Cooking recipes: mushroom

Showing posts with label mushroom. Show all posts

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Pheasant with Mushroom Wild Rice Chowder

Ive bumped into a lot of hunters who say that their favorite way to eat pheasant is with condensed cream of mushroom soup and serving it over rice. Im typically not a big fan of cooking anything in canned soup, but I can see how the flavors work. Heres something like that, but in chowder form-- without the can. I dont know why, but I have been on a soup kick lately, even in 90-100 degree weather. If youre weird like me, youll like this recipe. Its thick, creamy and delicious, and also very easy to make. Or, you can save this one for colder weather. It would be perfect for when youre stuck inside, and its 20 degrees and snowing outside... but lets not think about that now. Yikes!

I would offer you more summer grilling recipes, but Rick will have to take care of that for now. I currently do not have access to a grill and my apartment complex is weird about its rules. If everything goes as planned, Rick will finally be out here in a couple months. Hooray!

Huckleberry, bird dog in training at Pheasant Bonanza.

While making this recipe, Ive also discovered Land O Lakes Fat Free Half-and-Half. You can use regular half-and-half, but Im trying to watch what I eat, so I was happy to discover this product. Im sure there are a lot of studies about how some fat free products like this one might not be all that good for you, but getting a heart attack from a high fat, natural diet isnt exactly desirable neither. Everything in moderation, I say.

In Nebraska, pheasant season starts on the last Saturday in October this year. I, for one, am uberly excited. I like shooting birds and playing with dogs. So far, I have to say that I like pheasant hunting best. But, theres still plenty of new hunting experiences to be had! To our Nebraska readers, hope to see some of you out in the field sometime.

Servings: 6-8
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 pheasant breasts
- 3 slices of bacon, chopped
- 6 1/2 cups of low sodium chicken broth
- 1 rib of celery, diced
- 3 small carrots, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- half an onion, diced
- 1/2 cup of unsalted butter + 2 tbs.
- 1 package of mushrooms, diced
- 1/2 tsp. of coriander
- dash of paprika
- 1/2 cup of dry white wine
- 1 (4.3 oz) package of instant Rice-A-Roni Long Grain and Wild Rice
- 1/3 cup of all purpose flour
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 tsp. of parsley, chopped

Vegetables should be cut like so.

1. In a soup pot, cook bacon over medium heat until crispy and when most of the fat has been rendered out. Remove bacon and set aside.

2. Next, add diced celery, onion, carrot and garlic. Add a pinch of salt. Cook for 7 minutes, or until onions are cooked through and slightly browned. Stir frequently.

Remove vegetables and set aside.

3. If necessary, add a pat of butter or some more oil to the pot. Salt and pepper both sides of pheasant breasts or pieces and brown on all sides over medium-high heat. No need to cook through. Brown in batches and do not overcrowd the pot.

Remove pheasant and set aside.

4. Lower heat to medium-low and add 1/2 cup of dry white wine. With a wooden spoon, scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen up all the yummy drippings.

Shred or cube pheasant into bite size pieces and return to pot, along with vegetables and bacon bits.

Then add 6 1/2 cups of chicken broth to the pot and all the instant rice from the box, BUT NOT the seasoning packet. Bring to a simmer.

5. Meanwhile, melt 2 tbs. of butter in a saute pan and cook mushrooms for 5-10 minutes over medium heat. Stir occasionally. Set aside.

6. Then, in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt 1/2 cup of butter. Whisk in contents of Rice-A-Roni seasoning packet. Next, gradually add in 1/3 cup of all purpose flour, stirring constantly to form a roux. Cook for 3-4 minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste.

Lower heat to low. Then, slowly stir in 2 1/2 cups of half-and-half. Whisk to get rid of any lumps. Heat through. Then remove from heat.

7. Stir cream mixture into the pot of broth, veggies and pheasant. Cook covered over medium-low heat until heated through and rice is tender, 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the soup is too loose, heat uncovered until thickened. If its too thick, add more half-and-half. Add coriander and paprika.

At the end, stir in the cooked mushrooms and parsley.

Adjust seasonings, although there should be enough salt in the seasoning packet and broth already.

Serve with crusty bread.

Upland Hunting with Dogs

For those unfamiliar with upland hunting, heres sort of a taste of what happens. I took this video at a dog trial in Tekamah, Nebraska. At these dog trials, hunters come to compete with their dogs in timed events to see which team can locate and shoot more birds in an open grassland. Its a lot harder than it sounds. From what I remember, only 2 competitors that day completed their rounds with the required 3 birds.

As you can see in the video, the pointer (dog) zig-zags and hops through the grass to cover as much ground as he can in hopes of catching a birds scent, in this case, chukar. Once he does, he (or she) "goes on point" to let the hunter know that a bird is located nearby. Then the hunter comes, tries to flush the bird out of the grass and then shoots. Sometimes, the bird is smart enough to duck down low and escape through the grass without the hunter seeing. Other times, the hunter shoots and misses. And in some cases, the dog loses focus completely and doesnt locate any birds. Dog and hunter must perform well together to win the competition.

Depending on breed and training, different kinds of dogs are bred for pointing, flushing and/or retrieving. Pointers, like the dog in the video, arent natural retrievers, but some can be trained to do it. Oftentimes, a hunter will bring a pointer and a retriever such a labrador to work as a team.

Ive always found it so neat and fun to watch hunting dogs work. And when youre hunting with a few people and everyone brings his or her dog, they all run and zig-zag around you like crazy and its an absolute ball!

The dogs name in the video is "Fats." Hah!

(If you steal my picture to the left, Im going to kick your butt. Just saying.)

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Chilli Mushroom

Chilli Mushroom

How to make Chilli Mushroom dry recipe

Ingredients

Button mushroom( cleaned and quartered)- 250 gms

Egg- 1 no( optional)

Cornflour- 3 tbsp

Maida/ All purpose flour- 3 tbsp

Rice flour- 1 tbsp

Baking soda/ Cooking soda- few pinch

White pepper powder- 1 and 1/2 tsp

Ajinomoto- 1/4 tsp

Salt to taste

Water required

Onion minced- 1/2 no

Green chilli minced- 1 no( +/- according to taste)

Ginger minced- 1 tsp

Garlic minced- 1 tsp

Chilli Vinegar- 1/2 tsp

Dark soya sauce- 2 tsp

Spring onions/ Scallion greens( chopped)- few tbsp

Chopped coriander/ cilantro leaves- few tbsp

Oil to deep fry

Chilli Mushroom Dry

Method

In a bowl add 1 egg, white pepper powder, salt, ajinomoto, cooking soda, cornflour, maida and rice flour. Beat all the ingredients well with a beater or a fork and add water if required. Beat until a smooth and lump free batter is formed. Heat oil in pan to deep fry, dip the mushroom pieces in the prepared batter and drop it into the hot oil. Deep fry the mushroom pieces until crisp and transfer the fried mushroom pieces to a plate. Next heat few tbsp oil in a pan, when hot add minced onion, green chilli, garlic and ginger toss well for few sec. Reduce heat and add soy sauce, chilli vinegar and required pepper, salt. Again toss well and add prepared mushroom pieces, increase heat and toss the mushrooms until well coated with sauce. Garnish the chilli mushrooms with chopped spring onion greens, coriander leaves and serve hot.

Chilly Mushroom Recipe

Monday, March 3, 2014

Chettinad Mushroom Pepper Fry Chettinad Pepper Mushroom

Chettinad Mushroom Pepper Fry

Ingredients

White button mushrooms (chopped) - 1 cup

Maida / All purpose flour -3 tbsp

Chick pea flour / Besan flour - 1 tbsp

Onion large (chopped) - 1 no

Tomato medium (chopped) - 1 no

Garlic cloves (chopped) - 5 nos

Ginger (chopped) - 1" inch

Dry red chillies - 2 nos

Ginger-Garlic paste -1 tsp

Red chilli powder-1 tsp

Pepper powder-1 tsp

Salt to taste
Oil required

Dry roast and grind to coarse powder
Black pepper corns - 1 tsp
Sombu / Fennel seeds - 1 tsp

Method

Take a bowl mix maida, besan flour, chillipowder, pepper powder, salt and water, make thick batter.
Dip the chopped mushrooms in this batter, deep fry battered mushrooms in hot oil till golden brown and set aside.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a sauce pan, when oil is hot add onions, red chillies, garlic and ginger.
Saute for 2 mins and add ginger-garlic paste, when the raw smell leaves add tomatoes and saute well.
Add pepper powder, chilli powder, salt and ground masala powder.
Add 1 tbsp water and allow masala to cook for few minutes.
Finally add the fried mushrooms and cook untill dry.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Cream of Mushroom Soup

This homemade cream of mushroom soup is a quick and simple soup which can prepared in 10 mins, its rich and creamy texture makes everyone to fall in love with it....

Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

White button mushrooms( thickly sliced)- 1 packet

White pepper powder- required

Nutmeg powder- few pinches

Cream- 1/4 cup

Salt to taste

Butter- 2 tbsp

Ingredients for white sauce( Basic white sauce recipe)

Butter- 4 tbsp

All purpose flour/ Maida- 4 tbsp

Milk- 3 cups( at room temperature)

Cream Of Mushroom Soup

Method

In a heavy bottom sauce pan heat 4 tbsp butter.

When butter starts melting add flour and fry flour for few secs on medium heat( make sure the flour is not burned).

When flour smell rises start adding milk slowly and whisk continuously until smooth and semi thick sauce is formed. Remove pan from heat and set aside.

In another sauce pan heat 2 tbsp butter, when butter starts melting add the sliced mushrooms and sauté for few secs and set aside.

Now add the sautéed mushroom to the prepared white sauce, season with nutmeg powder, white pepper powder and salt. Return pan to heat and adjust soup thickness by adding cream and more milk, check the seasoning.

When soup starts to boil, transfer hot soup to bowls and serve.

Mushroom Soup

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

WILD MUSHROOM AGNOLOTTI WITH SCALLIONS AND EGG SAUCE

WILD MUSHROOM AGNOLOTTI WITH SCALLIONS AND EGG SAUCE

A packet of Wild Mushroom Agnolotti by Buitoni was sent to me by the Food Buzz team. The taste of this pasta was simply amazing. The stuffing consisted of wild mushrooms along with a combination of four cheeses. It can be had by itself too without any sauce. I wanted to make a tomato-based sauce for this since it already cheese in it. This fire-roasted tomato sauce along with scrambled eggs and scallions goes well with the stuffing. Each bite into this pasta along with the tomatoes and eggs was a flavor explosion in the mouth.

INGREDIENTS:
1. Buitoni Wild Mushroom Agnolotti, 1 packet.
2. Scallions, 1 bunch.
3. Fire-roasted tomatoes, 1/2 cup.
4. Garlic, 2 cloves.
5. Fresh basil ¼th cup.
6. Jalapeno, 1.
7. Eggs, 2.
8. Parmesan cheese, 1 tablespoon.
9. Salt and pepper as per taste.

PREPARATION: Cook the pasta as per the package instructions. Meanwhile cut the scallions into thin slices including the green and white parts. Crush the garlic cloves coarsely and dice them finely. Remove the seeds from the jalapeno and dice into very fine pieces. Julienne the basil leaves and keep aside. Heat a nonstick pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When the oil is hot enough, break the eggs into the pan and scramble them gently. Transfer the eggs onto a plate and pour another tablespoon of oil into the same pan. Add the chopped scallions, garlic, and jalapeño and sauté for a few minutes until everything turns tender. Add the fire-roasted tomatoes along with ½ of water or broth and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper according to taste and then add the chopped basil leaves, parmesan cheese, and ¾th of the scrambled eggs to the sauce and mix well. Remove the pan from heat and pour the sauce over the pasta. Serve the pasta with the remaining scrambled eggs garnished on top.

Monday, February 17, 2014

Sherried Mushroom Shallot Soup

This is a quick, easy and yet very elegant and richly flavoured soup. You can certainly use a mix of fancier mushrooms if you like, but there is nothing wrong with the good old button. If there is any secret to this, it is to cook the mushrooms and shallots slowly and gently, yet getting them just that bit browned; caramelized in the case of the shallots. Also be sure to mix the chicken stock in slowly and avoid lumps.

4 to 6 servings
1 hour prep time

500 grams (1 pound) button mushrooms
8 large shallots
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup flour

4 cups good chicken stock
2 teaspoons soy sauce or tamari (about; see note)
1/4 cup sweet sherry

Clean and trim the mushrooms, and slice them. Peel and slice the shallots.

Heat the butter in a large soup pot, and cook the butter, shallots and mushrooms in it until they are softened and slightly browned. Add the flour, sifting it over and mixing it in carefully to avoid lumps. Cook for several minutes more, stirring constantly, until the flour is well amalgamated and slightly browned.

Slowly stir in the chicken stock, stopping to mix well and avoid lumps. Once it is all in, taste then season with the soy sauce and the sherry.

Note: the amount of soy sauce will depend on how salty your chicken stock is. Adjust it accordingly.

Heat the soup through and serve.