El Nino says Punxsutawney Phil is full of it

Last time I made this recipe I was actually living in New England, and in the dark cold winter New England Squash Soup would hit the spot. So, after a bright and sunny 60 degree Groundhog day up here in Seattle (Punxsutawney Phil doesn't know about El Nino) eating such a wintery soup seems a little weird. However this recipe is awesome and needed to be included in the month because it is basically completely fat-free (0k so there are like 2.5 grams of fat in the entire thing - pretty dang close). I think the key to this recipe is the garnish - it's what takes the soup from totally fine to really special - so I don't recommend skipping it. I got it out of that old standby of mine Moosewood Restaurant's Low Fat Favorites, with some slight adjustments (including switching out apple juice for white wine and a whole apple - worthwhile improvement I think):

New England Squash Soup

1 cup dry white wine (don't you love a recipe that starts that way!)

1/2 medium onion, diced - about 1 cup

2 celery stalks, diced

1 apple, cored and diced

2 large cloves garlic, minced

1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed

1 small yellow skinned potato, cubed

3 cups vegetable broth

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 cups sliced white mushrooms

1/4 cup dry white wine

2 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp dried marjoram

3/4 cup lowfat milk

salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot bring 1 cup of white wine to a boil. Add onions, celery, apples, and garlic and lower heat to a simmer. Simmer until the vegetable soften, about 10 minutes. Add squash, potatoes, stock, thyme, bay leave, and nutmeg and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook until squash is cooked through.

While the squash cooks, simmer mushrooms in an uncovered skillet with soy sauce, 1/4 cup wine, and marjoram until the mushrooms are soft and most of the liquid has evaporated. Set aside.

When the squash is very soft puree with an immersion blender or food processor. Add milk and salt and pepper to taste. Serve topped with a few of the sauteed mushrooms.

Field and Forage

Jay and I took the dogs for a walk down into downtown Ballard for our wonderful weekly farmer's market to buy some more chicken gold. I was entranced however, by the bizarre and beautiful freshly foraged chanterelles sold in the stall next door. So while we bought some chicken, I decided to save it for later in the week (maybe for traditional tortilla soup???) and instead celebrate fungi. I have two points of reference for a nice wild mushroom soup, one of my old standby favorites Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites, and a new soup cookbook sent to us by dear Aunt S, The Daily Soup Cookbook. Both of these had very similar recipes for Mushroom and Barley soup. The DSB encouraged the used of solely fresh, wild mushrooms, while Moosewood suggests a combination of dried wild mushrooms and more available fresh commercially cultivated mushrooms. Since I had the fresh wilds available to me I decided to use some dried wild mushrooms I had along side some freshly foraged wild Chantarelles. I used two varieties of Chanterelle, the more common Cantharellus cibarius along side the less common Yellow-leg Chantarelle, Cantharellus tuaeformis. Both recipes suggest you can use a wide variety of wild mushrooms, so for the dried varieties I used Porcini and Shitake.

Wild Mushroom with Barley

1 oz dried wild mushrooms (shitake, porcini, morel, chanterelle)

1/2-1 lb fresh wild mushrooms (cremini, chanterelle, yellow leg, black trumpet, oyster), stems removed and reserved, caps chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

3/4 cup dry white wine

8 cups water

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 celery stalks, chopped

3 small carrots, chopped

2-3 tsp dried thyme

2 dried bay leaves

1/2 cup pearl barley

salt and pepper to taste

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and cover dried mushrooms in a bowl. Let sit for at least and hour and as much as 3 hours. Drain mushrooms, reserving liquid and chop. In a large soup pot heat 1 tbsp oil. Saute fresh mushroom stems for 2-3 minutes until just soft. Add wine and bring to boil. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Add the remaining water and reserved mushroom soaking liquid and bring to a boil and let simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, run the stock through a sieve to remove stems and any dirt. Add soy sauce to the stock and set aside. In the soup pot heat remaining oil. Saute onions, garlic, celery and carrots for 2-3 minutes until just soft. Add thyme and bay leave and stir to coat vegetables. Add the mushroom caps and chopped dried mushrooms and, if desired, a splash of white wine. Let cook for 2-3 minutes. Add stock and barley and simmer for 1 hour or until barley is cooked through. Salt and pepper to taste.

breakfast for dinner

Who doesn't love breakfast for dinner? As a kid that meant waffles for dinner, obviously something to which to look forward. As an adult my tastes run more savory (even at breakfast for breakfast) and breakfast for dinner usually means eggs. There are a lot of fantastic and easy ways to cook eggs (see the make-ahead post from February) and one of my favorites is a frittata. Last night I decided to experiment a little and try something different, something Debora Madison calls a skillet pie. It's basically an egg and cheese pie cooked in a skillet. I took her recipe and modified it a little - to add some texture - and got a smooth and cheesy dish that was a very satisfying but also very simple.

Skillet Pie with Mushrooms

serves 2

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 small red onion, diced small

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup ricotta cheese (I used nonfat cottage cheese and it worked just as well)

1/2 cup grated extra sharp Cheddar cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

4 eggs

1/3 cup milk

2 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp dill

1 cup shitake or crimini mushrooms

1 tbsp butter

1/2 cup cheap red wine

1 tsp marjoram

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a medium (6-8" diameter) cast iron skillet. Saute onions and garlic over medium heat until brown. While that cooks combine cheese in a bowl. Whisk in eggs until well mixed. Add milk, flour, dill, salt and pepper. Pour into skillet and cook in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.

While that cooks, stem the mushrooms and slice into thick slices. In a small skillet melt butter and add mushrooms. Cook until just soft. Add marjoram and wine and simmer until reduced by half. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve skillet pie on a bed of lightly braised greens topped with mushroom wine reduction.

Deguste

So the main event in our weekend adventure is our Saturday night feast prepared by our groups' amateur chef. He has a vary particular style of small plates served over a long period of time. It's lovely as it allows for a lot of chatter and full appreciation of each plate. This year we had 7 courses followed by a light sweet snack.

Its always interesting to watch someone else cook and Jan has a very distinctive style and preferences for certain ingredients. In the few times he has cooked for me I have noticed a strong preference for root vegetables (though this may be influenced by the season), toasted nuts (hazelnut seems to be a strong favorite), and something involving truffle oil for which I cannot blame him. This year my favorites were the house smoked trout, the beet relish, and a shitake leek soup that he serves like a french onion with a slice of parmesan floating in the bowl. This simple soup utilizes a beet based stock which makes for a nice juxtaposition with the earthiness of shitake:

Shitake Leek Soup

3 cloves garlic crushed

1 leek, julienned

2-3 cups dried mushrooms (porcini or shitake or a combo)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1Tbsp butter

salt and pepper to taste

½ tsp thyme

1 tsp prepared Dijon mustard

3 cups veg stock (made from blanching beets which can then be used to make beet relish)

½ cup red wine

Sweat garlic & leek in saucepan with butter and olive oil (I am informed that "sweating" means saute without browning). Add stock, wine, mushrooms, Dijon. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until mushrooms are reconstituted. Serve with a slice of Parmesan.