Hazelnut and Wild Mushroom Soup: can you hear fall calling?

Could my life be any better on this warm autumn afternoon? Sitting here watching my beloved Cubs in game 1 of the playoffs on their inexorable march to their first World Series title in 100 years. Sipping an ice cold Lagunitas IPA while giving you yet another killer way to satisfy your endless hunger for good food. It's good for me, it's good for you. The karmic wheel is spinning just fine, thank you very much!

So what do I have to bestow upon you? Only one of the best soups you have ever had in your otherwise fulfilled lives. I blogged this mushroom and hazelnut soup a couple of years ago, but since then there are thousands more regular eat.drink.think. readers, so it absolutely bears repeating. I first got this recipe from our local sustainable living magazine ediblePortland. I've done it three times since, the last time just this past Sunday as a soup course prior to an insanely good grilled leg of lamb. This also happens to be an easy, fabulously seasonal bowl of deliciousness that takes advantage of fresh fall hazelnuts and the seasons first wild mushrooms. Very rich, but not over the top, with exquisite nuttiness that merges perfectly with the earthy mushrooms. The mushroom stock recipe that I think is essential (as opposed to the optional chicken stock) absolutely makes this dish and would be an excellent base for other soups, or added to a wild mushroom risotto. Topped with a dollop of sherry or marsala whipped cream, this is elegant, satisfying and I guarantee your guests will swoon. That is if you decide to share!
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Mushroom and Hazelnut Soup with Sherry Cream
adapted from ediblePortland/ Heather Staten, chef instructor at In Good Taste Cooking School
serves 4-6

ingredients:
-2/3 cup Oregon hazelnuts
-2 tablespoons unsalted butter
-2 large shallots, finely minced
-2 cloves garlic, finely minced
-1 pound button or crimini mushrooms, stems removed and sliced (save stems for mushroom stock)
-1/2 pound wild mushrooms (chanterelles, porcini, or shitake are all good)
-1/4 cup Amontillado sherry or Marsala
-4 cups mushroom stock (recipe below) or chicken stock (see notes at bottom)
-salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 35o degrees. Toast the hazelnuts for 10 minutes until they are lightly toasted and their skins begin to crack. Remove from oven and put hazelnuts in clean dishtowel. Rub vigorously to remove as much skin as possible. When cool, grind the nuts in a food processor and set aside.

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the shallots and garlic and cook until translucent. Add the mushroom slices and sauté 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Deglaze the pan with sherry or Marsala. Add the mushroom stock and season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Puree the soup and nuts together in a food processor or blender (see notes at bottom) in batches- process a long time until the hazelnuts are completely smooth and integrated into the soup.
Sherry/Marsala Cream:
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons sherry or Marsala
Finely chopped tarragon, chives, or parsley to garnish

Whip the cream, and add the sherry or Marsala. Serve dolloped on top of the hot soup and sprinkle with chopped herbs.

Mushroom Stock:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped coarsely
1 large carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 leek, rinsed and chopped
2 garlic cloves, halved
1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
4 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 to 8 ounces mushrooms from preceding recipe
6 cups water

Heat the olive oil in a large 4 quart saucepan. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and leek and sauté over medium-high heat until the onion is well browned, about 15 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sautée another 5 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, partially covered for 45 minutes. Strain through a sieve.

** Cook's notes: First, this recipe looks like a lot of work, but it really isn't that hard and comes together quite easily. Secondly, I would definitely make the mushroom stock and skip the chicken stock option. It is very easy and is crazily aromatic. Lastly, use a blender if you have one. The soup will come out velvety smooth, more so than in the processor, which is exactly what you want.- bb

Starting Small

I was turned on to this video by my sister Kathleen, a local food writer and designer, who linked to it through her blog (yes, we are the self-indulgent family!). Shot by the folks at Cooking Up A Story, it tells the (short) story of Michael and Jill Paine and their Gaining Ground Farm here in Oregon. I had met Michael and Jill here at the wine shack when they came in with Kevin Sandri, who's Garden State food cart has been a welcome addition to my neighborhood. Kevin buys much of his produce and chickens from Gaining Ground. It's a short, yet very interesting video about the challenges facing many small farmers, who are trying to do the right thing....read organic, sustainable.... in a mass market agricultural world. Michael is one of the nicest people you could hope to meet, and hopefully his and Jill's success will inspire many more to take the precarious plunge. Good luck, guys!!

More Family Love: Congrats to my über-talented sis Kathleen for her new gig as Edible Notes writer for the local food mag Edible Portland. Click the Edible Notes link, check her out, and and become a better informed comestible consumer

Summer food fun (aka getting in the pink!)

In case you were wondering, I care. Even though we don't talk regularly....for that matter we may not even know each other...I feel you. In fact, I sometimes know your needs before you even realize you have them. Case in point is my continuing quest to keep you informed of all that is delicious. Particularly that grand summer tradition that is about to begin with the start of Castagna Restaurant's annual series of of dinners that they call Rosé Wednesdays. Every other week starting July 18th they will offer a three course dinner of chef Kevin Gibson's awesome culinary creations, each representing a different region of France and matched with some fabulous rosé wines from the same areas, all for a mere $45! I hit a couple of these dinners last year, and I loved the casual, family style service that they put in place for these special nights, and though they were an excellent value. They have one seating at 6:30, so the relaxed pace is really conducive to getting into the food groove. I stick by my belief that even with the slew of new restaurant openings here, Castagna is the finest restaurant in Portland, and this is an eminently affordable way to have some of the best food you'll eat this year! Oh, and bon appétit.......
********** **********
Rosé Wednesdays @ Castagna
Family style regional dinners

July 18th • Loire Valley
Cider cured pork loin cooked in hay
•
August 1st • Provençe
Grand Aioli
•
August 15th • Bandol
Bouillabaisse
•
August 29th • Cassis
Roast Bronzini
•
Dinner will include 3 courses & 2 glasses of rosé
$45. (not including gratuity)
One seating at 6:30pm
Call for reservations • 503 231.7373

Outside insight!

You can bet that as soon as the sun comes out and it's even halfway warm, sun starved Portlanders are going to be flocking outside to eat. I was meeting mom today for a little lunch and vacation photo sharing opp, and we ended up stopping by Meriwether's up at 2601 NW Vaughn. This has been on my list to try for weeks, ever since I had heard that former Gotham Tavern chef Tommy Habetz had taken over the reins in the kitchen. As we were driving by today on our way to another destination, I noticed the open sign out, so within moments of pulling a quick u-turn in the middle of the street, we were walking in the door. The hostess informed us that their patio was open, so even though I'd like to think I'm not like everyone else, when it comes to eating outside on a beautiful spring afternoon I’ll do the lemming thing too.
The bottom line: this is one of the nicest, if not the nicest, outdoor dining spots in the city. Some tables are completely in the open, and they also have a covered area with a fountain in he middle that burbles just enough to drown out other diners. Very Euro feeling, and an especially nice transition home after w and I spent the last two weeks having much the same experience in Italy and France. Also, the ceiling of the covered area has a line of heaters attached on two sides, so I'm guessing even when it gets a little chilly out, you can still be pretty comfy.

The menu has lots of tempting choices, but having a craving for all things good and American, I had to go with the char-grilled burger while mom had the roast chicken salad sando. I also added on their escarole hearts Caesar salad, and we each felt the need to relax with a glass of vino. The Caesar, even though the greens were a tad limp, was quite good, lightly dressed in a piquant dressing with crunchy foccacia croutons and shaved Parmagiano.

Our sandwiches arrived, and both were wonderful. Mom's chicken salad had a tarragon dressing and was mounded high between sliced foccacia with apple wood smoked bacon and avocado, with a small arugula salad on the side of the plate. She loved it, and there was enough to it that she took half home. Now I'm kind of...okay, extremely...particular about my burgers. For me, the Castagna Café burger remains at the pinnacle of local offerings. Having said that, this Meriwether's hunk of beef was delicious, and something I'd order anytime. Cooked perfectly medium rare as ordered, the meat was juicy, really nice "beefiness" to the flavor without that disturbing fattiness that you get when restaurants try to foist off inferior beef on you. But with a guy like like Habetz in control, and with his rep for getting the best local ingredients, I had a feeling that this hunk of cow would be about as good as it could be. It was topped with apple wood bacon and fried onions, and I added cheddar because I can. A pile of fries came on the side, good but to me could have been crispier and less limp.

Mom's chix salad sandwich





My super delish burger & fries





All in all, though, this was a first class burger and a top quality lunch in a really nice setting. The outside was packed and the servers were super friendly, even those who weren’t waiting on our table! I would absolutely put this on your list, especially if you're looking for a little al fresco experience, and I can’t wait to try the dinner menu 'cause I hear Habetz has a way with all things porcine!

FREE FOOD.....for thought!

Have you noticed the new food consciousness going around? People seem to be thinking more not only about what they eat, but where what they eat comes from. Not only how it was grown/raised, but who actually got their hands dirty in the process. For me the big epiphany was reading Michael Pollan's bestselling book Omnivore's Dilemma, which I think everyone should have on their must read list. Here in Portland we have our own quarterly reminder in the form of an amazing little magazine called Edible Portland. In their words, "The goal of this magazine and website is to be a resource that makes eating, growing, and enjoying our local abundance an everyday pleasure." I think we can all get with that. Not only is it an informative, very well put together magazine featuring local producers and their stories, but they also get local restaurant chefs to come up with recipes that use local, seasonal produce. I've sampled a few of these, and have yet to be disappointed. I particularly remember a sensually rich, stunningly good wild mushroom and hazelnut soup (recipe below) that simply blew me away. And for those of you outside of PDX, their sponsoring organization, Edible Communities, has "Edible" publications in many cities around the country. The crazy good part is that this will cost you....nothing. Here in Portland they are available for free at New Season's Markets and a few other outlets, or if you are afraid you might miss an issue, you can also subscribe. A small price to pay for that little bit of your mind that gets opened up to new possibilities. Not to mention a very satisfied stomach!
* * * * * *
Mushroom and Hazelnut Soup with Sherry Cream
from Heather Staten, chef instructor at In Good Taste Cooking School
serves 4-6

ingredients
-2/3 cup Oregon hazelnuts
-2 tablespoons unsalted butter
-2 large shallots, finely minced
-2 cloves garlic, finely minced
-1 pound button or crimini mushrooms, stems removed and sliced (save stems for mushroom stock)
-1/4 pound wild mushrooms (chanterelles, porcini, or shitake are all good)
-1/4 cup Amontillado sherry or Marsala
-4 cups mushroom or chicken stock (see notes at bottom)
-salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 35o degrees. Toast the hazelnuts for 10 minutes until they are lightly toasted and their skins begin to crack. Remove from oven and put hazelnuts in clean dishtowel. Rub vigorously to remove as much skin as possible. When cool, grind the nuts in a food processor and set aside.

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the shallots and garlic and cook until translucent. Add the mushroom slices and sautée 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Deglaze the pan with sherry or Marsala. Add the mushroom stock and season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Puree the soup and nuts together in a food processor or blender (see notes at bottom) in batches- process a long time until the ghazelnuts are completely smooth and integrated into the soup.

Sherry/Marsala Cream:
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons sherry or Marsala
Finely chopped tarragon, chives, or parsley to garnish

Whip the cream, and add the sherry or Marsala. Serve dolloped on top of the hot soup and sprinkle with chopped herbs.

Mushroom Stock:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped coarsely
1 large carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 leek, rinsed and chopped
2 garlic cloves, halved
1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
4 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 to 8 ounces mushrooms from preceding recipe
6 cups water

Heat the olive oil in a large 4 quart saucepan. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and leek and sautée over medium-high heat until the onion is well browned, about 15 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sautée another 5 minutes. Add all the remaing ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, partially covered for 45 minutes. Strain through a sieve.

** Cook's notes: First, this recipe looks like a lot of work, but it really isn't that hard and comes together quite easily. Secondly, I would definitely make the mushroom stock and skip the chicken stock option. It is very easy and is crazily aromatic. Lastly, use a blender if you have one. The soup will come out velvety smooth, more so than in the processor, which is exactly what you want.- bb