New England "Clam" Chowder

I promised to post this recipe almost two years ago but never got around to it. It's a good thing too, because I've tweaked it again and feel that it's even better than the first version. There are a few steps that require some prep ahead of time, but if you spread it out over a couple days, this soup comes together pretty fast. This chowder is as close as I've gotten to the real thing without having to cave in to the frozen, premade "clam" substitutes on the market. Those products can be great in a pinch, but I like to keep it real with Eryngii mushrooms aka King Oyster mushrooms. King Oyster mushrooms are really versatile and can be quite convincing when attempting to recreate seafood dishes. Recently, at the last Castle Gourmet dinner, Chef Anne Lee and I seared up some sliced King Oyster mushrooms "scallops" for our main dish and got a few oohs and ahhs from our guests. They are damn tasty, especially with garlic and lemon. When you head to the store for your mushrooms, get a pound and try them out in pasta dishes for a "shrimp scampi" or saute them up and put them in a sushi roll. If you don't like mushrooms, well, I guess there's just no hope for you.

Kidding. Totally kidding. Why are we friends again?

For this recipe you'll need a little over a half pound.

1/2 lb King Oyster Mushrooms, quartered length-wise and diced
1/2 medium shallot
1teaspoon liquid smoke
Dash of tamari or soy sauce
1 tablespoon (always Non GMO) canola oil

2-3 celery stalks, diced
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 tablespoons canola oil
2 1/2 cups potatoes, peeled, rinsed and cubed (I like russets)
1 teaspoon dried thyme or 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons of Old Bay seasoning
4 cups faux chicken broth or veggie broth (I use powder "chicken" bouillon and mix with water, make sure it's not too salty)
2 cups cashew cream or heavy cream substitute (making your own is best!)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon crushed roasted nori or 1-2 teaspoons of dulce powder
smoked or regular sea salt to taste
fresh pepper to taste


Method

In a pan over medium high heat, add a tablespoon of oil and drop in your diced mushrooms. Cook for about 4 minutes until the mushrooms start giving up some of their juices. Add in the half shallot and saute for another 3-4 minutes, until mushrooms begin to lightly brown around the edges. Careful not to burn the shallot. Pour in your liquid smoke, tamari, and stir to mix. remove from heat. Place mushrooms in a bowl and set aside.

In a stock pot over medium high heat, sprinkle sea salt at the bottom of the pot and heat up for a minute. Add your oil. When oil is hot, add the onion. Saute until translucent, about 5 minutes, then add in the garlic and celery. Continue cooking for another 5-7 minutes. Add the bay leaf, thyme, and Old Bay seasoning then pour in the veggie or faux chicken broth. Add your potatoes at this point. Bring pot to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. After your soup has cooked for about 15-20 minutes, gently mix in the cashew cream to the soup. Sprinkle in the nutritional yeast and nori, stir to combine. Now we add the pre-cooked mushrooms to the soup and continue cooking until the potatoes are tender. Do your best to not overcook the potatoes. We don't want them to crumble away and disappear! At the very end of cooking, mix in the lemon juice to taste and add your salt and pepper to taste as well. Smoked sea salt is a nice touch, so if you see some at the store, get it!

Serve piping hot with crackers or in a bread bowl, if you're fancy. Garnish with fresh, chopped chives or parsley. Another great addition is vegan bacon. Brown up a few slices of your favorite vegan bacon and crumbled on top as a garnish or stir into the whole pot of soup.

Dr. Jack Shephard's Pie

I know the series "Lost" is long gone now. Probably forgotten by most. I was bitter about how it all ended and how much of my time was invested in that show. Bitterness turned to hunger, so here we are. A shepherd's pie good enough for Jack. And if not, his whiny ass can starve. Fine, go eat a can of Dharma Initiative refried beans, Jack!

Dr. Jack Shephard's Pie

Filling

4-5 pks Tempeh (boiled for 10-15 minutes), crumbled
2 carrots, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup mushrooms, diced
1/4 cup frozen peas
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons Earth Balance (or your favorite vegan margarine)
3 tablespoons unbleached, all purpose flour
2 tablespoons Nutritional Yeast (optional)
2-3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
1 teaspoon vegan worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried thyme (or 3-4 sprigs worth of fresh thyme)
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram (1 sprig worth of fresh marjoram)
1 teaspoon dried oregano (2 teaspoons of fresh oregano leaves)
1 teaspoon dried rosemary (2 teaspoons of fresh rosemary needles)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon poultry spice
Up to 2 cups of veggie broth (or mix a few tablespoons of faux chicken broth powder with water)
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Mashed Potato Topping

6-8 medium potatoes (I like yukon gold, red or russet)
4 tablespoons Earth Balance
1/2 cup cashew cream or unsweetened plain soymilk
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
Sea salt and pepper to taste


Method

Prepare your taytoes (skin on or skin off, whatever floats your boat) and set them in a large pot filled with cold water and a large pinch of sea salt. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until fork tender. Avoid over cooking. You don't want water logged taters. At this point, I throw in my blocks of tempeh and cook them in the same water with the potatoes. Now that's what I call efficient!

While the potatoes are cooking, dice your other stuff up.

In a large sauce pan over medium high heat, add a couple tablespoons of oil and drop in your onions and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent (about 5-7 minutes) avoid browning them. Add a little salt to sweat them out. When the onions are cooked, drop in your mushrooms and cook those down a little. Drop in the celery, carrots, dried herbs and spices. Continue cooking for another 4 minutes. We really want to get the mushrooms to cook down as much as possible. They will be adding a lot of the meaty flavor to this shiz. Once things are looking good, add some Earth Balance, let it melt, then drop in your crumbled up tempeh. Add your flour and coat things evenly with the flour. We are going to spend a lot of time here getting some brownness in. Basically we want to make a roux so we can get a good gravy. Continue stirring things around, browning your tempeh and the flour coating. This takes a good 8-10 minutes. Once all the tempeh is golden brown and delicious, you will pour in some stock or water, worcestershire and tamari/soy sauce. Get things to a simmer, you'll see it thicken up. If it gets too thick for your liking, add more liquid. Conversely, if stuff is not thick enough, continue to simmer until some liquid evaporates. If you're using fresh herbs, now is a good time to toss those in. Keep stirring. Oh and hey, be sure to check your potatoes. You should probably turn the oven on too. 375 degrees!

Once taters are cooked, turn off heat, drain and put back into stock pot. Put the stock pot on the lowest heat, drop in the Earth Balance, add the potatoes and mash with a masher. Don't over work them or they'll get gummy. We want fluffy! Stir in cashew cream or soymilk, season with nutritional yeast, onion, garlic, pepper and taste for sale. Don't fuss with them too much. Just get them to the right consistency and thickness and leave em on low heat. Go check on your gravy.

Stir in the frozen peas into your gravy. The gravy should be all nice and brown. If you want more brown, you could add browning sauce, but I'm weirded out by that stuff. Sodium Benzoate doesn't belong in my food. Pour this hot mess into a large rectangular casserole dish (Pyrex types are wonderful). Top with your taters. You could also top the potatoes with grated vegan cheese. Place in preheated 375 degree oven. Bake for 25-30 mins until bubbly, browned and lightly crisped on edges. Serve hot, garnish with fresh thyme sprig or fresh minced parsley.

Done! Eat up!

Creamy Mushroom Soup

When I was a little kid I loved Campbell's cream of mushroom soup. I could eat that stuff every day. This soup is a throw back to those times, but totally kicks Campbell's ass! He wishes he could can this much flavor! This is seriously the best cream of mushroom soup I've ever had. It's so savory and unbelievably creamy, you won't believe it's non-dairy and totally vegan.

Creamy Mushroom Soup

• 3-4 cups of mixed mushrooms, roughly chopped (I used mostly criminis and some shiitakes)
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 3 cups cashew cream
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons Earth Balance or vegan margarine
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• sea salt to taste
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• Splash of lemon juice

Method

Place a large stockpot over medium heat. Sprinkle bottom with a pinch of salt and heat for 1 minute. Add the margarine and stir until melted, making sure not to let it burn. Drop in the mushrooms and sauté until the start to give up their juices and begin to brown. Remove from pot and set aside. Add the onion and cook until translucent, stirring frequently. Add the celery and garlic and cook for a few more minutes. Now add the vegetable broth, thyme and bay leaf. Bring liquid to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 25 minutes. Add the cashew cream, half the mushroom mix, and cook for another 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove the bay leaf, then by working in batches, ladle soup into your blender and blend for a few minutes until smooth. Remember to cover the lid with a towel and hold down tightly. You don't need to paint your walls with soup. Pour the soup back into your stockpot along with the reserved half of mushrooms, add a quick splash of lemon juice, and taste again for salt. Keep warm until ready to serve. Ladle into bowls and garnish with a sprig of fresh thyme or fresh, chopped parsley.

Makes about 6 servings.

(Soy) Shrimp... and White Wine!

I have a vague memory of eating shrimp scampi pasta about 7 years ago. I think it was at a Red Lobster and I'm pretty sure I got food poisoning right after. It was one of those all you can eat deals and I remember thinking after taking the last bite "I'll never do this again." I wasn't even vegetarian at the time, but that was the last time I ever ate shrimp.

Today's recipe post is nothing like what I was served at Red Lobster. It is awesome. It is somewhat inspired by the whole shrimp scampi idea and gives me an excuse to use obscene amounts of garlic... (and booze!) Prepare to offend everyone in your path for the next 18-24 hours. It's gonna rule!

King Oyster Mushroom Scampi and Pasta

• 2 large King Oyster (Eryngii) mushrooms, chopped
• Enough pasta (spaghetti, angel hair or linguine) for 2 servings
• 4 tablespoons of vegan margarine
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3-4 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice (about 1 medium lemon)
• 6-8 cloves of garlic, minced (the more the better)
• 2 teaspoons shallot or onion powder
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup Italian flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped (about a large handful)
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

Before you begin to prep your mushrooms, get your water pasta water boiling. Wipe off the mushrooms with a damp cloth or paper towel. Cut each mushroom in half, lengthwise. Then chop into half moon pieces and set aside.

Heat the olive oil and 3 tablespoons of margarine in a large pan over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and saute for 3-4 minutes. Toss in the garlic and onion/shallot powder and continue to saute everything for another 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Once the mushrooms and garlic begin to brown up around the edges, turn the heat down a touch and de-glaze the pan with white wine. Scrape up all the delicious brown bits and drop in the last of the margarine. Turn the heat back up to medium-high and allow the wine to bubble up. Continue tossing the mushrooms and garlic around until most of the wine has evaporated.

Add in the lemon juice, cooked pasta and parsley. Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat evenly. Serve immediately.

Tips:

Be lazy like me and use angel hair pasta. It cooks up in 2 minutes and takes the hassle out of trying to time everything perfectly. Just drop the pasta into the boiling water right when you get the wine and mushroom mixture bubbling.

For more lemon-y pucker add a little fresh lemon zest.

Feel free to drink the rest of the wine with your meal.

If you're not a fan of mushrooms, you may still enjoy this meal. King Oyster mushrooms have a fruity, almost floral and delicate flavor reminiscent of abalone or scallops. They are less "earthy" tasting than most mushrooms and work great as a substitute for clams and shellfish. In the future I'll be posting a recipe for "Clam Chowder" using these guys, so look out for that. Enjoy!

V-V-Vegan Boys, V-V-V-Vegan Boys!