s called caramelization and it’s the greatest culinary technique in creation.

Make sure your wine bottle is open. This funky opener was made for girls like me, who have broken corks untold with traditional bottle openers. It’s called a rabbit, and it would be a great Christmas gift for the struggling wine-opener in your family.

Add the white wine and cover the pot.

Reduce the heat to low, and cook for 10 minutes, giving it a stir every now and then.

It’s now looking something like this, and smelling like your wildest dreams come true.

Pour in the chicken stock and the bay leaf–you could easily use vegetable stock to make this dish vegetarian.

Bring it to a boil . . .

. . . then cover the pot and simmer it over low heat for 30 minutes.

I used this time to tear up my bread, grate my Parmesan, and measure out my cream.

Yes, it’s my Parmesan and my cream. Not the cream. Mine, mine, mine!! All mine!!! Though I will kindly share the cellulitis with you.

Yes, I cheated and used Parmesan even though I specifically used ‘Gruyère’ in the recipe title. But have you seen the prices on Gruyère these days? Have you seen them? And the Parmesan was on sale for $3.49 a wedge! They made me do it!

Try not to consume all the bread and parmesan before its time.

After those 30 minutes are up, turn off the stove and add the torn bread pieces . . .

. . . cover the pot and let it sit for 10 minutes. The bread will get mushy and schmushy–don’t question the process. Just believe.


Take the bay leaf out and try not to wonder why it’s glimmering like gold. Is it a leaf from Loth-Lorien?

I think Galadriel would totally dig this soup, yo.

Now put your immersion blender in and puree this baby.

You can also pour the soup into a regular blender (working in batches) and whizz it there, but make sure not to hurt or burn yourself in the process. I’ve heard stories of exploding soups and I want to make sure those do not take place in your life or kitchen.

Puree the soup until it’s nice and smooth, then stir in the cream . . .

. . . and add generous amounts of black pepper, and salt to taste. Taste it a few times. And then a few more. I know I certainly did.

Garnish each bowl with a hefty sprinkling of cheese. I added green onions for color.

Enjoy!

Click here for printer-friendly version: Garlic Gruyère Soup