Homemade Mushroom Soup

Serves 4-6

Most of us are very familiar with the household brand, Campbell. It’s famous for its soup-in-a-can or in-a-sachet that requires almost no cooking skill to prepare. All one needs is a pot or a cup, add hot water and voila, mushroom soup (or other variants) that’s loved by all—young or old.

Most people that I know of, are under the impression that it’s rocket science to make mushroom soup. The truth is, with few fresh ingredients, the soup is so much easier to make from scratch; and a good bowl of mushroom soup goes a long way in warming the body and soothing the soul.

An essential cooking tool that helps preparing the soup is a blender. I like to use a hand-held blender to prepare this because I can blend the soup in the pot and control the consistency of it to my liking, plus there are fewer parts to wash compared to the traditional blender. If you do not own or have one, don’t worry, simply chop all the mushrooms as finely as you possibly could, and the soup will be served with rustic presentation and charm.

I usually use three types of mushrooms to make this soup because each type of mushroom has its own unique nutty flavour, so meddling different variation of mushrooms results in a robust and flavourful soup. Do try out this recipe with any type of mushroom you can source from local market such as enoki, brown, porcini, chanterelle, portabello, etc and try to avoid using canned mushrooms, if possible.

So, here’s my very simple version of homemade mushroom soup that is easy and oh-so-much-fresher-and-better than any of those store bought’s. This is for my dear cousin, who requested for this recipe. Hope you and your family enjoy this just as much as I do. Bon appetite!

Ingredients

2 tbsp	Olive oil or other vegetable oil
1	Large red onion, chopped finely
3 cloves	Garlic, minced
1 stalk	Celery (optional), ribs removed and chopped finely
100 g	Oyster mushroom, chopped
100 g	Shiitake mushrooms, chopped
100 g	White button mushrooms, chopped
½ cup	White wine (optional), if not available use chicken stock
1 sprig	Fresh thyme, or 1 tbsp dried thyme
2 cups	Chicken stock
1 cup	full-cream milk
	Salt and pepper to season
	Chives or parsley, chopped finely to garnish

Directions

1.	At medium heat, drizzle the oil in a heavy-bottom pot (stainless steel preferred), add onion to sauté until tender, add garlic to continue sauté until the aroma is released.
2.	Add in the celery and stir constantly until tender, add the mushrooms, continue sautéing them. When the mushroom are completely mixed with other ingredients, close the pot with a lid and let the moisture from mushroom release (about 3 minutes).
3.	De-glazed the bottom of the pot by pouring in the wine, mix well. Add in thyme.
4.	When the liquid is reduced, pour in the stock slowly and let it simmer in low heat for 15 minutes.
5.	Turn off the heat, add in the milk, mix well. Let the soup come to room temperature, use a blender to pulse until the soup is smooth or to any consistency you prefer. Season with salt and pepper.
6.	Garnish the soup with chopped chives or parsley, serve warm.

Chili Con Carne

Serves 6

To me, chili is best eaten with nacho chips or even on its own.

I have first come to know and eat chili con carne when I was in US. Known as chili in short, it is a Mexican food that has southern charm and is widely popular in Mexican restaurants in US. Though I wasn’t crazy about it back then, I do crave for it once in a blue moon.

Chili is a scrumptious beef stew that is well-complimented by fresh vegetables, spices and chilies. It is a highly versatile dish that can also be made vegetarian*. Originally, chili is made with various types of Mexican chilies/peppers such as jalapeno, serrano, ancho, sapilla, etc. Because these chilies are not readily available in Malaysia, so I improvised the recipe by replacing them with ground cayenne, red pepper flakes (those we sprinkle on pizzas), fresh chili and bird-eyed chili (cili padi) . The result is a 3-chili level of spiciness; however the spicy level can also be adjusted to individual liking.

The spices and herb that give a wholesome southern kick to chili.

Besides the spices and herb, another secret ingredient that really gives a depth of flavour to chili is chocolate. Do not get carry away by throwing the whole bar of chocolate into the pot no matter how choco-holic you might be because you don't want to turn this savoury dish into a dessert. One tablespoon of chocolate is about thumb-size.

I would call this a fool-proof recipe as it does not require culinary skills other than chopping, stirring and seasoning, but a good heavy bottom pot or a slow cooker** would be a bonus in preparing this dish.

So far, I have made this dish three times in portion big enough for two and extra to freeze (so I can have home-cooked chili anytime I want). Somehow, I have always managed to finish the whole pot of this southern goodness in a day or two, either by myself or my colleagues.

Here’s my chili recipe, specially for my lovely friend, Genevieve. I hope you will enjoy preparing, cooking and slurping it as much as I do. Bon appétit, dearie!

Ingredients

4 tbsp	olive oil
2	yellow onions, chopped
2 cloves	garlic, minced
1	carrot, chopped finely
1	celery, chopped finely
1	red capsicum, chopped finely
2 cups	minced meat, preferably beef (about 500g)
1 cup	tomato paste
1 tsp	ground cumin
½ tsp	ground cayenne
½ tsp	red pepper flakes
½ tsp	dried oregano
1	fresh bird-eyed chili, chopped
2	fresh red chili, chopped finely
1 cup	stock, preferably beef
1 cup	cooked or canned kidney beans, drained
1 tsp	chocolate
	salt and pepper to taste
	fresh coriander leaves, chopped

Directions

1.	In a heavy-bottom pot, heat the oil in slow fire, sauté the chopped onion until soft, about 2 minutes, add in the minced garlic and sauté for another minute, but do not brown (or the garlic will taste bitter)
2.	At medium heat, add in the chopped carrot, celery and capsicum, stir constantly until they are tender, about 4-5 minutes
3.	Add in the minced meat and cook until it is just cooked and it’s no longer pink in colour
4.	In a bowl, add cumin, cayenne, red pepper flakes and oregano into the tomato paste, mix well. Then, pour the tomato mixture into the pot.
5.	Add in the fresh chilies, stock, kidney beans and chocolate, stir until all ingredients are combined
6.	Cover the pot with a lid, bring it to a boil, about 10 minutes
7.	Turn off the heat, season with salt and pepper
8.	Serve it immediately or the next day (which tastes even better) with freshly chopped coriander leaves and a generous dollops of sour cream, plain yoghurt or shredded cheddar cheese for gooey goodnes

Notes:

**For vegetarian chili, replace minced meat with 2 cups or 250 g of chickpeas and beef stock with vegetarian stock

***To make this in a slow cooker, transfer all the ingredients to a slow cooker after step 3. Let the pot slow cook for about 3 – 4 hours or until all ingredients are tender