The genesis of this soup was a trip to Costco, our first in a long time, resulting in wide eyes and a cart full of mega packages of delicious things to be used up…somehow. Even with three adults on the eating roster, that pound and a half container of lovely Italian brown mushrooms was going to last awhile.

Then suddenly it was a rainy Sunday — soup weather! I came up with this recipe after cobbling together ideas from several cookbooks. I am not a big fan of over thickened floury “cream” soups or those testing the arterial limits with scads of butter and cream. So for shortening I used a combination of non-hydrogenated margarine and grapeseed oil. Where traditional recipes called for thickening with cream or with a true butter based béchamel, I used a microwaved white sauce with a base of skim milk. The huge volume of flavorful mushrooms is what made this all work.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb fresh Italian brown or other mushrooms, washed, stems removed, chopped medium fine
1/2 cup white or yellow onion, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped fine
4 Tbs tbs non-hydrogenated unsalted margarine (or substitute butter)
3 Tbs mild cooking oil such as grapeseed, olive oil not recommended
1 C skim milk
2 tbs white flour
4 cups chicken stock, unsalted or low salt
1 C cooked brown rice
salt and pepper

TECHNIQUE
Heat 3 Tbs of margarine and 3 Tbs of oil in large heavy saucepan or stock pot
Add garlic, onions and mushrooms
Sauté for 15 minutes adjusting heat as needed to keep contents from browning
Sprinkle with 1 Tb flour, stir in, then add 4 cups of stock
Bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer for 20 minutes

Make 1 cup of thin white sauce in microwave as follows:
melt 1 Tb margarine in microwave safe bowl
Stir in 1 Tb flour and mix to a paste
Heat 30-60 seconds in microwave until the mixture looks grainy – do not let this brown!
Add 1 C skim milk and whisk until incorporated
Heat in microwave for 1-2 minutes, stopping to stir occasionally, the sauce should come to a boil as this helps cook and remove the “floury” taste
NOTE: you could skip this step and instead use cream or half and half

Add white sauce to soup pot, stir, and heat through
Stir in the cup of brown rice (optional, but adds nice body) and heat to just below simmer
Taste and add salt and pepper as needed

Serve and get ready to receive compliments!

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Don’t you get bored with plain old white rice? It can be a bit tiresome, can’t it? The other day Tracy told us about her kim chee rice dish, and I thought I’d also share one with you.

I like to call it rice confetti, but in Japanese this popular condiment is called furikake (pronounced foo-ree-kah-kay with a little roll on the r). Furikake is a brightly colored, flavorful mixture that you sprinkle on rice. It typically consists of tiny bits of dried fish (although there are veggie versions), seaweed, sesame seeds, salt, and a wee amount of sugar. Some of our favorites are salmon (sake), black sesame and salt (gomashio), pickled plum (umeboshi), and wasabi (Japanese horseradish). Check Amazon.com or your local Asian market for more delicious flavors.

Kinda like throwing a party for your rice, huh?

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I love duck. And I love curry. But preparing both from scratch can be a daunting task. I recently found this quick and easy recipe for duck curry that is so good people will think you spent all day grinding spices and smoking duck.

Fast and Easy Duck Curry
Peking duck is available at Asian markets.

1.5 – 2 lbs Peking duck
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small red onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 fresh red chili, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon red curry paste
1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
1 2/3 cups coconut milk
1 1/4 cups chicken stock
1.5 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

Duck is a fatty little creature, but I prefer to leave on a bit of the less fatty skin for added color, flavor and texture. If your duck comes with a sauce or two, throw those in your curry – it will only make it tastier! Remove the bones, making sure to get the tiny ones that are easy to miss. Cut into bite-size pieces.

Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat, add the onion, and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and chili and continue to cook for another couple of minutes. Stir in the curry paste and cook until blended (about a minute), then add the peanut butter.

Slowly whisk in the coconut milk and cook until thoroughly combined. Add the chicken stock, bring to boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for 10 minutes. Add the duck, lime juice and fish sauce, and let simmer another 10 minutes.

Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with rice.

Note: I think zucchini, eggplant or other vegetables would be delicious additions too!

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We still have not restocked our refrigerator after returning from Mexico, so I rummaged around and pulled a few things out that were still hanging in there. Ingredients perfect for fried rice. Scallops, shrimp and baby peas from the freezer; green onions, mushrooms, fresh ginger and eggs from the fridge.

Fried rice is such an easy dish to make and to me it’s Asian comfort food.

Heat oil in a wok or large sauté pan over high heat.
Sauté ginger (and garlic if you have it), green onion and mushrooms for about one minute, stirring constantly.
Reduce heat to medium and add vegetables and shellfish.
Add cooked rice, mix, then make a well with your spoon in the center. Pour the eggs into the well and let them cook for about one minute.
Slowly start to incorporate the eggs into the rice mixture.
Add soy sauce, a little sesame oil, a splash of fish sauce to taste and toss. Fish sauce isn’t traditional, but we like the flavor it adds.

Obviously there are many varieties of fish, meat and vegetables that you can add to create a delicious fried rice. I love to add snow peas, broccoli and carrots for color.

Check out Steamy Kitchen’s delicious (and hilarious!) recipe for Vegetable Fried Rice.

I’d love to know what you think. Click the Comments link below and share your thoughts.

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Calling all philanthropic wordsmiths! Channel your inner Merriam-Webster and fill rice bowls for the hungry. FreeRice.com, sister site of Poverty.com, and in participation with the United Nation’s World Food Programme, has developed a fun, educational vocabulary game that helps combat global hunger.

How to play: Remember those multiple choice vocabulary tests back in grade school? Only this time it’s fun! When you choose the correct definition you move to the next level and get a harder word. And, it does get harder. Get it wrong, and you get an easier word.

What you win: For each word you get right, FreeRice will donate 20 grains of rice to the World Food Programme (WFP). But wait, there’s more! You also win increased intelligence, the admiration of your friends and the ability to interpolate big words into your tête-à-tête whilst committing sacerdotal deeds.

Just to let you know:

• FreeRice is completely non-profit
• The rice is paid for by advertisers on their site
• The WFP is not only helping to feed the hungry in over 75 nations, but teaching them how to be self-reliant in order to escape hunger for good
• You can download a banner and link to FreeRice.com from your website

Help spread the word about the World Food Programme’s campaign to end world hunger.

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