Sherried Cream of Portobello Mushroom Soup

One of the reasons I enjoy cooking is because I'm such a homebody. Leaving the house means looking presentable and often I'm too lazy to brush my hair/teeth and change into anything more restricting than an oversized t-shirt. This soup is so easy to make and it's great for the summer. I imagine that if I had a breezy balcony, a charming bouquet of flowers, and a good book, this soup would go well with it. *sigh* one day!

Ingredients:

3 large portobello mushroom caps

1 small onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 sprig of fresh rosemary

1.5 cups of chicken, beef, or vegetable stock

1/2 cup of heavy cream

1 tbsp sherry

2 tbsp fresh chives

Directions:

Quarter and thinly slice mushrooms, chop onions and chives, mince garlic. Cook mushrooms, onions, and garlic over med heat (in some evoo or butter), stirring occasionally until softened and liquid has evaporated. Add stock, cream, and sprig of rosemary and simmer for 15-20 uncovered. Remove rosemary and either blend with an immersion blender or your magic bullet. Stir in sherry, a little bit of salt/pepper, and top with chives.

Gazpacho

Okay, gazpacho is not really Italian either, but to be fair, I had a great one at Quattro Leoni in Florence. It's a spanish tomato-based raw vegetable soup and while it's really just a glorified salsa recipe, I eat it all the time in the summer. It's healthy, refreshing, easy to make, and I can make it batches and store it for days.

After shopping around a lot, I settled on Alton Brown's recipe with modifications - the main one being that instead of cooking my own tomatoes, I just use a 28 oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes (crushed or whole).

28oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes

1 cup of cucumber peeled, seeded, and chopped

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped red onion

1/2 of a small jalepeno pepper seeded and minced

1 medium garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup evoo

1/2 lime, juiced

2 tbsp balsamic vingar

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Drain the can of tomatoes in a strainer over a bowl to catch the tomato juice. You can use it later to thin the soup, but I like mine chunkier so I never end up using it. The gazpacho will get saltier the longer you keep it, so depending on when you plan to consume it, adjust your salt use accordingly.

Place chopped cucumber, red bell pepper, and onions in a bowl and toss to mix. Place evoo, lime juice, vingar, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, salt, and pepper in a cup and mix.

You could use a food processor, but I use my Magic Bullet to process everything. It's a little small so I do it in 3 batches. Place a third of the tomatoes in the cup first, then pour a third of the seasoning mixture, then a third of the chopped vegetables. Pulse until everything is processed, and then blend for several seconds to puree until it looks smooth and soupy. It doesn't result in a true puree, but the small chunks of vegetables give it a nice, crunchy texture. Keep it refrigerated and it will taste even better the next day.

You can serve it with a chiffonade of basil, croutons, or some of the chopped vegetables placed on top of the soup right before serving. The French Laundry recipe serves it with dots of a balsamic glaze squeezed on top, which I have yet to try, but if you're interested here's the receipe for it.

Balsamic Glaze

Heat 2 cups of balsamic vinegar in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until steam rises from the liquid. Place the sauce pan on a heat diffuser and let the liquid reduice very slowly (it shouldn't simmer) for 2 to 3 hours, until it has reduced and thickened to a syrupy glaze. Keep it in a squeeze bottle at room temperature for garnishing. If the glaze is too thick, warm the bottle in hot water to loose the glaze.