Posts Tagged "shiitake mushrooms"

October 13th
2009

Pumpkin Spiced Stuffed Collards

Serves 6-8

 

2 lbs ground turkey

2-3 leeks

3.5 oz shiitake mushrooms

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp pumpkin puree

2 bunches collard greens

1 bottle pumpkin ale

6 beets

3 large parsnips

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

 

Preheat oven to 375˚.  Peel the parsnips and beets and chop roughly.  Place on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until tender. 

 

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Trim tough stems off of collard greens. 

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Wash, and drop into the boiling water and blanch for 3-5 minutes, until wilted.  Drain and set aside.

 

Chop up the whites of the leeks and wash well. 

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Remove the stem of the shiitakes and thinly slice.  Sauté the leeks, mushrooms and garlic in a couple tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat until the veggies are wilted. 

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Add half a bottle of pumpkin ale and allow the alcohol to cook off for 2-3 minutes.  In a bowl, combine the ground turkey, veggies, pumpkin puree and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Mix well.  There is absolutely nothing appetizing about raw ground meat.  But I promise it will taste divine when it’s all cooked up! 

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Overlap two collard greens, place a spoonful of the turkey mixture at one end and roll up, folding sides in, like a sandwich wrap. 

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Place the bundle in a baking dish that’s been sprayed with cooking spray.  Repeat with the remaining collards. 

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When the bundles are finished, pour over the remaining half a bottle of beer and bake 15 minutes.  Cover stuffed collards with foil and bake another 15 minutes, or until turkey is thoroughly cooked. 

Serve alongise the roasted veggies. 

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October 3rd
2009

It’s the perfect rainy day to experiment with making miso soup. Now, making homemade miso soup just never seems to have that special “som’n som’n” that miso soup at Japanese restaurants do.  But I felt like giving it another whirl, creating my own version.  Here’s how it turned out…

 

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A few key ingredients: 

Shiitake Mushrooms

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Kombu Seaweed

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Miso

 

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Firm Tofu

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Miso Soup

2 cups chopped shiitake mushrooms

1 garlic clove, diced

1 tbsp grated ginger

2 scallions, chopped (green tops reserved for garnish)

2 cups baby spinach

2 cups chicken stock

2 cups seaweed liquid

3 tbsp miso

1 cup firm tofu, diced

 

Place a few sheets of kombu in 3 cups boiling water and simmer for 15 minutes to tenderize.  Remove and chop roughly.  Reserve 2 cups of the seaweed liquid for later.  In a saucepan, sauté the garlic, ginger, mushrooms, spinach and scallion bottoms for 3-5 minutes, until spinach begins to wilt.  Add the stock and seaweed liquid and simmer 15 minutes.  Remove about ¼ cup of the soup liquid and mix with the miso, then mix it in with the soup and remove from heat.  Add in the tofu to warm, and garnish with scallion tops. 

Surprisingly, it turned out rather well.  A heartier version of what you’ll get with your sushi or sashimi, this could stand on its own as a light lunch or sit alongside a sandwich.  

 

Miso is fermented soybean paste made by mixing cooked soybeans with salt and a few other key ingredients, packing it into an earthenware container and letting it all hang together for a few months.  The result is a creamy paste that helps prevent radiation sickness by binding to radioactive elements in the body and helping eliminate them.  Miso is a source of protein that is easily assimilated by our bodies, and is rich in vitamins and minerals.  It helps alkalinize the body which promotes resistance to disease.  Miso also aids in digestion as it is a rich source of the beneficial enzymes and bacteria (the same little critters found in yogurt).  Chinese tradition holds that miso promotes a long and healthy life. 

 

 

If making your own just isn’t an option, but you want to slurp up the delciousness of this soup at home whenever you want, try out this brand or “instant” miso soup mix, typically found in your local grocer.  

 

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