When the Moosewood paved the way for vegetarian cooking in the US it was revolutionary for hippies everywhere. I live only 50miles from the original Moosewood Restaurant, and I'm a afraid to say I am not that impressed with their menu. While they were revolutionary for cooking vegetarian food in a time that was not very far removed from Meat and Potatoes America, the haut cuisine that is possible now for vegetarian food and a globalized pallet has left Moosewood in the dust.
That being said, they have a few absolutely killer recipes in their cookbooks. I am especially fond of the soups. Asparagus Soup and Hungarian Muhroom Soup, both featured in the same book, are among my all-time favorite soup recipes. I have tweaked them a little, as you should now come to expect from me, based on what is in season and how generally inspired and creative I am feeling while cooking.
Today I am going to share with you my take on the Hungarian Mushroom Soup, which I call Bungarian Mushroom Soup. We live only five miles away from a tiny little region called Bungy, presumably named after a bung hole on a barrel of booze or a still. We are pretty fond of this name, and we consider ourselves to live in Bungarian Heights, the official home of the Bungarian Embassy, the Bungarian Sheepshagging Association, and many other pop-up clubs that our wild minds laugh into existence in a banter-filled evening of cider drinking.
Here is the original recipe, and then I'll tell you how I take it to the next level of flavor-explosion...
Now, for my Recipe:
BUNGARIAN MUSHROOM SOUP: Do Everything the Same As Above Except:
--Make sure the use wild mushrooms. We have used in many combinations, but our favorites are chanterelles, shiitakes, black trumpets and oyster mushrooms.
--Add a Shitload More Heat! This recipe is weak, calling for just paprika. We suggest using Spanish Smoked Paprika for the smokey nom, and then dialing up the heat with cayenne, chimayo chile pepper, aleppo pepper, or your favorite hot chile powder.
--Use WAY More Dill! And make sure it is fresh as possible. I add probably 1-2 cups of dill to a big pot of this soup (I often double the recipe). I add any fresh herbs right before the end of cooking, before simmering. Then I put more on top fresh as a garnish. The dill it what really makes this soup killer.
--Use as much Fatty Nom as possible. I love to add heavy cream or half and half, more milk, yogurt, sour cream or other fatty noms to this soup to enrich it, depending on what I have. I find this soup is best when enjoyed rich-AF, because creamy mushroom soup is always a hit!
--Serve with some kind of fresh baked bread. We used zucchini bread for this meal.
-- Serve with Cider, DUH. We used a wild yeast and honey cider for this meal.
Here are some more pictures of the cooking process, and these yummy and noble mushrooms that graciously came with us from their homes in the forest to give us their lives and bless our table with their delicious, life giving, joy-bringing umami.
