Wild Rice & Mushroom Soup

The other day I ran across an old folder of recipes I had clipped from newspapers and magazines most of which I never tried. I bet all you foodies out there have the same kind of file laying around! It was fun to go through the recipes to see if there were any that I still wanted to try. There were two or three that still interested me but the others no longer sounded very appealing. I think I have evolved in my food tastes over the years so I guess this should be no surprise. At any rate, I thought the Wild Rice & Mushroom Soup recipe sounded good. One of the reason it appealed to me was starting with a base of packaged long grain and wild rice blend so basically you have much of the seasoning for the soup all set. So here is my adapted version of the recipe. The main things I did differently were adding a chopped shallot to the mix (which can be left out if you don’t have any on hand), using a red pepper instead of green (because that’s what I had around), and using 4 ounces of light cream cheese for the creaminess since I did not have a can of evaporated skim milk on hand. Oh, and oh yeah, I added an optional tablespoon of sherry just before serving. Hmmmmm . . . I guess I changed the recipe more than I thought . . . oh well, enjoy!

Ingredients
1 – 6 oz. box long grain and wild rice blend (I used Uncle Ben’s original)
1 onion, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
1/2 C. red pepper, diced
1/3 C. flour
4 C. chicken stock or broth
4 oz. light cream cheese
1 T. sherry (optional)

1. Cook rice blend according to the package directions and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, pour 1/4 C. of chicken broth and heat until hot. Add the onions, red pepper, shallot, and red peppers and saute in the chicken broth for 2 -3 minutes until the onion is translucent. Add the mushrooms and saute until tender.
3. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir until well mixed with the vegetables.
4. Gradually stir in the rest of the chicken broth and heat until boiling. Add the light cream cheese in chunks, stirring to melt into the broth.
5. Stir in the rice mixture and season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Just before serving stir in 1 T. sherry. Add more chicken broth if too thick.

This is a wonderfully unusual salad. It’s a blend of savory spices, crunchy nuts, chewy raisins, rice, and beans with a hint of lemon and mint. The blend of rice, beans, and nuts makes it appropriate for a vegetarian main dish and it makes a great side with roasted chicken for the carnivores among us. Kudos go to my friend, Charmaine, who shared this recipe with me after bringing it to our Dining for Women group. I made a few adaptations but the spice blend remained the same as the original recipe.

Ingredients
2 T. olive oil
1 C. rice
3 1/2 C. water

4 T. olive oil
6 T. vinegar
2 T. lemon juice
2 T. honey
2 t. garam masala (a blend of spices)
2 t. ground coriander
1 t. dry mustard

1 – 15 oz. can small red beans (or kidney)
1 – 15 oz. can cannellini beans (or garbanzo)
4 shallots, chopped
8 green onions, trimmed and sliced
1 1/2 C. golden raisins
1 1/2 C. walnuts, coarsely chopped (or pine nuts)
1 T. chopped fresh mint

Chopped fresh mint to garnish
Lemon wedges, to serve

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a medium sauce pan with a lid. Add the rice and cook for 3 minutes, stirring, over low heat. Pour in the water and bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover, and simmer on low for 25-35 minutes until water is absorbed. Remove from heat and pour the cooked rice into a strainer. Rinse under cold running water, drain well, and set aside to cool.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 4 tablespoons of olive oil and honey until emulsified. Mix in the vinegar, lemon juice, garam masala, coriander, and dry mustard and stir well.
3. Add the rice and mix well.
4. Drain and rinse both cans of beans and add them to the rice along with the shallots, green onions, walnuts, golden raisins, and mint. Mix well. Garnish with fresh mint and serve with lemon wedges. Serves 8

Whole Top Loin of Beef

Ingredients
1- 8 to 10 lb. whole top loin of beef
balsamic vinegar for brushing

Herb and Garlic Paste
2 T. minced garlic
2 T. chopped fresh thyme
1 T. chopped fresh rosemary
2-3 T. salt
1-2 t. freshly ground pepper
1 T. olive oil

Combine the paste ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Au Jus
4 C. beef stock
1 C. red wine
1 lg. shallot, sliced thin

Mix the au jus ingredients together and set aside.

Mix together 1 T. cornstarch with 2 T. cold water. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Brush the balsamic vinegar all over the roast. Lay it fat side up on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. It must be on a rack so the roast stays out of the au jus. Coat the top, ends, and sides of the roast with the herb paste. Carefully pour the au jus mixture into the bottom of the roasting pan (don’t pour it over the beef). Place the roast in the middle of the oven and roast for 15 minutes. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees and continue roasting for 45-50 minutes more. After about 35 minutes, begin to the check the internal temperature in the thickest part with an instant read meat thermometer. Remove roast from oven when the meat thermometer reads 115-120 degrees for rare meat, 125-130 degrees for med-rare or 130-140 degrees for medium. Cover the roast loosely with foil & let rest for 15-25 minutes so the meat juices and internal temperature can equilibrate. Meanwhile pour the au jus from the roasting pan into a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the hot au jus. Stir until thickened slightly.

Italian Sausage Potato Soup

This soup is my replication of the Zuppa Toscana soup from Olive Garden restaurant. I love the flavor the Italian sausage adds to the mixture of spinach and potatoes in this lightly creamy soup. For additional zip I add some crushed red pepper and to lower the calorie count I use turkey Italian sausage.

Ingredients
6 C. chicken stock
1 large shallot, minced
1/2 C. half & half
2 medium russet potatoes
3 C. frozen leaf spinach
20 oz. package of Honey Suckle White sweet Italian sausage
1/2 t. crushed red pepper

1. Heat a large soup pot sprayed with Pam over medium-high heat. Meanwhile squeeze the sausage from the casings and add to the pot with the minced shallot. Stir to break up the sausage into bite size pieces and cook until done. Add the broth and bring to a boil.
2. Quarter the unpeeled potato length-wise and then slice into 1/4 inch slices. Add the potato, spinach, and red pepper flakes to the broth and sausage.
3. Simmer until potatoes are done. Remove from heat and stir in the 1/2 & 1/2.

Serves 6

Buttery Corn with Marinaded Tomatoes

My friend, Charmaine, brought a recipe similar to this to our Dining for Women group this month. It was so good I had to recreate it for all of you. I also had all that corn I’d bought at the farmers market to use! There is something about topping the hot buttery sweet corn with the cool marinated tomatoes that is fabulous!

Marinaded Tomato Ingredients
2 tomatoes, diced
olive oil and red wine vinegar to taste(I used 2 T. vinegar & 1 T. olive oil)
salt & pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Refrigerate while preparing the corn.

Buttery Corn Ingredients
1 small sweet onion, chopped
5 large ears of corn cut off the cob
1 shallot, minced
1/2 stick of butter
salt & pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the onion and saute a few minutes before adding the shallot. Cook another minute or two and add the corn and salt and pepper. Cook over high heat until the mixture begins to brown a little and carmelize. Pour into a serving bowl and with a slotted spoon top with the marinaded tomatoes.