Mushroom Soup recipe

Ingredients
50g butter
3 shallots, chopped
500g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
500ml chicken stock (made up from a stock cube)
200ml milk
100ml double cream

Method
1. Melt butter in saucepan. Add shallots and fry 3-4 minutes, or till soft but not coloured. Add mushrooms, and stir. Lower heat, cover with lid, and leave for 10 minutes to let mushrooms become mushy and release their flavour.
2. Add chicken stock and milk, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Leave to cool a little before blitzing with (handheld) blender. Stir in the cream and heat (without boiling) before serving. 

This makes quite a thick soup. If you prefer a thinner consistency, add more stock.


by Imelda

Braised Mushrooms

This is a large portion. You may reduce the amount of dried stuff accordingly before cooking. You may keep in corning ware in the fridge to eat the next day or keep portions in the freezer to eat another time. You can even eat with shanghai noodles, add in chicken or pork. My friend's mum cooks this with chicken feet.

- 300 gm of dried black mushrooms
- 25 big dried oysters (buy the korean type - soak & wash 4 -5 times)
- 13 dried scallops (I use the 170 gm japanese type - soak & wash 3 times)
- 2 - 3 tablespoons of ginger juice (grated & press out juice)
- 2 - 3 tablespoons of chicken fats (get from chicken seller - heat up wok & fry out the oil)
- half a big packet of fatt choy - black dried seaweed which is hair-like
- 3 tablespoons of oyster sauce or according to your taste

One Day Before 
-Soak mushrooms for 10 min & then wash & scrub with hand & drain out water. Repeat process. Then soak again for 4 hours then squeeze out water from mushrooms & leave mushrooms in big bowl & cut out the stems. Retain the water but throw away the last bit which has dirt particles. Repeat process but this time round, soak overnight.

Day of Braising the Mushrooms
You can either cook in the evening & leave in slow cooker overnight or cook early morning at 5 or 6am & leave in slow cooker for whole day.

- soak washed dried scallops & dried oysters for half an hour

- heat up wok & add a little oil & fry mushrooms which has been squeezed dry for a few minutes or untile fragrant - toss & turn about at the same time.
- add in ginger juice & fry for a few more minutes
You may then transfer to a pot or continue to boil over the wok
- add in mushroom water, dried scallops & dried oysters & bring to boil over large fire & then medium fire for 30 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker. On to high for whole day of at least 12 hours or longer.
- Add in fatt choy, oyster sauce & chicken oil. Stir & let it cook for another 1 - 2 hours.
- Before serving, you may add in washed chinese lettuce as the base or at the side, scope mushrooms over & ready to serve hot.


by amum

Chicken & mushroom pie

Serves 4 

1 tbsp olive oil 
1 onion, thinly sliced 
2 tsp thyme leaves 
500g mushroom, sliced 
350g chicken breast fillet, cut into 2 cm pieces 
500ml skim milk, plus 1 tbsp extra 
2 tbsp corn flour 
4 shallots, chopped 
2 sheets puff pastry 

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Heat oil in a frying pan on medium. Saute onion and thyme for 2 min. Add mushrooms and chicken in batches and cook for 5 min each, until golden. Set aside. 

2. Blend 1/2 cup milk with cornflour in a saucepan until smooth. Blend in remaining milk, shallots and season to taste. Stir constantly on medium heat for 2 - 3 min, until sauce boils and thickens, then simmer for 3 min. 

3. Remove from heat and stir through chicken mixture. Divide between 4 x 1 cup pie dishes. 

4. Cut 4 x 12 cm round of pastry and press over top of pie dishes and brush with extra milk. Cute a small vent in pastry for steam to escape. 

5. Bake for 15 - 20 min until golden.


by curly