Artichoke-Mushroom Soup: Comfort, Even In The Summer Heat

After several days of record-breaking heat, it is finally rainy and cool down here in DC, and the perfect weather for soup. I've had some sliced baby bella mushrooms sitting in my fridge begging me not to let them go bad. The artichoke hearts I picked up from Trader Joe's the weekend before seemed to be the best pairing, and with a dollop of heavy cream right before I finished cooking, I had a great comfort meal, to get me through the dreary weather that pops up every so often during the summer. I imagine it could even been good at room temperature.

This meal took about 40 minutes of cook time, including prep work, so it's quick and comforting, and the smell that permeates throughout the house is wonderful and homey.

Artichoke-Mushrooms Soup

Ingredients:
1 T unsalted butter
1 small white onion, brunoise (finely diced)
1 shallot, diced
1 T fruity olive oil (Trader Joe's President Olive Oil/California Estate Bottled or Whole Foods 365 are great value olive oils and not watered down with peanut or canola oils)
1 T rice vinegar
2-3 C chicken stock (adjust to whether you want a thinner or a thicker soup; use your own chicken stock (2 lb chicken bones + vegetables + water to cover bones) for a more robust and homestyle flavor)
6 oz artichoke hearts (if frozen, boil in water), coarsely chopped (~1 1/4 cup)
6 oz mushroom, coarsely chopped (~1 cup)
1 t cayenne pepper
1 t ground nutmeg
1 t thyme
1/4 C heavy cream
salt and black pepper to taste

Method:
1. Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium, then add the onion and shallot. Let it sweat in the buter for 5-10 minutes, add the olive oil and raise the heat to medium-high. When the onion and shallot begin to stick to the bottom of the pan, scrape off with a spatula, deglaze with the rice vinegar, then add the chicken stock.

2. Lower the temperature to medium, then add the artichoke hearts and mushroom. Bring to a boil then let it simmer for 25 minutes.

3. Add the cayenne pepper, nutmeg and thyme and let the soup rest for a minute. Then add it to a blender or use an immersion blender and puree it to your desired thickness.

4. Ad the heavy cream and blend for another 30 seconds. Pour into a bowl and enjoy it however you like.

I topped mine with chopped walnuts, adding texture and more nutty flavor, and parmesan cheese, which melted beautifully in the middle of the bowl. Remember, you want your food to look as good as it tastes, because presentation is almost as important to the taste of the food as the actual flavor.

Enjoy!

P.S. The soup also has a natural parter in a mesclun green salad with a bit of tomato (sweetness and
acidity) and a rice vinegar vinaigrette (3:1 olive oil:rice vinegar + 1 t dijon mustard + salt and pepper).

Sunday: Bridezillas and Pizza

Bridezillas is my guilty pleasure. There is something about watching women screaming about getting a vanilla cake instead of chocolate, or a mother of the bride showing up to a wedding in a white dress that makes me smile inside and out. And tonight, the natural pairing was a pair of personal pies for Mike and myself.

Mike's pizza was a classic pepperoni pie topped with coarsely chopped garlic and roasted garlic tomato sauce from Trader Joe's (rated best red sauce by Rachel Ray, who, despite being my arch nemesis, got it right with this one).

Mine was a whole wheat pie topped with pesto sauce and mix of diced pepperoni, asparagus and portabello mushrooms, sliced red onions and an egg sunny side up to top it all off. The egg was a great added protein for the pie and could naturally make a transition to breakfast, particularly those who enjoy savory foods in the morning.

Note: Enjoying the rustic, free-form look? That's because my house is lacking a rolling pin, and thus everything is hand-shaped. Makes for a pizza with personality.

End of the Semester Dinner

In celebration of the re-opening of Safeway the end of the semester, I purchased some filet mignon that was on super sale. This, served broiled with onions and mushrooms and a red wine-balsamic vinaigrette reduction on the side, served as the central theme of tonight's dinner. From there I mixed together peas, onions, garlic and mushroom for Mike, roasted some asparagus and mushrooms topped with breadcrumbs and swiss-gruyere cheese for myself, made baked mac' n cheese from boxed easy mac (this will be a separate post because I'm still super impressed with myself for managing that), and then Mike picked up some Georgetown Cupcakes for dessert.

In lieu of writing, I'm just going to post pictures. But I'll have you know, the estimated cost of tonight's dinner is $13.54. Not bad for a steak dinner for two.

Enjoy.