This delectable soup is as easy as it is delicious — a mushroom-lovers delight and relatively low fat. Savor it as a walk-around appetizer in mugs or as a sit-down first course. Conveniently, it can be prepared a day or two in advance and refrigerated. Warm it up on the stovetop or microwave just prior to serving. Brown-capped crimini mushrooms lend an earthy flavor and inviting, warm color. These mushrooms are also called baby bellas, or sometimes portabellinis, because they are young, smaller versions of more mature portabella mushrooms. See more information below recipe.
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Creamy Sherry Mushroom Soup
Makes 6 cups (eight 3/4 cup servings)
1 lb. brown crimini mushrooms
2 Tbsp. butter
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2/3 cup Holland House sherry cooking wine*
2 Tbsp. flour
3 cups whole milk
1 can (14.5 oz.) reduced-sodium chicken broth*
1 tsp. soy sauce
1/4 tsp. dried sage
Wipe mushroom caps with a damp cloth. Trim stems and coarsely chop mushrooms. In a 6-quart pot, melt butter with onion. Add mushrooms and sherry cooking wine. Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, 8-10 minutes or until most, but not all, of the sherry is absorbed. Sprinkle flour over mushrooms; stir in milk, broth, soy sauce and sage. Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce heat. Simmer gently 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove soup from heat. Use an immersion blender to puree soup. Or pour into a blender in batches; blend until smooth and return to pot to keep warm. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve garnished with chives or parsley, if desired.
* Kitchen Notes:
- Use cream sherry, if desired. Add ½ teaspoon salt to the soup; reduced-sodium broth is optional.
- One 14.5 oz can broth = approximately 1-2/3 cups
- Use vegetable broth if you prefer. I like the Kitchen Basics brand in a box, Unsalted Vegetable Cooking Stock.
Nutrition information per serving (8) with cooking wine and reduced-sodium chicken broth: 120 calories, 5g protein, 11g carb, 6g fat, (3.5g sat. fat), 15mg chol, 290mg sodium,<1g fiber
Recipe developed by Rita Held for Holland House Photo by Suzanne Carrerio
From the Mushroom Council, based here in the San Francisco Bay Area:
Crimini Mushrooms are grown and harvested in the same manner as the white mushroom. The reason they have a darker color and slightly denser texture is that they come from a different strain of spores.
Portabella Mushrooms are also grown like white mushrooms. Actually, the Portabella is a mature Crimini. It’s usually three to seven days older than the Crimini when harvested. As a result, Portabellas develop much larger caps-ranging up to six inches in diameter.
Given the happenings in Newtown, Connecticut last week, I’ve hesitated to post a holiday recipe. It seems so shallow. Yet life goes on, and food adds to our humble pleasures, connecting us all at the table. So here is a favorite holiday side dish with a distinctive flavor twist – Angostura bitters. When I whipped up these potatoes last Christmas, eyebrows were raised with smiles. Make it a day ahead and refrigerate. Just before serving, heat in the microwave. I usually refrigerate the finished potatoes in the same bowl or covered casserole dish in which I’ll heat and serve it. Simple.
Easiest Ever No-Knead Artisan Bread
For the past couple months I’ve been baking crusty, country-style breads to rave reviews from friends and family. Then I did a baking class for friends who are now teaching their friends. A grass-roots viral recipe chain! No one can believe how simple it is – just measure, stir, rise overnight, then bake. No kneading!
I became hooked when a colleague, Penni Wisner aka The Kitchen Coach, brought her amazing bread to dinner meetings. She fashioned the recipe from the famed Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery in NYC, whose no-knead formula created a stir in 2006 when Mark Bittman wrote about it in the NY Times. Key to success is a glazed ceramic pan or covered casserole that can withstand 500°F, or use an iron skillet. With Penni’s tips I’ve not had a failure yet, and as far as I know, none of my students has either. And most had never baked bread before. I’ve refined the recipe further with suggestions from my ‘students’ like: turning and flouring the dough in the bowl so there’s no flour mess! Send me pictures of your bread. I promise, it’s simple!
Please click here in our Kitchen Essentials page for step-by-step instructions with photos, tips, and two recipe variations.
Print This RecipeNo-Knead Country Wheat Bread
Prep time: 5 minutes
Rise time: 18-24 hours plus 30 minutes just before baking
Bake time: 45 minutes
Makes 1 loaf
A gram weight kitchen scale measures quickly and accurately, if you have one.
1. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add walnuts and/or soaked grains if making multi-grain recipe. (See link for multi-grain recipe.)
2. Stir in water with a wooden spoon. Switch to a plastic scraper if you have one, and continue mixing and turning just until dough is evenly moistened and pulls away from sides of the bowl. It’s not necessary to stir vigorously, just enough so the flour is mixed in.
3. Cover bowl with plastic wrap (a plastic shower cap works great!) and let stand 30 minutes. Turn dough with the scraper or spoon, giving it about 4 folds. (If you skip this step it won’t harm the bread.)
4. Cover bowl with plastic and let stand at room temperature 18-24 hours. The dough will rise and be very bubbly.
5. Gently stir dough down with scraper or spatula and fold over in 90 degree turns several times. Dust top of dough lightly with flour. Cover the bowl and let rest 15 minutes.
6. Dust a towel with oats, cornmeal, wheat bran or a little flour. Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto the towel and shape roughly into a ball. Wrap in the towel and leave at room temperature for 30-45 minutes.
7. While dough is resting, place ungreased pan with lid if it has one, in the oven. Turn oven on and preheat to 500°F. NOTE: The pan must be a glazed ceramic that can withstand 500°F or an iron skillet. Allow at least 30 minutes for pan and oven to super-heat. It is necessary to preheat the pan so the bread will instantly create steam when it goes in, and the bread won’t stick to the pan.
8. Unwrap dough, shake excess grain off the towel. Place the dough in the towel within reach of the oven. Open oven and pull rack forward. Lift lid (if using) and quickly slide dough into pan. Cover with lid or loosely cover container with foil. (This step can also be done by removing pan from the oven.)
9. Reduce oven to 450°F. Cover pan with lid or foil. Bake covered 25 minutes. Dough will rise and start to brown.
10. Remove lid or foil and continue to bake until very dark brown, another 20-25 minutes. Immediately remove bread from pan and cool on a wire rack.
Recipe adaption and photo by Rosemary Mark