Mushroom Farro Soup

Here’s a soup for nights when you feel like lighting candles and even washing your face—but won’t change out of sweatpants. It’ll remind you of mushroom-barley soup, albeit a tangy, salty, bright, bewilderingly rich version that comes together in under an hour. Multiple umami-heavy ingredients (browned mushrooms, soy sauce, and a Parmesan rind) work together to create a deep, savory backdrop that might otherwise take lots of simmering time (or meat) to develop. Parmesan rinds are always good to have around: Freeze the waxy rind of spent wedges for unleashing salty-cheesy oomph to broths—or just cut the rind off the wedge you’re currently working through. Nutty farro and still-crunchy celery add good bites of texture to the soup, while lemon keeps it from being snoozy. For a creamier soup, stir an additional ¼ cup finely grated Parmesan into the pot, or top bowls with a poached egg.

Ingredients  4 Servings

3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1 large shallot, coarsely chopped

1 lb. mixed mushrooms (such as crimini, shiitake, oyster, and/or maitake), cut into bite-size pieces

Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

1 oz. Parmesan, finely grated (about 1 cup), plus rind

⅔ cup semi-pearled farro

3 Tbsp. (or more) low-sodium soy sauce

4 celery stalks, thinly sliced, plus any leaves coarsely chopped

1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Crusty bread (for serving)

Preparation

Step 1

Heat garlic and 3 Tbsp. oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium until oil around garlic is sizzling, about 1 minute. Add shallot and mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are browned, 10–15 minutes. (Initially, pot will look dry, then very wet before mushrooms start to brown.)

Step 2

Add Parmesan rind, farro, soy sauce, and 6 cups water to pot. Scrape up any browned bits stuck to bottom of pot, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a boil over medium-high. Reduce heat and simmer until farro is al dente, 15–20 minutes.

Step 3

Add sliced celery to pot and simmer until slightly softened and bright green, about 3 minutes. Remove pot from heat; add lemon juice. Taste and season with salt and/or more soy sauce if needed.

Step 4

Divide soup among bowls and top with finely grated Parmesan and celery leaves. Season with more pepper and drizzle with oil. Serve with bread alongside.

Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour (250g)

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 Tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter very cold (85g), unsalted European butter is ideal, but not required, grated

¾ cup whole milk¹ (177ml) buttermilk or 2% milk will also work

Instructions

For best results, chill your butter in the freezer for 10-20 minutes before beginning this recipe. It's ideal that the butter is very cold for light, flaky, buttery biscuits.

Preheat oven to 425F and line a cookie sheet with nonstick parchment paper. Set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl and mix well. Set aside.

Remove your butter from the refrigerator and either cut it into your flour mixture using a pastry cutter or (preferred) use a box grater to shred the butter into small pieces and then add to the flour mixture and stir.

Cut the butter or combine the grated butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Add milk, use a wooden spoon or spatula to stir until combined (don't over-work the dough).

Transfer your biscuit dough to a well-floured surface and use your hands to gently work the dough together. If the dough is too sticky, add flour until it is manageable. 

Once the dough is cohesive, fold in half over itself and use your hands to gently flatten layers together. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and fold in half again, repeating this step 5-6 times but taking care to not overwork the dough.

Use your hands (do not use a rolling pin) to flatten the dough to 1" thick and lightly dust a 2 ¾" round biscuit cutter with flour. 

Making close cuts, press the biscuit cutter straight down into the dough and drop the biscuit onto your prepared baking sheet.

Repeat until you have gotten as many biscuits as possible and place less than ½" apart on baking sheet. 

Once you have gotten as many biscuits as possible out of the dough, gently re-work the dough to get out another biscuit or two until you have at least 6 biscuits. 

Refrigerate for about 1 hour

Bake on 425F for 12 minutes or until tops are beginning to just turn lightly golden brown.

If desired, brush with melted salted butter immediately after removing from oven. Serve warm and enjoy.

Pita Bread

Pita/Flatbread Dough

500 grams 00 flour

50 grams durum semolina

35 grams sugar

10 grams salt

7.5 grams dry active yeast 

10 grams olive oil

350 grams water about 105 degrees

Instructions

 Disperse the yeast in the water.  Be sure yeast is dissolved before proceeding

In a mixer fitted with dough hook add all remaining dry ingredients(add salt last), add olive oil, slowly add water and mix until a dough forms. Knead for 5-8 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place, covered, in a greased bowl for 1 hour until doubled in size. If necessary you can hold this in the fridge overnight at this point.

Heat oven to 475°F. On the bottom shelf of the oven place a pizza stone or baking steel or heavy baking sheet. Punch down the dough and divide into 12 equal pieces, rolling them into balls. Place the dough balls under a damp towel and let them rest for about 10 minutes.

Dust a cutting board with flour, and remove one ball of dough at a time, rolling it out into a 6 inch circle.

Bake the pitas in small batches in the over, it should take about 2 minutes on the first side and 1 minute on the other side. They will puff up while cooking.

When the come out of the oven keep them in a napkin covered basket to keep them warm.

Iced Spiced Hermit Cookies

 COOKIES

2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour

1½ tsp. ground cinnamon

1½ tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt

¾ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

¼ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 cup (packed; 200 g) light brown sugar

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1large egg

¼ cup mild-flavored (light) molasses

½ cup (80 g) golden raisins or dried cranberries or citron

GLAZE AND ASSEMBLY

1 cup (110 g) powdered sugar, sifted

2 Tbsp. (or more) milk, fresh lemon juice, orange juice, or rum

Preparation

COOKIES

Step 1

Whisk together flour, cinnamon, ginger, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, baking powder, and pepper in a medium bowl.

Step 2

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat brown sugar and butter until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg and molasses, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, until incorporated, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add dry ingredients; beat until just combined. Add raisins and mix just to evenly distribute. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes and up to 12 hours.

Step 3

Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°. Divide dough in half and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using wet hands, shape dough into two 12"-long logs (a plastic bowl scraper is helpful for this) and arrange on opposing long sides of baking sheet, spacing 2"–3" from long edges. Lightly flatten top of each log.

Step 4

Bake logs until edges are just set but centers are still soft, 23–26 minutes (logs will spread and crack). Let cool. I baked them from frozen dough for 23 minutes  I would definitely bake for 21 minutes next time. Try 19-20 minutes baking after chilling  

GLAZE AND ASSEMBLY

Step 5

Whisk powdered sugar and milk in a small bowl until smooth. Glaze should be thick but pourable; thin with more milk if needed. Drizzle glaze erratically over logs; let sit until set, at least 30 minutes. Using a serrated knife, slice logs crosswise 1" thick (or slice 2" thick and cut in half down the center for a squarish cookie).

Chocolate Chunk Orange Scones

Ingredients

For the Scones

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into cubes or I prefer to grate it--keep in freezer until ready to use

1 tablespoon orange zest

1/2 cup chopped semi-sweet chocolate 

1/4 cup chopping 

3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons cold heavy cream

For the Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon orange zest

1 tablespoon orange juice

Instructions

Scones

Preheat oven to 425°F. LIne a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, and salt. Cut the butter into the mixture using a pastry cutter or a fork until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Add the orange zest and the chocolate.

Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and add 3/4 cup of the heavy cream. Mix the dough together. It should have a slightly dry texture, but not be crumbly. Add an additional 1-2 tablespoons of cream if the dough seems too dry.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it for 1 minute. Form the dough into a round or rectangle approximately 1 inch thick and use a knife or pizza cutter to cut into 6 equal pieces. 

Refrigerate dough at least one hour or overnight.

Arrange the pieces on the prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Brush the wedges with 2 tablespoons of heavy cream and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the scones are golden and the edges are lightly toasted.

Glaze

In a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, orange zest, and orange juice until smooth. Drizzle glaze on top of the warm scones.

Serve warm.

Vegetarian Mushroom Shawarma

• Ingredients
• ¾  pound portobello mushroom caps, sliced 1/2-inch thick
• 1  medium red onion, halved and cut into 1/3-inch wedges
• 1 medium fennel bulb, cut into 1/3 inch wedges
• 3  tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1  teaspoon ground cumin
• ¾  teaspoon ground coriander
• ½  teaspoon ground sweet 
• Hummus
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 4  pitas
• 2  packed cups very thinly sliced red cabbage (about 6 ounces)
• Lemon vinaigrette 
• ¾  cup low-fat or whole-milk Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup Tahini
• ¾-1  teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 lemon zest and juice
• 1 TB chopped mint or cilantro
• Cilantro or mint, for serving
• Directions
• Heat the oven to 425 degrees. On a large rimmed sheet pan, drizzle the mushrooms, fennel  and red onion with 3 tablespoons oil. Sprinkle with cumin, coriander, paprika, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; toss to coat. Arrange in an even layer and roast until tender and browned, about 20 minutes. Add the pitas directly to the oven rack to warm during the last 5 minutes of cooking.
• Meanwhile, toss cabbage with remaining vinaigrette in a medium bowl; toss to coat. Season generously with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, stir together yogurt, tahini, lemon zest, juice and  cumin; season with salt and pepper.
• To serve, slather hummus over warm pitas. Top with cabbage, mushroom mixture and herbs, and yogurt sauce. 
• Serves 4

Orange Cardamom Creme Brûlée

Ingredients

 12 egg yolks

1 1/4 cup (262.5 mL) granulated sugar

4 cups (1 L) whipping cream

2 cups whole milk

½ vanilla bean

8  cardamom pods

3 orange,  peels without pith

½ to ¾ cup (125 to 175 mL) granulated sugar or lightly packed brown sugar

Directions

1 Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C).

2 Heat a kettle full of water. Place 8 to 10 ramekins, each ⅔ to ¾ cup (150 to 175 mL), in a large roasting pan or divide between 2 pans.

3 In a medium bowl, whisk yolks and 1 1/4 cup (175 mL) granulated sugar together until pale yellow and thick.

4 Pour whipping cream into a saucepan. Split vanilla bean, then run the blunt side of a knife along the top of the bean releasing the seeds. Add seeds and pod to cream along with cardamom and strips of orange peel. Set pan over medium heat. Heat stirring occasionally until steaming but not boiling. Remove from heat. Infuse for about 1 hour.

5. Bring cream mixture back to a simmer.  Slowly whisk into egg yolk mixture until evenly mixed. Be careful not to scramble. Pour mixture into and divide among ramekins.

6. Pour hot water from kettle into roasting pan (being careful not to splash) until halfway up sides of ramekins.  Cover with foil.  Bake in centre of preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until slightly thickened but not set and still jiggly. Remove to a heatproof surface. When water is cool, remove ramekins and cool completely in the fridge. Refrigerate overnight allowing them to set.

7.  Before serving, evenly sprinkle tops of chilled custards with granulated sugar. Using a torch, brûlée each sugary top until caramelized and bubbling. If you don’t have a torch, don’t fret: simply preheat the broiler in your oven. Sprinkle tops of chilled custards with brown sugar. Broil for 8 minutes or until sugar is just melted and bubbling. Remove from oven immediately. Cool slightly and serve.

Makes 10