Mushroom Soup

After a successful and ridiculously easy forage for some wild mushrooms with my friend and wild food entrepreneur, Adam, I returned home, carrier bag packed with enough field mushrooms to create a small mushroom effigy in thanks for nature’s bounty. Instead of steeping myself in such fungal mysticism however, I settled for making a classic soup, more often experienced in canned form. The freshness of the mushrooms lends an incredible flavour to this warming winter dish. Substitute any other mushrooms if you don’t want to plunder your nearby fields. If you don’t have a blender, just chop everything a little finer.

 

ingredients

2 large handfuls of field mushrooms, roughly chopped (any store-bought mushrooms will suffice)

1 small onion, sliced

2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

2 or 3 small potatoes, sliced

A LITRE OR SO OF VEGETABLE STOCK

1 chilli, chopped

SALT

PEPPER

a splash of soy sauce

a little rosemary or thyme, chopped

1. Heat some oil in a large saucepan and add the chopped mushrooms, cook on a high heat until the moisture starts to come out of the mushrooms. At this point add the onion, garlic, and chilli.

2. Cook on a medium heat with the lid on until the onions are softened and the mushrooms have reduced in size a fair amount. Season with salt, pepper and the herbs.

3. Add the vegetable stock and the potatoes and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through.

4. Blend in a mixer or with a hand blender if you have one.

5. Serve with some sourdough bread, and drizzle over some lemon juice and a pinch of black pepper.

tHE SOUND OF THE RECIPE THIS EVENING IS:

Cosmo Sheldrake- The Fly

The Fly agaric was not edible. Not even a little. Most definitely not a lot.

 

 

 

 

Miso Soup [味噌汁]

Miso soup is a Japanese staple. It also happens to be simple to make, delicious and healthy. The potential ingredients can be pretty ‘British’ too. Just potato and onion makes a fine batch of miso, but, pretty much any vegetables you want will work. Although it’s best to pick mild flavours that will complement the miso paste. Miso paste can be sourced from most asian food shops, I don’t think it’s particularly expensive either.

A note on the ‘stock’: The stock can be prepared by cooking konbu, (seaweed) in water, but not to boiling point. You can also used dried shiitake mushrooms.  I bought konbu back from Japan, so I’ve been using this. An alternative, which is easier, although not vegetarian, is to use dashi granules. Again, you can buy these ingredients from asian food shops. I’m sure you could just use vegetable stock too.

Ingredients

for the soup:

1 onion, roughly sliced

3 or 4 small potatoes, chopped into small pieces

a few spring onions, chopped

a few tablespoons of miso paste

for the ‘stock’:

a few strips of konbu

A HANDFUL OF MUSHROOMS, QUARTERED

cold water

1.Half fill a medium sized saucepan with cold water, add the mushroom and seaweed. Heat on a medium heat but don’t boil. After 10 minutes, remove the konbu pieces.

2. Add the vegetables. Onions and root vegetables first, then other vegetables a few minutes later, depending on what you’re using. Continue to simmer until vegetables are softened.

3.Turn heat down, and add the miso paste, stirring in well. Take off the heat.

4. You can serve it hot, but I prefer it at a drinkable temperature. It’s pretty great with some toasted sourdough bread on the side.

the fermented soundtrack to today’s valuable lesson is:

Young Fathers- Tape Two

I Heard gluten is bad for you.

 

 

Osaka’s Specialties [大阪の名産]

After a week of self-imposed ‘austerity tourism’, I decided to spend my last day in Japan in relative luxury and indulge in some culinary delights. Given that I was in Osaka, the home of Okonomiyaki, I thought it wise to have lunch at an Okonomiyakiya. My choice was a green onion base with squid (I made an exception while I was staying in Japan to eat fish and seafood). It was topped with katsuobushi, which is dried, fermented, smoked tuna. The heat from the dish actually made the shavings wave to and fro, which was a little disconcerting at first. The meal was delicious, the texture is somewhere between an omelette and a pancake, moist in the middle and surprisingly light. And all for 740円. Okonomiayki is cooked in so many styles, so it’s definitely worth trying a whole load. I guess this one was at the more ‘delicate’ end of the spectrum. Street food style okonomiyaki are pretty hefty, probably meaty, and covered with mayonnaise and barbecue sauce.

After a long afternoon of walking in the sticky heat, it made perfect sense to eat something hot and not particularly refreshing for dinner- takoyaki [蛸焼], octopus dumplings. I bought these from a little stall not far from the Okonomiyaki restaurant. The place was run by a nice old couple who were surprised/ delighted that a white boy could order in Japanese. The takoyaki were tasty little parcels, the chewy octopus, soft dumpling and slightly crisp shell were a good mix. From what I remember, the flavour was quite mild, but the sauces on top sorted that out. Again, topped with the ubiquitous katsuobushi, as well as mayonnaise, barbecue sauce and aonori. Not bad, not bad at all.

Thus ends this not particularly informative slice of writing about Japanese food.

The soundtrack to this afternoon’s meandering food-words is:

Fugazi- The Argument

Ex-spectator, current navigator, soon to be pastry-maker.

Okonomiyaki [お好み焼き]

This post is brought to you from Japan. A small house in Hyogo prefecture to be precise. Hence the ‘exotic’ theme.

Okonomiyaki is a type of savoury Japanese pancake, with varying ingredients. Each part of the country has its own speciality. This recipe is a pretty basic version. I used carrots and spring onions from Yuta’s garden. Can’t beat wandering into the garden, bucket in hand to gather (most of) the ingredients for dinner.

 

Ingredients

1 cup of flour

Half a cabbage- shredded

some green onions- chopped

2 eggs

A good splash of soy sauce

a little toasted sesame oil

sea salt

a little oil for frying

1. Whisk eggs in a large bowl.

2. Add salt, soy sauce and sesame oil.

3. Add flour slowly, mixing constantly.

4. Fold in shredded cabbage and green onions.

5. Heat a decent amount of oil in a pan, pour the batter in, spread evenly and cook for about 3 minutes each side.

6. Serve with sesame seeds, and okonomi sauce. Okonomi sauce tastes a lot like Worcester sauce, but without the anchovy, so use that if you like.

The soundtrack to today’s oriental culinary foray is:

Toe- You Go

暑いですね?

 

Pizza

Arguably one of the best foods that we as humans have produced with our grubby little hands. Honour such a feat of mankind by making everything yourself. It’s cheap and easy.

ingredients:

For the base:

Strong white flour

Dried yeast

Olive oil

Lukewarm water

Salt

For the tomato sauce:

Half an onion- finely diced

1 garlic clove- finely chopped

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

A little tomato puree

Modest pinch of sugar

Dash of soy sauce

Preheat your oven to 240C, or as high as possible. You need to emulate the fierce heat of a stone pizza oven.

1. Add a big handful of flour to a mixing bowl. 1 handful roughly makes 1 pizza base, so adjust to your feeding needs.
2. Add a little olive oil, a pinch of salt and a sachet of dried yeast. Mix it round with your hands.
3. Add the water a little at a time, mixing as you go. The dough should be smooth and malleable. If it’s too wet, add more flour.
4. Knead the dough on a floured surface to knock the air out. Once the dough has become a neat sphere, transfer it to the bowl again, and cover with a plastic bag.
5. While the dough is rising, make a start on the sauce. Fry the onion and garlic until golden brown. Add the puree, sugar and soy sauce, stir quickly before adding the chopped tomatoes.
6. Season with salt and pepper. Turn the heat down and simmer for 20 minutes or so. The longer the better, as the flavours will intensify.
7. Once you’re satisfied with the taste, take off the heat and let cool.
8. If shit has gone to plan, the dough will have risen by now. Turn it out onto a floured surface, and knead once again.
9. With a rolling pin, or an old wine bottle if you are deprived of utensils like me, roll the dough out thinly. Try to keep the shape of your baking tray in mind, but you can always trim the excess off with a knife, or fold it over and make stuffed crusts if you really want to add more ingredients.
10. Place the dough on a lightly oiled or floured baking tray.
11. With the back of a spoon, spread the cooled tomato sauce onto the rolled out base. Go for a light covering, too much will make your dough soggy.
12. At this stage the foundations for pizza have been laid, the workmen could go home, they’ve earned their rest after a hard day mixing dough and pouring sauce. But the end goal is so near, to give up at this late stage would be unthinkable. At this stage you have almost complete autonomy. Add whatever you like. You can’t go wrong with finely chopped pepper, sliced spring onion, sliced mushroom, sweetcorn and of course mozzarella. Avoid vegetables with a high water content, courgettes for example.
13. Put your finished product in the preheated oven. Cook for roughly 10 minutes. Be attentive the first time, ovens are all different. To check if the pizza is done, tap the crust, it should be fairly hard, and just beginning to brown.
14. Serve with a salad and some hot sauce.

the soundtrack to today’s tentative steps into the cooking world is:

John Coltrane- Giant Steps

Cousin Mary had this great sourdough recipe, just so light, you know?

Leek Layered Lasagne

Instead of pasta sheets, I tried using strips of wilted leek. It’s pretty okay really, and healthier too.

ingredients

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 finely chopped onion

1 chopped clove of garlic

1 tin of kidney beans

1 roasted red pepper

Sugar

Salt and pepper

Soy sauce

For the white sauce:

1 tablespoon of plain flour

1 tablespoon of butter

½ a pint of soya/rice milk or regular milk

Some black pepper

Some grated cheese

Also:

One aubergine, sliced lengthways

Cumin seeds

A lot of spinach, roughly chopped

Several leeks, washed and “unravelled” into sheets

1. Preheat oven to 180C

2. Wilt the leek sheets in a microwave with a little water in a cling filmed container. Until soft.

3. Quarter the pepper. Place the pepper sections and the aubergine onto an oiled oven tray. Sprinkle with salt and cumin seeds. Roast for 20 minutes.

4. Fry the onion and garlic until soft. Add the tinned tomato and kidney beans. Slice the roasted red pepper and add to the rest. Season with salt, pepper, sugar and a little soy sauce.

5. Simmer for about half an hour.

6. Meanwhile prepare the white sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and stir quickly until it forms a roux (google it). Add the milk slowly, stirring continuously. Simmer, and stir slowly until it thickens. Take off the heat and add the grated cheese and pepper.

7. In a large oven dish, layer the ingredients. The ‘red’ sauce first, then a layer of chopped spinach, then a leek layer. Repeat and then top with the roasted aubergines and some grated cheese.

8. Bake for twenty to thirty minutes. Serve with some pan fried broccoli and green beans.

The soundtrack to this evening’s cooking experience is brought to you by: 

Piglet- Lava Land

Little Bubble, Where You Going? You going to get milk? There’s- Little Bubble?