Over the Top Mushrooms
Don't you just love it when a mistake turns into something oh so GOOD?
You see, on a whim, I decided to pick up a large package of sliced mushrooms to make my Sweet Mushroom Soup, page 14 Volume 5. First of all I never buy sliced mushrooms, because they are always too dry meaning too old. I prefer to hand pick each one; whole and FRESH. Then slice just before making my dish. I also place them in a brown paper lunch size bag, as soon as I get them home. Then store in the crisper of my fridge to be used as soon as possible.
Second mistake, I had not checked the freezer to see if I even had any chicken stock on hand. You'll find E-Z homemade chicken stock on page 19 in Cooking with Judy. I did however pickup a sweet onion, fresh carrots and celery. I knew I had fresh garlic on hand and frozen FRESH ginger and turmeric in the freezer.
All excited when I got home, put the groceries away and got out my soup pot and med size glass skillet. Put both the pot and the skillet on the stove over med low heat. Added a couple of pinches of extra coarse black pepper (page 25 Volume 6) to the bottom of each pan. Set out the onion, garlic and mushrooms. Added a swirl of EVOO to each pan. Diced the onion, added it to the soup pot, sprinkled a big pinch of Kosher salt and mixed well.
In order to caramelize (page 14 Volume 5) the mushrooms I added two swirls of EVOO to the skillet. Tossed in the box of mushrooms and mixed well. To my cringe I found far too many mushrooms still had their woody stems attached. I quickly (they were starting to get hot) picked those out and pinched off the offending tough stems.
At this point I went to the freezer for my ginger and turmeric and thought I might as well pull out a couple of bags of chicken stock to thaw while I peeled the carrots and kept an eye on the mushrooms. They needed to be stirred as they begin to brown.
Oooop's NO chicken broth, not a drop. NOW WHAT????? Well calm down, take a breath, stir the mushrooms, check the onions. Grate the garlic, ginger and turmeric over the onions and still well. Reduce the heat while I try to figure out what to do???
Then I remembered, last month I had caramelized too many mushrooms for my perfect steak (page 22 Volume 2 or page 58 in Cooking with Judy, Sexy Date Night Meal), so I had put the leftovers in a small snack size zip bag and tossed them in the freezer. They were excellent another day weeks later.
So why not do the same now? Just more bags to enjoy later. What about the onions, garlic, ginger and turmeric? Toss-'em all together! Why not? Of course by now I'm disgusted that I've wasted time and $ and won't have my delicious Sweet Mushroom Soup!
Too impatient for the mushrooms to completely caramelize, I mixed them all together in the soup pot. They were not cooking fast enough to satisfy my impatiences. I grabbed an old Corning Wear casserole dish, buttered it and dumped the mess in. Turned the oven on to 325º and slide it in.
Decided checking email would brighten my dark mood. When I smelled it I turned off the oven and put the glass lid on top. Left it in the oven for another 20 minutes or so. Then let it cool.
Fixed myself a perfect steak and grabbed leftover green salad with Peppercorn Dressing (page 29 in Cooking with Judy) and made Stinky Cheese page 24 in Volume 5) in place of croutons. Darn fine meal, if I say so myself.
The next day I bagged up 6 individual servings of Over the Top Mushrooms and placed them in the freezer to enjoy for months to come. YEA!!!!!! Another mistake bites the dust and becomes a healthy, delicious and nutritious whole living food to build strong bodies and sharp minds.
Ingredients:
In a med-size glass skillet over med-low heat add:
Good pinch Extra Coarse Black Pepper, page 25 Volume 6
- One big swirl of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in skillet
- 1 Sweet onion, diced
- Big pinch Kosher salt
Stir often and steam until translucent then add
- 2 Cloves fresh garlic, grated
- 1/2" Frozen fresh ginger, grated
- 1/4" Frozen fresh turmeric root, grated
Mix well and add:
- 3 C Washed, stems removed, sliced button or portabella mushrooms or both*
Stir often and cook until tender or place in a butted glass casserole dish and bake at 325º until tender.
* I think it perfectly okay to run mushrooms under running water and remove stems before slicing, as you are going to immediately cook them.
From your friend in the kitchen, Judy
Let me know what you think after you try it.
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