Iron Chef Challenge - Secret Ingredient : Mushrooms - I Need Help?

Sounds good so far hun.

I love Mushroom Risotto, you should definitely do it!

Here is a recipe I use, all my friends love it. It really brings out the richness of the Portobello Mushrooms!

30 to 45 minutes

3-quart pot

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 cup diced onion

1 pound Portobello mushrooms

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed

1 cup Arborio rice

2 cups beef broth

2 cups water

1/2 cup mascarpone or grated parmesan cheese

Grated Parmesan cheese to pass at the table

1. Cook the onions in 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat until soft. Stir in the garlic and rosemary and cook a couple minutes. Meanwhile, clean up the portobellos and dice them into 1/2-inch pieces. Turn up the heat and sauté the mushrooms with the onions. You may need to do this in 2 or 3 batches, so keep a big bowl handy for the cooked mushrooms. Set the mushroom/onion mixture aside for the moment.

2. Add a couple more tablespoons olive oil to the pot and stir in the rice until it is translucent. Then start adding the beef broth half a cup at a time. Stir well and adjust your burner so the broth simmers. Each time the broth cooks down to a thick sauce, stir in another half cup. When all the broth is gone, add the water.

3. When the rice is close to done, 15 minutes or so, stir in the mushroom/onion mixture and keep adding water until the rice is done.

4. When the rice is done, stir in the mascarpone or Parmesan. Salt and pepper the risotto to taste. Serve with grated Parmesan on the side.

You could pick up any items you don't have?! Good Luck x

I make this soup a lot. I know you already have your mind set on one but this one is super simple!

Chinese Mushroom Soup:

2/3 Cup Water

½ Cup Dried Shitake Mushrooms

4 Cups Chicken or Vegetable Stock (OR 2 Cups Chicken Base and 2 Cups Mushroom Base)

1 ¼ Inches of Grated Gingerroot

2 Garlic Cloves Thinly Sliced

1 Tsp Onion Powder

1 Tbsp Soy Sauce

3 oz Fresh Crimini Mushrooms- Thickly Sliced

2 ½ oz Vermicelli Noodles

4 Scallions Thinly Sliced On the Diagonal-Divided

Chopped Fresh Cilantro-For Garnish

1.Bring the water to a boil in a large pan. Remove the pan from the heat and add the shitake mushrooms. Let the mushrooms soak for 10 min then remove from the water with a slotted spoon, chop coarsely and set aside. SAVE the water. Strain the mushroom water to remove any extra debris, and pour into a clean pan.

2.Add the stock and mushroom/chicken base to the mushroom liquid and bring to a boil. Add the ginger; garlic all mushrooms, soy sauce, onion powder, and ½ of the scallions. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes.

3.Meanwhile soak noodles in a bowl of hot water for 10 minutes (or according to pkg directions). Drain and add the noodles to the soup. Let simmer for an additional 3 min. Sprinkle remaining scallions over the soup and garnish with the cilantro.

How about some type of mushroom soup?

Edit to expand on that suggestion: Do you ever watch "Top Chef"? In season two, Elia made a Portobello & Button Mushroom Cream with Walnuts soup that everyone raved about. Here are several links to the recipe:

http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/season/2/recipes/e...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15853304/

https://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/archive/index.p...

I'm drooling reading your menu. For a soup go to epicurious.com and look at their hot and sour soup recipe. (It's the only one on the site.) And I like your thinking about the mushroom risotto, I personally love it. But I'm really stumped about a dessert with mushrooms.

Do like Morimoto and make a Mushroom Ice Cream!

Ok, well, seriously, instead of a taquito, how about a crepe filled with a creamy mushroom sauce?

Portobello and Fontina Panini

Ingredients

2 round or oval crusty Italian sandwich rolls

Olive oil

2 large portobello mushrooms (about 2 ounces each), stems removed

1 teaspoon fresh or dried rosemary leaves, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

Ground black pepper

2 ounces Fontina cheese, sliced

2 leaves radicchio, chiffonade-cut

Instructions

1. Preheat panini grill or stovetop griddle pan. Slice rolls in half through middle. Pick out some of bread from top and bottom halves to create a slight depression. Brush tops and bottoms of rolls lightly with oil. Set aside.

2. Brush stem sides of mushrooms with oil. Place stem sides down on panini grill or griddle. Grill 2 minutes or until bottom starts to brown. Flip mushrooms. Drizzle lightly with oil. Sprinkle with rosemary and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Grill about 4 minutes or until juices start to collect in cap. Place one mushroom cap, stem-side-up, on each roll bottom. Top with cheese, radicchio and roll tops.

3. Place on panini grill or griddle. Cover with grill top or bacon press. Grill about 2 minutes on each side or until browned and cheese starts to melt. Serves 2.

How about a wild mushroom cheesecake to serve with crostini?

Wild Mushroom Cheesecake

Crust

1 ¾ cup fresh bread crumbs (French bread best)

1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

½ tsp Italian seasoning

6 T butter melted

Filling:

1 T olive oil, 1 cup minced green onion, 1 cup chopped red bell pepper

6 cups coarsely chopped assorted fresh mushrooms such as crimini, oyster and stemmed shitake mushrooms)

28 ounces cream cheese softened

2 t salt, 1 t ground black pepper

3 eggs

½ cup heavy cream

1 cup grated smoked gouda cheese (about 4 ozs)

½ cup minced fresh parsley

Prepare Crust: Preheat oven to 350. Mix bread crumbs, parm cheese, and butter. Press onto bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan. Bake until golden brown, about 10 mins.

Filling:

Heat oil in heavy skillet over med high heat. Add onion, and bell pepper. Sautee for 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and sautee until liquid evaporates and mushrooms begin to brown about 10 mins. Set aside.

Using a mixer, beat cream cheese, salt and pepper in a large bowl until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time; them whip in cream. Mix in veggie mixture, Gouda cheese and parsley.

Pour filling over crust. Place Cheesecake in a larger pan with about one inch of boiling water in it to form a water bath. (step important to ensure a creamy spreadable cheesecake). Bake till cake puffs and browns lightly on top but center moves slightly when shaken, about an hour to 1 1/12 hours. Check after one hour every 10 mins. Run small knife around sides of pan to loosen. Release sides of pan when it’s cooled and transfer to serving platter. Serve with toasted baquetts, crackers, sliced veggies, or Crostini. Best if served at room temperature.

How about an unique fruit like Plantains or Papaya? you may also bypass to the seafood counter and observe whats on sale. Seafood is continually exciting to cook. What a impressive theory. This sounds like a lot exciting.