Tag Archives: mushroom

Ten Mothers Chicken Noodle Soup

Garlic is as good as ten mothers.

Italian proverb, and title of Les Blank’s 1980 documentary

When someone in my household gets sick, the Jewish traditional thing to do would be to make them chicken soup. But in other cultures, mothers would use various herbs and spices for their purported medicinal qualities. So which mother should we follow? How about all of them?

This recipe attempts to combine ingredients from multiple nations to make the ultimate get-you-back-on-your-feet chicken soup. It’s fast, flexible, and easy.

Ingredients:

  • 1 (10.75 ounce = 305 g) can Campbell’s condensed Chicken Noodle Soup + 1 can water
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/4 tsp mustard powder or 1/2 tsp prepared mustard
  • 1 small carrot, coarsely grated
  • 1 shallot or green onion, thinly sliced. Can substitute an equal amount of regular onion if necessary.
  • 2 tbsp minced or thinly sliced garlic
  • 1 tsp dried wakame seaweed
  • 1 tsp dried or 1 tbsp fresh chopped basil
  • 1 shiitake mushroom (fresh or soaked dried), sliced into thin strips.
  • 1/8 tsp smoked mild paprika
  • 1 tsp prepared horseradish (or a smaller amount of wasabi)
  • 1 tbsp white miso
  • 1 egg, beaten with a dash of soy sauce
  • a heaping tablespoon of kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
  • a pinch of file gumbo
  • 1 tsp lemon or lime juice
  • a few bean sprouts
  • chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

You don’t need ALL of the above ingredients, but try to get most. If you get to an instruction for an ingredient you don’t have, just skip it. Stir frequently. Note that the dried vs fresh versions of some ingredients get added at different times. For a bigger batch, use a larger can of soup (or 2 regular cans) and scale everything else proportionately.

Recipe:

Put a few drops of oil in the pot. Turn the heat to medium-low. Add the turmeric and mustard powder and fry briefly. Add the grated carrot and garlic and shallot and continue to fry until they start to soften, stirring so that the spices coat them.

Add the can of soup and 1 can of water, then the wakame, the dried basil, the mushroom, the paprika, and the prepared mustard and horseradish.

Put the miso in a small bowl, add a little of the soup broth, and blend until smooth. Add that to the soup and stir it in.

In the same small bowl, beat 1 egg and a dash of soy sauce. While stirring the soup in a big slow circle, slowly pour the egg into it. Stop stirring and wait a moment for the egg to cook, then turn off the heat.

Put the methi in the palm of one hand. Holding it over the pot, rub it between your hands, back and forth and in circles, until it is powdered. Drop it into the pot. Add the file gumbo and lemon/lime juice and stir.

Top with the bean sprouts and green onion and the chopped fresh basil and/or cilantro and/or parsley. Serve immediately.

Switzerland day 45: The Climbs of Grindelwald (part 3)

October 3rd: We bade farewell to Grindelwald and headed out. But our 3-day pass was still good, and we had one more mountain to climb. So we drove to Wilderswil and took the 1893 cog railway up to Schynige Platte. (On the first day, we didn’t do First. But on the second day, we did First first.)

The first part of the hike was going from the hotel to the Daube (the rocky peak) and around it to the overlook point beyond it.
The overlook point, looking back at Daube.

At that point, I suddenly discovered that my camera had a panorama feature. What can I say, I’m old and slow.

Looking down at the town of Interlaken (“between lakes”).

From the overlook, we basically followed the ridgeline to the right, towards Oberberghorn.

The ridge part of the trail, with a lake on the left, and the valley below Oberberghorn on the right.
The ridge got sharper and steeper …
… but the views down the Interlaken side got increasingly spectacular.

Eventually though, the ridge ended at the Oberberghorn.

Oberberghorn. We cut back right at the yellow sign, and headed back by a lower route.
But not before taking one more panorama of Interlaken.
The trail back to Daube. The rest of the hike was somewhat boring, and I was somewhat exhausted, so no pictures.
An hour later, we were back on the train.

Once we got back down, it was time to drive to Italy. The weather was overcast, but otherwise it was pretty scenic.

We stopped for lunch at a famous street-food stand called Sweet Ride, in Bönigen (near Interlaken).

I had the Lachs sandwich (foreground) with a ginger beer, while Carol went for Prosciutto. Then we had ice cream for dessert.
We got to watch swans in the lake while eating.

A bit further down the rod, we heard there was this famous waterfall near Meiringen. We drove close to the top of it, over an incredibly narrow road, only to find that there was no place to park at all, except for guests of a small hotel there. So we turned around and headed back down, without even a glimpse.

Even from the ground, you can barely see any of it.

There was a small car offering rides to the top, but we just missed one, and didn’t want to wait for the next.

So, we left it behind and continued on our journey. As we climbed out of the Swiss Alps towards the Italian Alps, there were lots of scenic views with other waterfalls.

Finally, we crossed the Sustenpass (2224 m) and could start descending.

Finally we made it into Italy. Our lodging that night was at a pizzeria, Della Torre, up on a hill overlooking Como. It was pouring rain and we had a hard time finding it, but once settled we had an excellent dinner in the restaurant.

Carol had the grilled mixed fish (sea bream, salmon, shrimp, prawn, squid, monkfish), while I had a Milanese risotto with quail breast and porcini mushrooms.

Germany days 38-40: Black Forest

September 26th: On our way to the Schwarzwald, we stopped at a wine museum in Meersburg. It also had a traveling exhibit about concepts of death.

Totentanz figurines: in each one a living human is paired with a skeleton.
Now we know what my cartoon avatar look like.
Lunch. Carol had a spaetzel & salad, I went for a stuffed pork roll on ratatouille with potatoes.

Then we drove to Todtmoos, which we referred to as “Dead Moose” even though it actually means “Dead Moss”

My Chaoren Ratchet Belt was getting too long, so I had to shorten it by an inch for the 2nd time this trip. (1st time was in Iceland.) EMT scissors to the rescue.

September 27th: Found a nice fruit mix at the store, so …

breakfast

Carol took a morning hike while I tried to catch up on blogging.

A carved wood fox statue representing some local fairy tale.
All roads lead to Todtmoos.
We made our own lunch of pasta (with a jar of basil pesto), salad, and sauteed chicken.

September 28th:

For dinner, Carol had local trout with a Radler (mixture of beer and fruit cider), while I went for a tuna salad. I think we also got a quest point for having Black Forest Cake in the Black Forest, but sadly there doesn’t seem to be any photographic evidence.

Austria days 34-35: Obertraun & Hallstadt

September 22nd: A long driving day. We stopped for lunch at a small roadside food stand that turned out to be surprisingly good, with many regional specialties.

I had a “bread soup”: beef-onion soup with chunks of bread and thinly-sliced crepe/pancake “noodles”.
Carol had a nice fried bratwurst that came with an intense mustard and grated horseradish.

We didn’t buy an Austrian toll-road pass, so we had to drive back roads that wound through a lot of scenic mountain passes. But the weather was a bit cloudy.

Eventually we arrived at our almost-lakeside hotel, the Seerose, in Obertraun.

The view from our balcony

The next-door Pizzeria Kegelbahn looked pretty good, so we had dinner there. It turned out to be excellent. I ordered soup and a cutlet, while Carol went for comfort-food lasagna. (Kegel is an Austrian form of bowling or skittles, so “Kegelbahn” could be translated as “bowling alley”; the restaurant has 2 lanes near the back.)

The garlic soup was creamy, intensely garlicky, and utterly delicious.
Turkey schnitzel with cranberry relish and parsley potatoes
Lasagne Bolognese, and yet another attempt to find a decent dark beer

September 23rd: We planned to see the Dachstein ice cave in the morning, but their cable car lift was out of order. They said it would be fixed in half an hour, but 2 hours later it was still not working. So, we wasted a couple of hours sitting around waiting for it, but eventually gave up, which was wise , because they never did get it running that day.

So instead, we went to the nearby Salzwelten (“salt worlds”) salt mine above Hallstadt. This is the oldest known salt mine on the planet, dating back about 7000 years.

It’s a long cable-railway ride up to the mine.
Looking down across the lake to Obertraun
Looking back down at Hallstadt

For some reason, I don’t appear to have taken any still photos inside the mine. But Carol did.

About to enter, wearing my pink knit cap
Video of Carol and I descending the wooden slide
Riding out on a narrow mineworker train

For dinner we went back to Pizzeria Kegelbahn. Why go searching for something else when you’ve got something this good right next door?

Carol opted for a Salzkammergut Pizza featuring local meats with corn, onions, and mushrooms.
I got the Hearty Lumberjacks Steak, “pork with roasted potatoes, onion, bacon, mushrooms”.

Iceland day 11: Svartifoss to Heimaey

We had camped just outside Svartifoss, and Carol woke up early and wanted to hike there. But I was feeling a bit beat up and decided to skip it in favor of a leisurely breakfast.

Me eating breakfast next to our black Dacia Dokker camper

Svartifoss (“Black Waterfall”, probably from the same root as the English “swarthy”) is known for it’s black hexagonal basalt columns, which tend to break away before they can be worn smooth, leaving fairly jagged rock. This is the same kind of rock as seen in Devil’s Tower in Wyoming.

Svartifoss
another (unnamed?) waterfall on the hike

Then it was off for a long driving day.

There are tall thin waterfalls all over Iceland, in some areas one every kilometer or two.

Our next stop was Fjaðrárgljúfur, a canyon which is (sadly) most famous for Justin Bieber filming parts of a music video there, which increased the tourist load so much that it had to be temporarily closed in 2019.

I found two kinds of mushrooms on the way out.

This looked somewhat similar to a Liberty Cap (Psilocybe semilanceata), but I wasn’t about to ingest a foreign LBM to find out whether it was hallucinogenic or not. Also, the stipes seemed too thick and short, and there was no sign of blue or purple discoloration in the older specimens.
probably poisonous

We stopped in Vík for lunch at Wok On Vík, an Asian fast food place.

Looking southwest. The 3 rocks in the distance are a famous landmark.
I had something in peanut sauce over brown rice, while Carol went for green tea noodles.
A delicate rock arch. Same 3 rocks in the distance, only this time east (behind us).
Some not-so-delicate rock arches.

Onward to Skógafoss, a 60-meter falls (slightly taller than Niagara Falls).

Lots of spray. You get close, you get wet.
I got wet. 🙂
Seljalandsfoss, often described as the only Iceland waterfall you can walk behind, even though Kvernufoss also has that property.

Since we were a little ahead of schedule, Carol proposed that we visit Vestmannaeyjar (the Westman Islands). So we took the short ferry ride to Heimaey (“Home Island”), found a nice campsite (more on that tomorrow), and had dinner at Tanginn.

Carol had the Reindeer Steak, which came with a mushroom sauce. Yes, there’s meat somewhere under those greens.
I had the Jhinga Masala Prawns.

Hollyhock Haiku, 1997

I returned to Hollyhock in 1997. These Haiku were written on July 7th during gusty winds and intermittent rain.

Tattered and threadbare
The great tree's lower branches
Like cast-off clothing
A man cannot bend
This huge sideways tree-trunk, yet
It curves up itself
Firs run their fingers
Through storm-gale's billowing hair -
Ferns cling to the ground.
Four scarlet mushrooms
After rain, under cedar
Three open, one closed
Red mushrooms so bright
I almost miss their neighbors
Subdued scaly brown.
Thistle-purple puffs
Float like ducks on an ocean
Of waving green leaves.

Sanctuary Under Construction

Smell of linseed oil
Bare wires jut from stucco walls
Cedar window seat
Curls of golden hair
Behind sanctuary post -
Will she smile at me?
The surf's roar, the breeze,
The rustling of countless leaves -
The whirr of a grouse.
Old apple tree looks
Scabrous and twisted, dying -
Young peach leaves so green.

Copyright ©1997,2020 Howard A. Landman

Howard’s Special (Brussels sprouts and sausage in mushroom-onion-cheese-horseradish sauce)

This evolved from a recipe on p.164 of the first edition of Molly Katzen’s The Enchanted Broccoli Forest.  She deleted it in the second edition, and I think I know why: it just wasn’t quite good enough.  It was missing something.  Over years of experimenting with variants, I think I finally figured out what: meatiness, or “umami” flavor.  However, after fixing that, I felt I still owed something back to the recipe’s vegetarian roots, so you’ll also find here a veggie version.

(Serves 4, can be doubled)

  • 1/2 lb pasta
  • 1/2 lb Brussels sprouts
  • 1/2 c chopped onion (or more, I sometimes use a whole small onion)
  • 1/2 lb sliced mushrooms
  • 1/2 package Jimmy Dean sausage (Gimme Lean for veggie version)
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp dill
  • 1/2 tsp tarragon (or, in a pinch, “Italian herbs”)
  • 1/2 tsp dried mustard OR 1 tsp prepared mustard
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 1 c hot milk
  • 1 tsp prepared horseradish (or more to taste)
  • 1 packed cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
  • (optional) chopped fresh watercress for garnish (a little old and sharp is OK)
  • (optional) grated asiago for garnish (parmesan/romano also OK)

Cut the Brussels sprouts into quarters (if large) or halves (if smaller) and start steaming them. Don’t let them overcook and turn olive green.  (Start your pasta water also, and time the pasta to finish about the same time as the sauce.)

Form the sausage into small balls about the same volume as the Brussels sprout pieces. Fry them until browned.  (For the Jimmy Dean sausage, you may only need to add a little water to the pan and then continue cooking in its own drippings; for the Gimme Lean, you’ll want to cook it in the butter.) Remove the sausage. (For Jimmy Dean, drain off excess grease and add the butter now.)

Add the onion and cook for a minute, then add the mushrooms and salt.  Stir in the mustard.  Sprinkle in the dill and tarragon as they cook. When the onions are translucent, sprinkle in the flour, stirring as you do. Meanwhile, heat the milk in a Pyrex measuring cup in your microwave (about 1 minute on high).

Gradually drizzle in the hot milk, stirring as you do. Keep the sauce smooth and lump-free.

Stir in the horseradish, then add the sausage and Brussels sprouts. Sprinkle in the cheese as you stir, until it is all melted. When the pasta is ready, mix the sauce into it and serve, along with the optional garnishes and extra horseradish.

My theory for why the horseradish works so well here is that kale-family vegetables like broccoli and Brussels sprouts have a natural radishy sharpness when fresh, which is destroyed by cooking; the horseradish replaces this lost “bite”.  This is also why watercress works as a garnish.

If you start in a pot or pan large enough to hold everything, this is a “one pot” dish (not counting the pasta pot), so it’s easy to clean up afterwards. The technique of making a roux in the same pan as your main ingredients is REALLY convenient and well worth learning for use in other recipes.