Tuesday, cooking

Tuesday morning, and its garbage day. And, its also "large pick-up" day, so that picnic table and benches should be gone when I get home. It only goes to show you what shape they were in, because, other than the couch I sawed in pieces, this is the first "large pick-up" item that somebody didn't "pick up" before the Township got here.

I stopped on the way home at Westborn Market and picked up 1/2 pound of Cremini mushrooms, some celery and some onions. I need them tonight for the second part of my Mom's Birthday present. The first part was the CaptainK Secret Recipe Clam Chowder. The second part will be the Beef Mushroom and Barley Soup. Ah, yes, my friends, the way to a 101 year old woman's heart is not knickknacks or flowers, but food!

So, after arriving home (the trash and table were gone, BTW!), treating the cats and changing clothes, I got to work. Oh, I have a few things to do outside, but they can wait until things are on simmer.

So, first I boiled a tea kettle full of water. Once it was boiling, I poured three cups of it over one ounce of dried wild Chanterelle mushrooms (I bought them for the Lemon Dill Chicken with Wild Mushrooms but Carla decided not to use them) and about 1/2 ounce of dried Shiitake mushrooms that Luanne gave me last year (I think).

I let them soak for about 20 minutes or so, until softened. Then I drained them in a sieve, lined with a coffee filter, put over my four-cup Pyrex measuring cup. I reserved the soaking liquid, rinsed the mushrooms, patted them dry and gave them a fine chop with the Wustaf chef's knife.

Then I got the medium stockpot out and filled it with eight cups of just plain water, the chopped and soaked mushrooms, the three cups of soaking liquid, 2 1/2 teaspoons of Kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon of fresh ground pepper and about two pounds of beef short ribs (one of three packages I have left from the meat we bought last fall). I brought it all to a boil and then reduced the heat to simmer (partially covered). I skimmed the foam occasionally until the meat was tender (about one hour). This gave me time to go outside.

I retrieved the hose from the raised bed garden and the square sprinkler and watered all the new grass seed in back. Then I dragged the hose out front and used the oscillating sprinkler on the front grass (and newly seeded area).

I went back inside and skimmed of the foam from the broth. Then I chopped up two cups of yellow onion, two peeled carrots and two celery stalks, all into 1/4 inch dice (knife skills, baby!) I cut the Cremini mushrooms into quarters (except for the littlest ones, which I just halved). All of that went into my large skillet, with two tablespoons of Canola oil and two teaspoons of butter. I flipped it occasionally, until everything was well browned (about 20 minutes), remembering to keep skimming the foam off the beef broth.

Meanwhile the timer went off, signaling the end of the watering in front. So, I took a break and hauled the sprinkler and the hose back in the back and secured the gate.

Back inside, I pulled the sort ribs out to let them cool and tasted the beef broth. OMG! It was so perfect, I was really, really tempted to strain it to make consume. But, I reminded myself, we are making soup here, and so resisted that impulse. I stirred in 1/2 cup of pearl barley into the onion, celery, carrots and Cremini mixture and cooked it, for about a minute or two more.

After the meat cooled, I worked it, discarding bone, fat and gristle. I cut the remaining meat into 1/2 inch chunks and added it back, along with the barley, saut�ed onion, celery, carrots and Cremini mushrooms, to the beef broth with the wild mushrooms.

The original recipe called for adding fresh dill to the pot just before serving it. But, knowing I am going to freeze this, I went with a more traditional approach and added 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme and three tablespoons of fresh, minced flat-leaf parsley. I simmered it, uncovered, until the barley was tender (the recipe says about 45 minutes; I gave it over an hour). I skimmed the fat from the surface one last time and tasted it. That is GOOD! I didn't even need to season it with salt and pepper.

I moved the stock pot off the burner and let it cool. I had begun making tonight's dinner while the soup was still simmering, BTW. I took a leftover half of a Vidalia onion and sliced it thin into heated olive oil and butter in my skillet. To that, I added the fresh shiitake mushrooms (maybe 3-4 ounces?) left from Saturday's chicken. Once they were soft, I deglazed the pan with cooking sherry. I let that reduce a bit, added another pat of butter and then poured this sauce over the micro-waved, warm leftover steak (from Sunday).

I ate that watching TV. When I started getting tired, I performed my nightly ablutions, put the soup in a big, covered Tupperware bowl and into the fridge and then went to bed.