Mushroom Soup

This recipe is a slight variation of a mushroom soup recipe from the Autumn 2018 edition of the LCBO Food and Drink Magazine. For those of you who may be logging on to this blog from outside of Ontario, I should explain that the acronym LCBO stands for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, one of the world's largest purchasers of alcoholic beverages. This organization has been publishing a free glossy magazine of seasonal dishes for decades now. I can't tell you how many of these recipes I've made over the years. Lots.

The flavour of this mushroom soup recipe has been described as woodsy. It strikes me that woodsy soups are particularly autumnal. 

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• one largish onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 2 pounds of cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 liter or more of chicken or vegetable stock
• salt and pepper to taste
• about a 1/4 cup of sherry (or cognac)
• about 1/2 cup of heavy cream

Methods: 

Heat the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for another 2 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms have wilted, about 3 minutes. Add the stock and salt and pepper. When boiling, reduce the heat and maintain the soup at a simmer for 30 minutes. Puree the soup in a blender working in batches, or use a handheld whizzer. 

To serve, bring the soup to a simmer, add the sherry and cream and stir until the soup is steaming. Adjust the seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. 

It all started like this.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake - Eat your vegetables!

My sister Penelope baked this moist chocolatey cake, which originally derives from one of the Harrowsmith cookbooks. She happened to add a sugary glaze to the top, but it's not necessary to dress the cake. This is a great way to eat zucchini.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 & 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 & 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• 1 & 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 2 & 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 3 packed cups of grated zucchini
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped nuts

Methods: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. 
Combine the flour with the next 5 ingredients and set aside. In a second bowl, beat together the oil and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well. Gradually mix in the melted chocolate followed by the dry ingredients. Beat until smooth, then fold in the zucchini, chocolate chips and nuts. Pour into a greased and floured Bundt pan and bake for anywhere from 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes depending on the fickleness of your oven. Test for doneness with a toothpick. Cool the cake and flip it out of the Bundt pan in a relaxed manner. Place it on a homemade hooked rug.

Fruitcake ...It's time has come

One might well wonder at the folly of  baking fruitcake for Christmas on one of the warmest September days recorded in modern times. It's because I live in an air conditioned house. Plus, this is a cake that improves with age. 

There are some who make fun of fruitcake. I say, there's no accounting for taste.

Ingredients:

• 3 ½ cups of raisins
• 3 ½ cups of dried currants
• Place the raisins and currants in a bowl and cover them with boiling water. Leave until the water is tepid.
• 1 cup of chopped candied orange peel
• 1 cup of chopped candied citrus peel
• 3 cups flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 ½ cups of unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 ¾ cups of brown sugar
• 6 eggs
• 3 tablespoons brandy or rum or port, depending on your preference

Methods:
Heat your oven to 300º F. Then grease a 9 ″ round baking pan well and line it with parchment paper.

This is a big cake so your baking pan needs to be at least 3 inches deep. (Alternatively, you can use several smaller pans.)

Sift the flour with the salt, nutmeg and allspice in a medium-sized bowl. Cream the butter and sugar in a very large bowl and add the eggs one by one, beating well after each addition. Stir the flour mixture into the eggs/butter/sugar in 2 or 3 batches, followed by the alcohol and drained fruit. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top of the cake, making a slight hollow in the centre to ensure the top of the cake will be flat after baking. Bake for 2 to 3 hours depending on the size of the pans you use, or until the cake tests done.

Wrap the cooled cakes in several layers of cheesecloth soaked in your favourite tipple. Then wrap again tightly in plastic wrap before popping the cake(s) in the back of your refrigerator, until you feel the need to soak the cheesecloth again. Remove the cheesecloth at holiday time and cover the cakes with a thick layer of marzipan and royal icing. Groan with delight.

Green Tomato Mincemeat

I made a batch of green tomato chutney last week. Here's another perfect use for those hard green tomatoes that pile up at this time of year. This is my sister Sylvia's recipe for a really fresh tasting mincemeat.

Ingredients: 

• 8 cups cored, finely diced green tomatoes
• 4 cups cored, finely chopped apples
• 2 cups raisins
• 2 cups dried currants
• 1 cup mixed candied peel
• 2 cups chopped apricots
• 1 cup chopped candied pineapple
• 2 tsp (10 ml) ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp mace
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 cups lightly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup orange marmalade
• Zest from 1 lemon
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup Grand Marnier or other brandy

Methods: 
In a large saucepan/heat resistant pot, and while stirring frequently, cook the green tomatoes and apples in the cider vinegar and sugar for approximately 1/2 hour. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot. Simmer on a low heat, again stirring frequently until the mixture is quite thick. Add the butter and half of the brandy, then simmer again to thicken. Remember, you will be making pies or tarts with this mincemeat, so the texture needs to be substantial. Remove the mincemeat from the heat and stir in the remaining brandy. Sylvia reckons that the total cooking time is approximately 2 hours on a very low heat.

Fill sterilized jars, then seal and sterilize the jars for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath (if pints), or 20 minutes (if quarts). This recipe makes 12 pints of mincemeat.

Blond Puttanesca from NYT Cooking

This is another very tasty New York Times Cooking recipe, which I have successfully added to my repertoire. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the end product, but it basically looks like linguine with some green bits added in. Mostly blond, as its name implies.  

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces linguine
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 10 anchovies, roughly chopped
• 3 tablespoons capers
• 5 ounces baby arugula
• 6-7 ounces of canned tuna, drained and flaked
• 1/4 cup of chopped fresh Italian parsley
• pasta water

Methods:
Cook the linguine in a large pot of salted water as per the package instructions. While the pasta cooks, add the garlic and pepper flakes to the olive oil in a large skillet and cook for about a minute over medium-low heat. Add the anchovies and capers and cook for another minute or two. Turn the heat to medium. Stir a ladle of pasta water into the mixture and simmer for a minute or two. Add in the arugula with another ladle of pasta water and when the arugula is wilted, add the pasta. Then stir in the tuna to warm it through. After about a minute, add another ladle of pasta water to loosen the sauce. Sprinkle parsley over the pasta and season it with salt and pepper. Serve it with flaky salt and a lemon wedge on the side.

Old-fashioned Peanut Cookies

I'm trying to develop a recipe for a salty/sweet cookie with the crunch of peanuts and cereal. I'm not saying this is the recipe, but it did produce a satisfying old-fashioned kind of cookie.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup raisin bran cereal
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/2 cup salted Spanish peanuts including red skins
• 1/2 cup butterscotch chips 

Methods:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg. Add the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix well. Add in the cereal, oats, peanuts and butterscotch chips. Mix just until combined. Roll balls of dough (about 1 inch in diameter) and place them on  parchment lined cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie slightly. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Allow the cookies to sit on the cookie sheet for 3 minutes, then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Cookies

There's nothing like a good peanut butter cookie to satisfy the soul, and pack on the pounds. As children, my siblings and I were blessed with a mother who baked. Peanut butter cookies were a short-lived staple. This is how she made them.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 

Methods:

The instructions on my mother's recipe card said "375 for 10 minutes". Brevity is the soul of wit as they say.

For those who may not understand cookie-making shorthand, here's a little more detail. Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees F. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix all of the ingredients together to form a dough. Roll one inch balls of cookie dough and place on the cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Use the back of a fork to press the dough slightly leaving the imprint of fork times on the cookie. Then turn your hand (with fork) 90 degrees and press the cookie again with the back of the fork, creating a crosshatch pattern.

Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the cookie from the baking sheet with a spatula and place them on a metal rack to cool.