Blue Palate

Periodically in Blue Palate I will share recipes - my Blue Palate Specials. Whether they’re old favorites or new experiments, they will always be affordable and usually include healthy adaptations. My first Blue Palate Special falls into the experimentation category. While Hungarian Mushroom Soup is simple to make and one of my all time favorites, my first attempt was this morning, (again) inspired by the blanket of white outside my kitchen door.

I perused several cookbooks and searched my two favorite cooking websites for recipes, but surprisingly the only source I could find for a true Hungarian Mushroom Soup was my trusty Moosewood Cookbook. I decided to make a few adaptations just to make up for it and here’s what I came up with:

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

2 tsp butter
1 large onion, sliced thinly
1 lb white button or crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp sweet paprika (not spicy or smoked)
1 tsp dried dill
1 tsp salt, more to taste
Juice from 1/2 small lemon
2 tbsp cooking sherry (optional)
3 tbsp flour
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup milk (whole or low-fat)
1/2 cup sour cream
ground black pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a medium soup pot. Add onions and saute until soft. Add mushrooms, saute 2-3 minutes. Add paprika, dill, and salt. Stir until vegetables are coated. Add lemon juice and sherry and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Gradually stir in flour, one tablespoon at a time. Add broth and reduce heat. Let simmer for 15 minutes.

Coat the mushrooms and onions with the spices.

Slowly stir in the milk and black pepper. Add more salt if needed. Add sour cream and whisk, making sure not to let the soup come to a boil. Heat at low temp until hot. Serve with crackers (I love Ak-Mak) or crusty bread.

We had our soup with Ak-Mak crackers. It would go great with a hunk of crusty bread and butter, too.

I like this recipe because it’s not too rich. Some versions leave you feeling like you just drank a pint of heavy cream. Rather than cream being the dominant flavor, the savory mushrooms stand out an you’re allowed to experience the subtlety of paprika and dill. Like most soups, this one was better the second day.

Of my first three blog posts, two have started with descriptions of the weather. It’s what a lot of people talk about in Portland, and it makes sense for weather to be a theme in a blog about food. The weather often determines what we cook, where we go out to eat and what we crave.

My plan today was to finish the last of my Christmas shopping, but we woke up to this:

And immediately all my favorite winter time meals were racing through my head. Lentil soup with crusty bread. Spicy chili sprinkled with cheddar cheese. Stewed chicken with fennel, carrots and white beans. I brought the cookbooks to bed and made a shopping list while we drank our morning coffee.

Winter meals are all about comfort and warmth. Peter talked lovingly about kapustnica (CAP-oos-nit-sa), a traditional Slovak Christmas soup of smoked pork sausage, sauerkraut and potatoes. We made it a couple of years ago at my mother’s with canned sauerkraut and Safeway’s sorry excuse for smoked sausage, pathetic compared to my in-law’s version with homemade kraut and authentic Eastern European sausage. We’ll try again - maybe Otto’s Sausage Kitchen will save Christmas this year. (I’ll publish the recipe in my Christmas day post.)

Tomorrow is Sunday and expected to be the worst day of the entire, week-long bout of winter weather. The cabin fever has obviously made us crazy - our plan is to brave the storm for a walk to Peacock Lane, Portland’s famed street of quaint, ornately decorated homes. It’s about three miles from our house. Along the way we’ll be stopping by a few coffee shops and bars for snacks and happy hour drinks (hot toddies, anyone?) and, of course, Zach’s Shack for dogs and brew. Hot dogs - the ultimate winter comfort food.