Wild Mushroom Soup

On my twenty-third birthday last year, I received a TON and I really do mean A TON of cookbooks.  In a sense, I'm pretty easy to shop for--I can walk down the food and dining section of Barnes & Noble and find 30 or so specialty cookbooks in a heartbeat.  Too much? What's too much?

This recipe comes from one of those cookbooks--400 Soups by Anne Sheasby--and is easily one of my favorite out of the full 400: Wild Mushroom Soup.  The original calls for a several ounces of shitake mushrooms and soaking them in water; after the soaking process, you drain the mushrooms, roast them, and re-use the shitake water for part of your broth.

Although shitakes are great (they really do add a certain je ne sais quoi to any recipe), you can easily substitute this ingredient withe one cup portobello mushrooms as I have done below.  This recipe is earthy, smooth, and so flavorful that it requires very few seasonings.  Make this during winter (or summer!) for a soup that is clearly delicious.

Wild Mushroom Soup
* 3 cups chopped Bella Mushrooms
* 5 cups beef broth
* 3 cloves garlic, pressed
* 2 leeks, thinly sliced
* 1/2 white onion, chopped
* 2/3 cup heavy cream
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 teaspoon thyme

1.) First, measure out all of your ingredients--mushrooms, onions, garlic, and leeks.

2.) Then, prep your ingredients--wash and thinly chop the leeks.

3.) Wash portobello mushrooms and thinly slice.

4.) Roughly chop mushrooms.

5.) Chop half of an onion, and peel several cloves of garlic.  Set aside.


6.) Combine olive oil and butter in a large pot and warm.  

7.) Add leeks, onions, and pressed garlic; simmer for 5-7 minutes.

8.) Add mushrooms and allow to simmer for several minutes, or until properly moist.

9.) Add beef broth and bring to a boil.

10.) Turn heat down to medium and allow to simmer in a half covered pot for 30 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and 1 teaspoon thyme.

11.) After 30 minutes, remove 3/4 of the soup and puree in a food processor or blender.  

12.) Return to mushroom soup pot.

13.) Add 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream and return to a light boil.  Turn off heat.

14.) Serve with fresh thyme sprigs and enjoy!

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Portobello Veggie Burger w/Sprouts & Grey Poupon

I like some weird foods.  I also like really healthy foods.  Liking really healthy foods AND really weird foods make for the strangest--albeit delicious--of combinations.  This recipe is just one of those hybrids--it combines my love for low-calorie lunches with extremely fresh, but healthy veggie ingredients: portobello mushroom caps, sprouts, and black bean veggie burgers.  Soooo clearly delicious.

Yet, what's unique (and somewhat showy) about this recipe is that the oversized portobello mushroom caps are not only one of the main ingredients, but also act as buns to this veggie burger treat.

Portobello Veggie Burger w/Sprouts & Grey Poupon
This recipe originated with an episode of the Biggest Loser with chef Curtis Stone.  Stone created these veggie delights as a way of cutting carbs and replacing their absence with flavorful nutrients.  If the original recipe from Stone is followed exactly (you can find it here), one will only be eating 280 calories per serving! Can you believe that? 280 calories? Good Golly.  You could eat 2 of these and bottom out with the amount of calories in 1 regular meat-lovin' burger.  Seesh.

My recipe is a little different.  Although it does not call for the sauce Stone makes (a delicious creamy chive sauce worth trying with a direct link above), it calls for a more intuitive preparation--make a veggie burger the way you always would make it and replace the buns with portabella mushrooms.  

Ingredients:
* 2 large portobello mushroom caps
* 1 black bean veggie burger (I use Morning Star Farms, but feel free to use Boca Burgers, or other veggie burger)
* 1-2 tablespoons grey poupon
* 1 small handful sprouts
* 1 slice cheddar cheese
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* salt and pepper to taste

Special Equipment Needed:
Foreman Grill

1.) Begin by preparing the portobello mushroom caps: wash mushrooms, remove stems, and rub with olive oil and fresh pepper and salt to taste.

2.) Grill portobello caps on a Foreman Grill.  Mushrooms will be done when they've flattened in size and released their natural juices--the grilling process forces mushrooms to push their natural moistness to the outside skin.  It's delicious.

3.) Grill second mushroom cap.  Once both mushroom caps are done, add veggie burger to grill and grill.

4.) Now, create the sandwich: add cheese to one mushroom cap (flat side/underside), and spread other mushroom cap with 1-2 tablespoons of Grey Poupon.  Sprinkle with a small handful of sprouts, and press sandwich together.  Makes 1 serving.

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Curry Rice

Friday night we decided to cook a nice dinner for Joe (who was leaving for a month of training with the army in the woods...somewhere...in America).  In Clearly Delicious style, we sent him off with a delicious assortment of Indian cuisine--Butter Chicken, Edamame, Na'an, and of course, Curry Rice.

This Curry Rice is loaded with healthy veggies, natural remedy ingredients such as honey and olive oil, and makes for one heck of a fulfilling Indian rice dish.  Make as a side dish, or as an entree (hot or cold) and you will have treat equally Indian and clearly delicious.

Curry Rice
This recipe comes from Elise's blog, Simply Recipes, and can be found here.  Elise suggests in the original to serve the rice dish cold, but I find the combination of warm rice, honey, and freshly cooked vegetables to demand being served hot.  Regardless, serve hot or cold for a curry rice dish that is healthy, flavorful, and extremely clearly delicious.

Ingredients:
* 4-5 cups cooked brown, or white rice
* 1 onion, chopped
* Curry paste, or powder, to taste (Elise suggests yellow, or red, but not green, and NOT Thai)
* Olive oil, to taste
* Cumin, to taste
* Chili powder, to taste
* Sesame oil, to taste (optional if unavailable)
* 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
* 1 cup raisins
* 1 apple, cored and chopped
* Honey, to taste
* Salt, to taste
* 2 celery stocks, washed and chopped
* 1 cup edamame, cooked
* 1/4 bell pepper (red), chopped
* 1/4 bell pepper (green), chopped

1.) Prepare rice and set aside.

2.) Prep your ingredients: chop the bell pepper, onion, celery, and apple.  Set aside.

3.) Begin by sautéing onions in olive oil.  Sprinkle with curry powder/paste to preference and cook until translucent.

4.) Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the edamame separately while onions are browning.  (For more information on how to cook edamame, see the "Edamame with Thyme" post).

5.) Add remaining chopped vegetables--peppers, celery.  Cook for several minutes until all vegetables are soft, but still retain a certain amount of crunch (the al dente of the veggie community if you will).

6.) Add cooked edamame, mix to combine, and remove from heat.

7.) Now prepare the rice dish.  Place rice in an oversized mixing bowl (trust me, you'll need it!), and add the cooked vegetables.

8.) Add 1 cup raisins and drizzle with honey to taste.

9.) Add chopped apple and mix to combine.  Season to taste preferences with additional curry, salt and pepper, cumin, olive and sesame oil, cilantro, and chili powder.  There are few measurements on this recipe as everyone's taste palette is especially different when combining the salt and pepper with the sweet of apples, raisins, and honey.

10.) Serve either hot or cold.  Makes 8-10.  Enjoy!

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Edamame with Thyme

Preparing an appetizer doesn't need to be a huge process.  Chances are good that you've spent plenty of time either grocery shopping, prepping the food, cooking it, and even thinking about a big meal.  Further, although fancy appetizers and tappas are great, why prepare an appetizer that overshadows your main course? Worse, why prepare an appetizer that's so heavy (either calorically, or in composition) that you find your main course seemingly unimportant?


The solution? Edamame.  Edamame is a baby soy bean found more and more commonly on menus and restaurants these days.  Asian restaurants famously serve them in their pods as a light appetizer before eating sushi, but many times, you can find them sans pods in the freezer section of Whole Foods, or other grocery produce sections.


Prepare this dish as a light appetizer to any number of Asian or Indian cuisine meals.  Lightly toss with salt, pepper, and fresh thyme, and you'll have an appetizer that is both healthy and clearly delicious!


Edamame with Thyme
This recipe comes from nowhere in particular, but the result of cooking tons of edamame for the Curry Rice Recipe (available here).  The great thing about this dish is that you can adjust the seasonings to whatever you have available (i.e., rosemary instead of thyme, or mint instead of thyme).  Adjust seasonings to your personal preference.


Ingredients:
* 1 cup cooked edamame
* sprigs of fresh thyme, to taste
* salt and pepper, to taste


1.) Bring a small pot of water to a boil; add 1 cup edamame.


2.) Boil at medium-high heat for 5-8 minutes, or until edamame is fully cooked (soft, but still retaining a bit of crunch).


3.) Pour out edamame and water into a large strainer.   Allow to cool for a few minutes.

4.) Transfer to bowl and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and fresh thyme.  Toss to combine and serve.

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Perfect Veggie Pizza

The first time I ever hung-out with my friend Sam, we made pizza.  We split the pizza in half, and consumed one of the TASTIEST Italian dishes ever: veggie pizza on whole wheat crust with mozzarella and parmesan.  I remember Sam's reaction--"I could eat TWO of these!"--and my response--"If I had space in my stomach, I would!" Needless to say, this basic veggie pizza recipe is clearly delicious.

Thus, this post is technically a re-post of something I made with Sam back in December.  However, the technique is slightly different--this pizza is baked, not grilled--and the photos are stunning (thank you fancy new camera!).  If prepared properly, this veggie pizza recipe makes a 13-14 inch pie (8 slices) that is loaded with spices, and vegetarian flavors.

Perfect Veggie Pizza
This recipe comes from no chef in particular, but the dough recipe is a wheat version of Elise Bauer's pizza dough concoction over at Simply Recipes (you can find it here).  I usually make this pizza dough recipe in bulk and freeze it in single serving tupperware containers.  As the semester goes on and life becomes increasingly hectic, I take out the dough in the morning so that by dinner time, all I have to do is build the pizza.  You'd be surprised how quickly preparing gourmet pizza can be with simple planning and the help of your Kitchenaid mixer (for preparing/kneading large quantities of dough)!

Ingredients:
* 1 serving prepared wheat pizza dough recipe
* Cornmeal, for dusting
* 1-2 cups tomato sauce
* 2-3 cups cheese: mixture of fresh parmesan and mozzarella
* Toppings: vine ripe tomatoes, bella mushrooms, chopped onion, spinach, olives, and chopped green and red bell peppers
* 2 tablespoons italian seasoning
* 1-2 teaspoons freshly ground thyme
* 2-3 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
* 1/4 cup pine nuts
* freshly cracked pepper & Tony's Cajun Seasoning, to taste

Special Equipment needed:
Pizza Stone

1.) Preheat oven to 350F.  Begin by dusting your pizza stone with corn meal.

2.) Lightly flour a clean working surface.

3.) Roll out your pizza dough to 13-14 inches in diameter.  Pizza dough that is pre-prepared, frozen, and thawed is very easy to work with; whereas, if you had just made the pizza dough from scratch, this step would take you twice as long because of the natural elasticity of the freshly made dough.

4.) Transfer dough to pizza stone.  Thoroughly poke holes in dough using a fork.  Drizzle dough with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and smooth with a large spoon.

5.) Add sauce.  I suggest anywhere from 1-2 cups based on your preference (some people HATE large quantities of sauce and some people love it, so add as much as you like).

6.) Season the sauce and dough mixture with half of the thyme and half of the italian seasoning.  Add freshly minced/pressed garlic and crack some pepper over the surface of the pizza.  Dust with Tony's and sprinkle on pine nuts.

7.) Now, begin adding your toppings: mushrooms, olives, tomatoes, onions, spinach, and peppers.  Sprinkle your remaining seasonings--thyme and Italian--and dust with Tony's and freshly cracked pepper.

8.) Cover in cheese.

9.) Cook on pizza stone, but in oven at 350F for 20-25 minutes, or until crust and toppings are golden brown.  Remove from oven, allow to cool for several minutes, and cut into 8 pieces.

10.) Serve with freshly grated parmesan, red pepper flakes, and your favorite beer.  Enjoy!

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Hummus

For Jeramey's birthday party last night, we needed a fabulous appetizer to compliment the 8 layer cake, beef wellington, roasted vegetables, and potatoes au gratin.   Having recently purchased a jar of tahini as a birthday present (many thanks to Lydia!), we whipped up (rather, Jeramey whipped up, with some instruction) this fantastic batch of traditional chickpea hummus.

As many people know, chickpeas are an earthy, filling, protein-rich legume that goes great on salads and in sauces, or by themselves in a chickpea based dish.  When processed with olive oil, tahini, and garlic, you're guaranteed to have an appetizer that is a major crowd pleaser and clearly delicious!
 

Hummus
This recipe is a traditional garbanzo bean hummus recipe including tahini, garlic, parsley, and seasonings.  Use the below measurements for a large batch that is cheaper to make than a small 3 ounce container at any store.  For other hummus recipes, checkout Queen Blogtress, Elise Bauer's version here.

Ingredients:
* 2 cans garbanzo beans (15 ounces), drained
* 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
* 2/3 cup tahini (roasted)
* 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 1/2 cup water
* salt & pepper to taste
* 2-3 tablespoons parsley, chopped, to taste
* pine nuts, garnish

Special Equipment Needed:
* food processor

1.) In a food processor combine two cans of garbanzo beans, pressed, or minced garlic, olive oil, tahini, water, and seasonings.

2.) Process until smooth.

  

3.) Taste to balance the salt-pepper-parsley palette.

4.) Serve with pinenuts and parsley as a garnish and a dollop of olive oil.  Serve with pita, vegetables, or crackers.  Enjoy!

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Alexander's Perfect Guacamole

One of my favorite foods is guacamole--that perfect mixture of avocados, tomatoes, onions, and spices to create a dip for tortillas and Mexican cuisine.

Monday night, Alexander came over for dinner with Lydia and me.  Looking for something to do in the kitchen, I quickly put him to the task of making guacamole and boy, was it delicious. Alexander used my new mortar and pestle and made this green appetizer the "way they do in Mexico." This recipe is a perfect combination of spicy, sweet, and creamy textures that make a clearly delicious treat.  Also, make the full recipe for a double batch of guac, or half the recipe for a smaller appetizer.




Alexander's Perfect Guacamole
This recipe is a traditional guacamole one consisting of avocado, tomatoes, onion, and spices.  Although it calls for a mandarin orange to sweeten the dish, feel free to use a regular naval orange if you do not have a mandarin orange on hand. 

* 5 ripe avocados, pitted and cubed
* 1/2 yellow onion, chopped fine
* 2-4 tablespoons jalapeno peppers chopped, or juice
* 2-3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
* 1-2 tablespoons lime juice
* 1 mandarin orange, juiced (half of a regular orange works here too)
* 1 teaspoon salt
* freshly grated black pepper, to taste
* 1 ripe tomato, chopped

1.) Begin by pitting the avocados and shaving the green pulp into an over-sized mortar & pestle or bowl.

2.) Chop onion, jalapenos (if using peppers and not juice), tomatoes, cilantro, and add to the bowl.

3.) Add remaining seasoning (black pepper, salt, orange juice, lime juice, and/or jalapeno juice) to bowl.  Mash ingredients until silky/smooth and no avocado lumps are left.

4.) Taste to preference and serve when Clearly Delicious!

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