The Real Mushroom Soup

When I first saw this recipe in Jamie Oliver's cookbook, I was really excited. What drew me to this recipe was the use of as many different fresh wild mushrooms as you can find. I knew that the depth of flavor for this soup would really be one of a kind with such variety. So, the moment my new food processor arrived in the mail, I immediately dropped by my supermarket and bought my mushrooms! :D I was that excited! Haha!

Although I was not able to find all the mushrooms he mentioned, I was able to get a decent variety: dried porcini, crimini, white, shitake and oyster. The end result? Delicious! :)

The Real Mushroom Soup (adapted from Jamie's Dinners)
(serves 6)

Ingredients
a small handful of dried porcini (if you were to use a field of Portabello mushrooms to make a soup, just adding a tiny but of dried porcini into the base would make the whole thing more luxurious)
600g/1lb 6oz mixed fresh wild mushrooms (chanterelles, girolles, trompettes de la mort, shitake, oyster), cleaned and sliced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
a knob of butter
a handful of fresh thyme, leaves picked
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 litre/1 3/4 pints chicken or vegetable stock
a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons of mascarpone cheese
1 lemon (I omitted this cos I didn't want any lemony taste in my mushroom soup)
optional: truffle oil

Place the porcini in a small dish, add boiling water just to cover, and leave to soak. Get a large casserole-type pan nice and hot, then add a good couple of lugs of olive oil and your fresh mushrooms. Stir around very quickly for a minute, then add your garlic, onion, butter and thyme and a small amount of seasoning. After about a minute you'll probably notice moisture cooking out of the mushrooms and at this point add half of your porcini, chopped up, and the rest left whole. Strain the soaking liquid to remove any grit, and add it to the pan. Carry on cooking for about 20 minutes until most of the moisture disappears.

Season to taste, and add your stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for around 20 minutes. I usually remove half the soup from the pan and whiz it up to a purée at this point, then pour it back in, adding the parsley and mascarpone, and seasoning carefully to taste.

You can serve this soup as you like, but there are a few things to remember when finishing it off. Mix together a pinch of salt and pepper with the zest of one lemon and the juice of half of it, then spoon a little of this into the middle of the soup. When you go to eat it, stir it in and it gives a wonderful flavour. Other things you can consider are little slices of grilled crostini put into the bottom of the bowls before the soup is poured over. Or you could even quickly fry some nice-looking mushrooms – like girolles, chanterelles or oysters – and sprinkle these on top of the soup. If I was going to use truffle oil, then I would use it on its own – a few drips on the top just before serving.

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Cabbage Soup With Meatballs & Wolfberries

This is what I call yummy goodness!

If you've never made Chinese soup before, this recipe is a great way to start. It is easy, doesn't require double-boiling and is full of flavor. Cabbage is one of my favorite vegetables because not only is it packed with fiber and antioxidants, it is also pretty versatile! You can make slaw with it, fry it, steam it, boil it, etc. I especially enjoy cooked cabbage because the heat brings out its natural sweetness. Paired with wolfberries, this becomes one big, nutritious slurp! :D

My mother used to make this soup for me all the time, but I've tweaked it a bit, especially for the minced meat part, to make it tastier. Personally, I just can't get enough of the meatballs! Heh

Cabbage Soup With Meatballs & Wolfberries
(serves 4)

Ingredients
Bones of 3 chicken drumlets (or the equivalent weight of other chicken bones)
Half a head of cabbage, chopped
1 pound of minced pork
1 tablespoon of dried wolfberries
2 tablespoons of light soya sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons of shaoxing wine
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
1/2 cup chicken stock
white pepper

In a bowl, combine the light soya sauce, shaoxing wine, sesame oil, a generous amount of white pepper with the minced pork. Mix well.

Put a cling wrap over the bowl and refrigerate the minced pork.

In a large dutch oven/casserole, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil and put the chicken bones in. Remove any scum that floats to the surface of the pot. Boil for 10 minutes.

Turn the heat down to low-medium heat. Add the cabbage and chicken stock then simmer for 45 minutes.

Remove the minced pork from the refrigerator. I like to stand beside the stove, form the meatballs and drop them straight into the dutch oven/casserole instead of making all the meatballs at one go on a plate. Using a tablespoon with your right hand, scoop out 3/4 of a tablespoon of minced meat and put it into the middle of your left palm. To form the round, spherical meatball shape, simply rotate your left fingers in a circular motion. If you are left-handed, swop it the other way around.

Once done, drop the meatball into the soup. Do this for the rest of the minced meat. Be careful to give ample space between each meatball. Use your ladle to move the cabbage around to create space. When done, check if the water level is just above the cabbage and meatballs. If not, add a bit more water until just covered.

Simmer the soup for another hour to an hour and a half. 10 minutes before you off the stove, add in the wolfberries. Serve hot. Tweet