Hungarian Mushroom Soup in mid consumption

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

4 T butter divided

1 T tamari sauce

1 T Hungarian paprika

3 T flour

1 c milk

Freshly ground black pepper

2 t fresh lemon juice

1/2 c sour cream

1/4 c chopped parsley

2 c chopped onion

1 t salt or to taste

12 oz (3/4 lb) fresh mushrooms,

sliced

2 t chopped dill weed, divided

2 c beef stock, chicken stock or

water divided

In medium saucepan over medium heat, melt two tablespoons of butter and saute the onion until translucent,  about five to seven minutes. Add salt.Add mushrooms, one teaspoon of dill weed, 1/2 cup stock or water, tamari sauce and paprika. Cover and simmer 15minutes.

Meanwhile, melt remaining two tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook, stirring or whisking constantly, about three minutes. Add milk. Cook, stirring frequently, over low heat about 10 minutes, or until thick. Stir in

mushroom mixture and remaining 1 1/2 cups of stock or water. Cover and simmer 10 or 15 minutes. Just gefore serving, check for seasoning and add more salt, if desired, and pepper to taste. Add lemon juice, sour cream and, if desired, the remaining one teaspoon of dill weed. Serve garnished with parsley. Makes four to six rich servings

Brussels sprouts exposed! Trauma in my Winter garden

In the rush to salvage my last root vegetables and fall greens early last December before the first snow storm, I was filled with the sorrow over the end of my garden for the year. I had found solace in the belief ( thanks to a snippet in a gardening book)  that I could leave my Brussels sprouts out in the garden and just pop them off frozen and cook them up. This worked well for my Christmas diner. The Brussels sprouts revived and were quite tasty. Now we that we had our first temporary thaw of 40 degrees I went to the garden to harvest another round of my precious little cabbage balls. To my horror, the Brussels sprouts had mostly gone brown from the icy winds and my garden stunk of fetid cabbage. It appears that Brussels sprouts do not survive the cryogenic freezing process. In triage mode, I amputated what little I thought was still viable with my trusty kitchen knife.

Back in the kitchen I was able to retrieve some passable sprouts at the top of my plants. My favorite recipe was still a success for this garden season’s last hurrah.

This is one of my most requested recipes. I modified this from one of those foodie websites. Alas I can’t remember which one to give credit too.

Brussesl Sprouts Supreme

1 1/2 lbs Brussels sprouts                    3 TB olive oil

a pinch of salt                                    1 1/4 cup vegetable stock

4 TB brown sugar

3 TB apple cider vinegar                      Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat olive oil is heavy skillet over medium heat. When hot, add Brussels sprouts and sprinkle with salt. Saute and stir for about 5 – 10 minutes until the sprouts are slightly browned. Add 3/4 cup of vegetable stock and bring to boil. Lower the heat and simmer, until the Brussels sprouts are tender much of the stock is cooked away, about 10 minutes. Remove the lid and add the remaining stock, brown sugar and the apple cider vinegar. Cook at medium heat stirring occasionally until the liquid is reduced to a syrup. Serve warm or hot.

Two salad recipes using arugula (although for the one with fennel, I’ve used Boston lettuce with excellent results). From my sister Sarah …

I (Sarah) “invented” the one w/the arugula and bean sprouts…also the salad, since I had a hankering. I wanted to see what lemony soy sauce tasted like, since I liked soy w/bean sprouts, but lemon w/arugula, and I wanted both in a salad. So I mixed 1 Tb soy sauce w/1 Tb lemon juice, and whisked in some olive oil (not sure how much, probably about a Tb).

The other dressing (over 1 med fennel bulb and 1 small onion, both sliced paper-thin, and 0.5 lb arugula and shaved Parmesan) was a lemon one, too. 2 Tb veggie broth, 1 Tb lemon juice, 1 Tb olive oil, 1/4 tsp sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. I thought the veggie broth and sugar made it too sweet, but that’s me.