Cream of Mushroom Soup: What To Do When a Good Mushroom Goes Bad

If you're like me, you have a busy fridge. You know, leftover spaghetti, some baked ham for brekkie, maybe a roasted squash or two kicking around. Maybe you even have a bunch of mushrooms kicking around that you overbought for a recent kid's birthday party because you forgot that kids DON'T LIKE MUSHROOMS, MOM. So. They're not bad mushrooms, per se, just slightly neglected and maybe they slipped your mind and need to be acknowledged RIGHT NOW. This is a great soup for that! You can use them all up and they will stop staring at you with their slightly browning rounded edges every time you open up the crisper. Somebody help, I've gone too far into the analogy!!

 

Anyway! Easy fast soup using kitchen staples! Somewhat healthier even! It is snowing like a mofo here and a day in the kitchen is just what the foodie ordered.

Thursday (But Crazy Late): Chicken Casserole

Can you tell I am happy to have use of my ovens again? Because I am so excited! As I have been stockpiling barley over the years, I always jump all over a recipe that includes it in any form. Hence this week, two times. You can use whatever veggies you have handy, I have a lot of peppers, so a red pepper and some mushrooms it is.

You will need:

1 tsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped or grated
1/2 c pearl barley (that's the prettier, more conformist one)
2 1/4 c chicken stock
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, preferably cooked and dicd
1 red pepper
1 c mushrooms, sliced and / or diced
Salt, pepper, thyme

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, prep! Look for your Dutch oven. Not there? Check in the cupboard under the counter? Not there either? Pantry! Score! Chop / grate your onions, mushrooms and red pepper into bite-able pieces. Rinse your barley under cold water until the water runs clear.

Here is a big part of prep that you can skip if you have cooked chicken breast: poaching the chicken. If your chicken is cooked already, just carry on. If not, pour the chicken stock into a large saucepan that has a lid. Bring to a boil. Add the chicken, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Poach for about 20 minutes, flipping halfway, until cooked all the way through.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, heat the oil in your newly found Dutch oven, add in the onion and barley and stir to coat. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the onions start to soften.

When your chicken is done poaching, remove from the pan and set aside to cool. Dump all the stock into the onion /barley mixture, let boil for a minute, then cover it and bake for 45 minutes.

Chop your chicken when it is cool, reserving any juices.

Take the dish out of the oven and add in the chicken, mushrooms and peppers, along with a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Back in the oven! This time for 30 minutes, until the moisture is mostly absorbed.

I portioned this into 4 servings at 265 calories each; add some steamed veggies and a salad and you are good to goooo.

Enjoy!

Cheater Beef Stroganoff

My husband's birthday was on Tuesday and that means I have much, much leftover food in my fridge. I always overcook, and this time was no exception. Several pounds of salmon (salads! I love cold salmon on salads!), chicken (wraps!) and steak leads me to my favourite way to rid myself of leftovers. I also have some light sour cream that I will forget about otherwise and far too many mushrooms (is there really such a thing as too many mushroom?) so here we are: let's get at it!

 

You will need:

2 c uncooked egg noodles (I am using No Yolks)
2 tsp olive oil (don't use EVOO)
1 onion, grated
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced, about 2 cups (you can buy 1/2 lb tubs all sliced for you. I don't like them because they slice them too thick, but I really should learn to pick my battles)
1/2 c red wine
2 c beef stock
1 lb cooked steak
Salt, pepper, paprika (I am using smoked hot paprika because I love it so)

First, prep! Grate your onions and crush your garlic into a large-ish heavy-bottom (makes the cooking world go round) saucepan. Slice the steak as thinly as possible. Putting it in the freezer for 10 minutes first helps fo sho. Slice your mushrooms or pull the saran wrap off your package, whatever your wallet and conscience dictates.

Add the oil to the saucepan with onions and garlic, heat to medium and add in the mushrooms. Cook for three minutes or until the onions are softened and most of the liquid is gone.

Pour in the wine and use a flat wooden spoon to scrape up everything off the bottom. Cook until most of the liquid is gone. Start to boil water for the egg noodles, cook, drain and set aside.

Add in the beef stock, sliced steak, salt, pepper and paprika. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, until the liquid is reduced by half.

Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream. Check your seasoning. Stir in the cooked egg noodles, serve!

You know, it would look much better with BROAD egg noodles, but here's what I had

I portioned this into 4 servings at 350 calories per; add a salad or steamed veggies and boom! Under 400 - 500! And now I can see into my fridge.

Enjoy!

Chicken Cordon Bleu: SHV

I worked at a restaurant years ago that served this (I say served, not made, because they came premade and frozen); I cannot even count how many I had. Not only did I love the chicken itself, but it came with this amazing mushroom cream sauce that I am going to try and recreate from memory. Between that, baked potatoes and rye whiskey, I've got most of my mid-twenties weight gain sorted out. Here is the somewhat healthier version:

You will need:

4 bone-in chicken breasts, over a pound
4-8 slices lean deli ham, about 80-100 g
4 slices swiss cheese, although a light Havarti or light Monterrey Jack would work
1/2 c flour (I am using whole wheat whole grain, but all-purpose would work too)
Salt, pepper, thyme
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 c 1 % milk
1/2 c panko bread crumbs
Oil spray
1 tsp olive oil (not extra virgin)
1 small onion, grated or finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 lb mushrooms
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 c white wine
2 c chicken broth
1/2 c homogenized milk or whipping cream

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Next, prep! I recommended bone-in chicken breasts because they tend to be bigger. Also, you can save the raw bones for stock, they are the best for jelly. I will explain when I do a stock / soup post. Cut as close to the bone as you can, including the tender.

Helloooo chickie

Start pulling up the skin slowly

Slice under the skin, follow along the membrane

Nekkid!

I am cutting the tender off to make chicken strips for the kiddos:

Set up your dipping stations: stir the 1\4 1% milk with the mustard, add some salt and pepper to your flour and throw some thyme into your breadcrumbs.

Grate or chop your onion finely but don't press your garlic just yet, save that for the pan. Wipe your mushrooms and slice thinly.

Now we start! Once you have your chicken off the bone, there are two ways to prepare this chicken. You can choose whichever works best for you; I will demonstrate both. For the first, put the a chicken breast between two pieces of plastic. I like to use those thick Ziploc freezer baggies, but only when I am ready to throw them out because I am cheap and they are not. Start to pound the chicken, working from the centre towards the edges, until it is about half an inch thick all over.

De-tendered

Ziploc baggie pounding

The other method is to butterfly. You want to find the centre of the breast, slide a sharp knife in a parallel line, scraping along gently until one side is open like a flap.

Focus on the other side and do the same, opening it up like a book on each side.

Either way will work. Depending on how comfortable you are with a knife, or how much you like to work off some aggression with a mallet (say because your 4-year-old is STILL not listening and is picking at his brother ALL DAY. AGAIN. Hypothetically) you just need a flat, wide chicken breast.

Save these for stock - trust me!

Season your chicken with a little salt and pepper, lay on one or two slices of ham and then a slice of swiss cheese.

Starting at the longest edge, start rolling up the chicken carefully keeping the ham and cheese in the middle until you can fold one side over the other.

Pin with toothpicks, set aside and do the rest.

Dip the chicken in the flour, then the Dijon mixture, then roll in the bread crumbs.

Place on the cookie sheet, seam side down and spray with oil. Bake for 45-50 minutes, flipping and spraying halfway.

Meanwhile, sauce! Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan, sauté the grated onions for 3-4 minutes, until almost softened. Crush the garlic into the pan and cook for just one more minute. Add in the mushrooms and thyme, cook for 4 more minutes.

Deglaze with the wine, stirring with a flat edge to scrap up all the browned bits on the bottom.

When the wine is gone, add in the chicken broth, bring to a boil, reduce and cook, uncovered, until you can drag a wooden spoon across the centre and it leaves a trail, about 8-10 minutes.

Add in the milk and cook for 3-5 more minutes, stirring until smooth and fully blended.

This came in at 350 calories per serving; I am adding a roasted potatoes and some steamed veggies and bam! Right around 500!

Enjoy!