Grunge mushroom soup

Gimme soup and salad. Everyday. And I'll be a happy soul.

I live on good soup, not on fine words.
Moliere 


Ingredients
500 g mushrooms, thoroughly washed, roughly chopped
1 pod garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
4-5 leaves of fresh sweet Thai basil
100 g leeks, chopped fine
50 g low fat cream
3-4 tbsp skimmed milk
2 tsp grated Parmesan
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp pomace olive oil
1 tsp salted butter
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 cups vegetable stock (see recipe below)
Salt to taste

Method

Vegetable stock
When I make a soup, I always take the trouble to make a stock that complements my soup rather than the vegetable stock cubes available in the market. While I chop my veggies for the soup or salad, I boil some water in a saucepan. To this, I add everything that I would throw into the trash can: the outer layers and bulbs of my leeks, the stalks of basil leaves, the wafer like peels of the garlic, some mushroom stems, some leftover stalks of bell peppers, celery, thyme, rosemary, lemon rind, ginger peel or anything that could add that extra flavour to the stock. Cover the saucepan with a lid and allow the stock to boil for a good 10-12 minutes on a low flame. Strain and use in soups, curries, broths, and even to knead dough. So feel free to experiment with your vegetable stocks and you will be amazed at the finesse that you achieve in flavouring your dishes. Remember to maintain a balance of flavour, something that you will learn as you go along. Some experiments will result in eureka moments when two completely varied ingredients strangely and wildly go together. Other times will lead to frantic attempts at eliminating that funny smell that the neighbours complained about by running to the exhaust fan and by opening the windows!

Making the soup
Heat the olive oil in a shallow pan. Add the chopped garlic and leeks and sauté lightly. Add the chopped mushrooms and fresh basil. Sauté till the mushrooms soften and begin to cook. Season with salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce.  Allow the mushrooms to cook completely; take the pan off the heat and set aside.

Once cooled, coarsely grind the above mixture in a blender. In a deep bottomed pan, bring together the ground mixture, vegetable stock, skimmed milk, low fat cream, a dollop of butter and extra seasoning as per your personal preference. Place the pan on medium heat and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes allowing the flavours to fuse and create their magic. Remove pan from heat, transfer to a soup bowl and finish with a generous sprinkling of grated Parmesan. Serve with some sesame buns and a fresh green salad.

Mushroom and Pasta Quiche

If you have never made a quiche before, it’s time you try! I’m sure that by now you have mastered the art of making the perfect puff pastry. Now all you got to do is fill it with whatever you like, top it with cheese and bake it!

Mushrooms go beautifully with spinach and ricotta cheese, but that is a very common combination of ingredients. So mine is a bit different in that, it also has some cooked pasta in it, making it a whole meal. I have used whole wheat pasta, but use whatever you have at home. I use white wine to flavour many of my recipes, including this one, but spare it if you would prefer to. For non-mushroom lovers, try aubergine and olives with mozzarella cheese or mashed potatoes and tarragon/sage with cheddar.

Serves: 6 pieces

Preparation time: 30min

Cooking time: 1 hour 30 min

Ingredients

For the puff pastry

1 cup flour

25 g salted butter

¼ tsp salt

Sour cream/fresh cream as per requirement (about ¼ cup)

Others: Baking tin, parchment paper, blind weights (kidney beans or any other)

For the filling

Mushrooms, chopped medium

1 red onion, halved and sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped medium

1 garlic pod, roasted as described in the bench notes below

½ cup white wine

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

1tbsp salted butter

½ tsp red chilli flakes

Ground black pepper

A pinch of nutmeg powder

Any pasta cooked as per instructions on the pack

1 cup grated cheese (any cheese will do)

1 egg, whisked

¼ cup fresh cream/ full cream milk

A pinch of sugar

Salt to taste

Method

Make the puff pastry as mentioned in the recipe that I have already posted. After blind baking, remove the puff pastry from the oven and allow to stand on the platform till you make the filling.

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Heat butter in a wide non-stick saucepan. Add the roasted garlic. Add a sprig of rosemary. Allow the garlic to brown. Add 1 tsp olive oil. To this add the chopped onions and sauté till they caramelize. Add the chopped mushrooms. Add salt to taste. Stir well. Deglaze the saucepan with white wine, and simmer for 2 min. Now add the chopped yellow bell pepper, ground black pepper, a pinch of sugar, a pinch of nutmeg, red chilli flakes, and salt to taste (if necessary). Remove from flame. Let cool for 5 min. Now add the cooked pasta, half the grated cheese, one whisked egg and cream. Stir till all ingredients are well combined. Ladle the filling into the puff pastry shell and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 30min, making sure the cheese has melted and browned.

Allow to cool for 5 min. Remove the quiche from the baking tray, slice and serve warm.

Bench notes

For recipe on how to make puff pastry see here.

Roasted garlic: Take a whole garlic pod (do not peel); smear it with a mixture of olive oil, butter, salt, pepper, and some fresh thyme. Roast in a preheated oven at 180°C for 15-20 or until browned and soft from within. Remove peel and crush with the back of a spoon to make a rough paste.

Mushroom and baby spinach tarts

This one is a real cracker, especially for a flawless first impression with your guests! Serve it as a starter, and see the impressed look on the faces of your worst food critics. Nobody is going to forget this welcome surprise; and I speak with experience when I say that.

If you can’t find white wine to work this recipe, don’t bother making it. The wine lifts and enhances the flavour of the dish to a different level; and I highly recommend that it is not omitted or replaced with something else.

So what’s important here is the making/baking of the actual tart shell. This requires a bit of hard work; read my blog on ‘The perfect puff pastry' and master this skill! I would advice you to practice puff pastry-making at least once before your final day; as there are a couple of ‘moments of truth’ involved in making them. Be sure to get your puff pastry right for a good crispy tart shell.

The rest of the dish is relatively simple for any home cook. It’s a fun starter for any party, so chuck that tandoori paneer out of the window, and think out of the box.




Serves: 6
Prep time: 60min (to bake the tart shells, can be done a day in advance)
Cooking time: 25min (includes oven time of 5-10min)
Baking tools: Baking sheet, ovenproof tart moulds/shells

Ingredients
200g fresh baby spinach leaves, washed and drained
100g mushrooms, chopped fine
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1tsp butter
1tsp olive oil
Red chilli flakes
Grated processed cheese, 1 cube
Salt to taste
White wine
Ground black pepper
Fresh rosemary, 1 sprig
Parmesan cheese
Black olives, pitted and sliced for garnish
Pre-baked tart shells

Method
Blanch the spinach leaves in hot water for 2-3min without a lid. Pull out the spinach leaves with tongs and shock treat by placing them in an ice cold water bath (helps retain the green colour). Remove and chop finely. Keep aside.

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Heat olive oil and butter in a non-stick saucepan. Add the chopped garlic, red chilli flakes and some fresh rosemary to the pan. Allow the garlic to brown sufficiently. Now add the chopped mushroom along with a pinch of salt; stir till the mushrooms are soft and release all their moisture. Add ground black pepper, and some more salt if necessary.

Turn the heat down to medium low, and add 3-4tbsp of white wine (be generous). Let simmer on a low flame till the wine is absorbed. Now add the chopped spinach, grated processed cheese, and some more rosemary. Stir till all the elements are well-combined and the mixture gains a thick consistency. The mixture will thicken on cooling.

Spoon the mixture into the pre-baked tart shells (let the shells remain in the ovenproof tart moulds). Garnish with some grated parmesan and a couple of sliced black olives. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 5-10min.

Remove the tarts from their moulds, serve hot.

Bench notes
You can keep your pre-baked tart shells ready a day in advance. They easily keep in a refrigerator for 24-48hr in a closed air tight box. However, keep them as they are in their tart moulds, so they don’t break or crumble.