We had a little change of plans this year for Christmas. My wife spent all of Christmas Eve day and night in bed sick. We usually go into Philly for dinner, the traditional 7 fishes. Fish is plural, I’m quite sure why its fishes, but you don’t argue with tradition (especially in the city of brotherly love)! We had also planned our family dinner for today the day after Christmas, and I was going to serve up my version of the 7 fishes. I had Lobster, Shrimp, Clams, Mussels, Bronzino, Scallops, and Crabmeat. But then the snow came, and its still falling. So much for dinner. Actually we had knew yesterday that the storm was on our way and there would be no 7 fishes…sigh
So last night we enjoyed the clams over linguine, click on the link if your looking for a recipe. Tonight we enjoyed mussels aioli, and a cream of mushroom soup. Just a light dinner, my wife is still on feeling 100%, the Bronzino will be tomorrow’s dinner, and the rest of the seafood found its way to the freezer for another time.
I do hope where ever you are, your staying warm and dry, that your holidays have been joyous and your belly’s are full. Tonight we are just relaxing, my wife has the sound of music on, and I’m looking for something to watch on the way too many channels we have….sigh…..no football tonight.
For Christmas this year one of my gifts was a set of Lowel EGO Lights, I put them together this afternoon, and I have to report that for an inexpensive light, there pretty well made. Everything was included, nothing was broken and the directions were pretty easy. So my lights are put together and I tried them out tonight.
I was pretty happy with the results for my first attempt, now I just have to work with them to see how to get the most out of them……I am thinking a boom might be needed. But they did make a big difference already.
Tell me what you think!
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 lb Butter
1 small Onion fine dice
3 stalks Celery fine dice
8 oz baby Portobello Mushrooms sliced
8 oz Shitake Mushrooms sliced
4 oz dried Porcini Mushrooms Reconstituted chopped, liquid reserved
1 cup Flour
4 cups Chicken Stock
1 Cup Heavy Cream
Salt and Pepper to taste
In a small stock pot melt the 1/2 of butter and add your diced onion and celery. Allow to saute
After about 5 minutes add in your mushrooms and stir frequently , the mushrooms will suck up all the butter at first. Allow the mushrooms to cook for about 10 minutes.
When the liquid has reappeared add in the flour and mix well. Turn down the heat and allow to cook for about 10 minutes.
Add in your hot chicken stock and mix well.
Add in your reserved juice from the porcini’s and the heavy cream.
Salt and Pepper to taste, and allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes.
The soup was very good and flavorful, the addition of the porcini’s made all the difference. I will be straining the remainder of the soup so that just the creamy base is left, there were too many mushrooms in the soup and they were a little too meaty for my taste. You did need them to get all that flavor, and the soup itself was delicious.
Mussels Aioli
Mussels Aioli
1 small bag of fresh mussels
2-3 cloves of Garlic sliced
1/2 small bunch of Basil chopped
1 pinch of crushed Red Pepper Flakes
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Rinse your mussels thoroughly and remove any mussels that won’t close if you tap them. Open mussels are dead, and you can’t eat those. (this holds true for clams also)
Most mussels that you can buy in the grocery store are farmed, but they should have a tag on them telling you where they came from. (Farmed mussels tend to be cleaner too, our Wegman’s is a great source for mussels and clams and have been very clean and reliable.)
In a large sautee pan add your olive oil, and sliced Garlic. Allow the pan to heat up some and as the garlic begins to cook add in the mussels, red pepper flakes and basil.
Cover the pan and allow them mussels to steam open.
When the mussels have opened allow them to cook for 2-3 more minutes and serve immediately with a good crusty bread, and grated Romano cheese.
So that was our Post Christmas Dinner, it’s still snowing out and I hope my snow blower starts in the morning…sigh…,.
I’ll leave you with a few pictures of my Bernese Mountain Dogs, they were out playing in the snow thinking they were back in Switzerland! My boy was a rescue and he is the sweetest boy you would ever want to know, he spent the first two years of his life in a crate he couldn’t move in, has no rear hip sockets, stomach problems and epilepsy, he groans when he lays down and is slow to get up. But when he plays in the snow hes a puppy again. He came from the puppy mills of the Midwest, rescued by the angels at BARC.
Our other berner is our perfect little girl we have had since she was a puppy. She has always been a real love bug. God love them both.
our neighbor Maggie giving treats to Lucy and Beau
Lucy
Beau
Thanks for stopping by and I will talk to you all real soon! Oh and I almost forgot again, the winner of the Crown Top Muffin Silicone Mould from Sarah-Jane is Jenn, from Jenn’s Food Journey.
Mike says
December 10, 2016 at 7:48 pmThe mushroom soup is one of the best things I’ve ever had. I strained out much of the mushrooms, adding some back in when I plated and keeping the rest to top grilled ham later. The flavor of the soup is absolutely incredible. Thank you very much for posting.
Chef Dennis Littley says
December 12, 2016 at 11:15 amThanks for the feedback Mike, and I’m very happy to hear that you enjoyed the soup!
Sandie (Sandie's Bitchin' Kitchen) says
April 4, 2011 at 2:35 amHi, Chef Dennis!
I came across this recipe of yours, for the Cream of Mushroom Soup, and I feel in love a little bit! I picked up mushrooms the other day when they were on sale at my local market, and I picked up the rest of the ingredients today, so will be making this tomorrow or the day after!!
Thank you for such wonderful recipes/recipe ideas!
Sandie
Stephanie says
December 30, 2010 at 5:59 pmI love your dogs! We have a wee Jack Russell Terrier, but I've always wanted to adopt a little brother for her to play with. I've got my eye on Mountain ones as well as Huskys and Labs.
Mussels are my favorite! I could eat an entire bowl of them all to myself for dinner and be content. I'm pretty bad at sharing. :p
5 Star Foodie says
December 29, 2010 at 11:24 pmdelicious looking dishes, and fun snow pics! hope your wife is all better and have a happy new year!
Debbie says
December 29, 2010 at 9:53 pmLove the pups, but even more I love that you rescued them! Too bad about your wife, hope she is feeling better 🙂
Kate says
December 28, 2010 at 11:02 pmYou know, I've never thought about it but we do the seven fishes for New Year's Eve. Italian Christmas a bit late, eh? Looks like the furry kids had a blast in the snow!!! Hope your wife is back to 100% by now. Happy New Year
Magic of Spice says
December 28, 2010 at 11:01 pmLooks like Lucy and Beau are having a great time 🙂
Sorry that your wife was not well over the Holidays, hope she is much better now…
These are both wonderful recipes and I would love to try that mushroom soup, very nice 🙂
Stella says
December 28, 2010 at 10:55 pmAwe, Dennis, I hope your wife feels better soon. I would imagine that cold up there is causing a lot of people to feel less than stellar. Ooh, and I'm sure she will if you keep making her wonderful stuff like this. That soup looks killer-I've never made cream of mushroom before. Maybe it's time;-)
Hope you guys have a happy new year, Dennis!
p.s. I didn't know you had such wonderful creatures living with you. Very nice…:)
ladymorgiana says
December 28, 2010 at 10:41 pmThe soup and mussels look fantastic. I recently rediscovered mussles and I love them 🙂
So sorry to hear about your wife though, I hope she's getting better! Your doggies are cute! They seemed to be enjoying snow a lot and of course treats from the caring neighbour!
Velva says
December 28, 2010 at 9:21 pmLet it snow, Let it snow and Let it snow. Stay warm. Living in Florida, I am always enchanted with snow.
You know you can always set a new date and re-celebrate the holidays at 7 fishes. Hope your wife is feeling better.
Happy New Year to you and your family. I am looking forward to your blog posts and great recipes next year.
Velva
Jenn says
December 28, 2010 at 8:50 pmYAY! Thanks Chef for the great giveaway prize!! Can't wait to get them and make something with them!
I'm so jealous of the EGO lights! I have got to get me some of those!
Hope you had a wonderful holiday… looks as if you did at least!
Lawyer Loves Lunch says
December 28, 2010 at 7:17 pmI've bookmarked your mushroom soup recipe to make soon! It's so darn cold (though clearly you've got it colder as evidenced by your pictures) that I can't get enough soup. I hope your wife is 100% so she can get to holiday feasting! 🙂
Yenta Mary says
December 28, 2010 at 7:07 pmI do hope your wife is feeling better! At least the snow should force her to rest, since it's so hard to get out. The feast looks amazing!!! And a hearty Mazal Tov to Jenn … 🙂
ravienomnoms says
December 28, 2010 at 6:59 pmLucy and Beau are such pretty dogs! One of my friends has a dog like that, mountain dogs I think they are called. Gorgeous pups! I am sorry to hear about your honey being sick, that is just no fun during the holidays..just not one bit. Your meal looks so good though, that had to have cheered her up!