SHROOMS!!!!!
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| L to R: Enoki, shiitake, oyster, maitake, bellas and bunashimeji (beech). |
There's a wonderful well known large Asian Market in Minneapolis that my son Sacha has been after me to go to. So I went.
However, if you've ever driven in Minneapolis, there is no such thing as simply going somewhere. I swear, at the end of this story there will be a recipe. Let me explain.
It was my 65th birthday this past week. My wonderful sister Joni took me out for a wonderful lunch the Friday before. It was also my son's anniversary, so we got together the day before. I didn't just want to sit around on my actual birthday, so I thought I'd venture out to the acme of Asian Markets "United Noodle". Got out my phone and programmed my Google map taking surface streets (I swear, on a map it looks so close!) because I knew the freeways would be stop and go as well as it is Minnesota's second season, construction season.
24th down by Hiawatha. Simple. I headed down Lyndale toward 24th. I made a right turn a few streets before that as Lyndale gets to be a nightmare down there. I drove for what seemed like a millennia toward Hiawatha. Damn, street closed at Nicolette. I turned left and then proceeded to turn right again toward the infamous Hiawatha. A couple of streets later, damn another road closure. Why isn't the map telling me these things?!? Another left, then another right. Hiawatha!! Victory! I made my last left and proceeded toward 24th. I'm home free, I thought, once again forgetting that I'm in Minnesota, the land of "you can't get there from here".
28th...26th...yea, I'm home free, the next one is 24th!!!
Wrong. Instead, it went like this.
28th...26th...and I go directly onto a bridge heading downtown with 4 or more lanes going one way. THE WRONG WAY ANNNDDDD, I'm heading to 7th street smack in the middle of downtown!
I never drive downtown here. Never, never, never. Memories of years ago of me getting so desperately lost that I had to call home for help. It's so embarrassing to have your kids come and have to drive you home. One way streets, bus only lanes, tons of construction with so many road closures. Seventeen streets with the same names in different places. A slight exaggeration, but you get the idea. And here I am, right back there in the thick of things again. I was bound and determined to get myself out of this and do it by myself. Google map told me to make a left on so. 9th and so that's exactly what I did. I turned left and was facing the wrong way on a one way street right in a flipping bus lane!! Several lanes of cars looking at me and thank God it was a red light so they were not moving.
I have a little Kia, so I proceeded to attempt a u-turn. They saw my out of state plates and just shook their heads. No, please, don't anyone pull up or move over so I can turn around and not get HIT BY A BUS! I had to back up several times and move forward again and again in a matter of seconds as the light was turning green and public transportation doesn't wait for anyone.
Ok, I had to turn left again and I was smack at the center of downtown WITH NO IDEA OF HOW TO MAKE IT OUT OF THERE ALIVE. Google: "ok, (like it was thinking you "idiot") now turn left onto so. 9th". Now I'm screaming at Google, "I just did that you moron"!!! Yup, screaming at a phone app. I just kept going forward thinking at least I'm facing the correct way. I wound up across from the Greyhound bus terminal managed to turn right on the street after it and parked in a car repair shop.
I called my son-in-law. "(sigh)We'll be right there". Twenty minutes later I see my son walking toward me talking on his phone "Yup, I've got her". I wanted to die. I sheepishly got out and went to the passenger side of the car. It rained on my head adding insult to injury.
Meanwhile back at the ranch...
The next day my son-in-law asks me what time I wished to go to United Noodle. He would take me so I wouldn't get hopelessly lost again. This time we took the freeway, made our exit and....yes, we got lost. He's lived here for years and he got lost. I am one happy camper at this point, but I don't dare laugh out loud. Round two. Back on the freeway, exit, turn around and we actually find 24th! His GPS says "you've arrived". We're both looking. Arrived where?!? We see nothing. Exit, stage right. Again we circle and again it says "you've arrived". We stop and low and behold I see a building halfway down in the alley. Mecca, we have located United Noodle.
It was a vast expanse inside. Rows and rows of more rows and rows. We're looking at pictures to figure out what some of these products are. There were actually three rows of just different kinds of ramen noodles. We make it slowly through the store picking up items here and there and then I found the produce section. This is the area that made all the getting lost worth it. I pride myself on my knowledge of produce, but I saw things I'd never seen or heard before. This was amazing and I found myself salivating.
I love baby bok choy, but I they had so many sizes. I settled on a bag full of tiny micro bok choy barely an inch or two long and the whole bag was only two dollars. Score! Small misshapen bananas from the Philippians. Rambutans, that little tropical fruit that looks like an alien for only 2.99 a pound. Lychees for only 1.99 a pound. These beautiful, colorful, fresh fruits and vegetables seemed to go one forever. This is when my son-in-law Don said he was going to wait in the car because he knew I'd be awhile.
Then I saw them glowing in the distance. Mushrooms. So many different kinds of mushrooms. Some I'd never heard of and all at prices I couldn't believe. Shiitake's (that are usually $14.99 a pound) for only a couple of dollars a pound. They were beautiful and so firm and fresh. A beautiful huge organic flower shaped Maitake caught my eye next. I could never afford them before. I held it in my hand admiring it's absolute beauty before gently adding it to my cart. Bunashimeji? What on earth? Round perfectly shaped buttons all connected at the base. There were literally so many varieties that I had to stop and decide which I would get this trip and which I would wait to get next time. When I checked out I must have saved over twenty dollars just on produce.
Back home, I began a marathon of preparation. I chopped over 10 cups of mushrooms alone. The photo above only shows half the amount, because I was so excited that I only remembered to photograph them when I was half way through.
Now, finally on to the recipe.
Creamy Vegan Mushroom soup
(Choose a few different kinds as they add depth of flavor)
1/2 finely chopped yellow onion
1-2 heads of garlic, grated
1/2 tsp. dried thyme (or to taste)
1 small bay leaf
salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
olive oil
3/4 c almond coconut cream (recipe to follow)
3 cups water
- I a medium large pan over medium heat, add a Tblsp.olive oil. Add mushrooms and saute for about 2 minutes until they are cooked down a bit. Add the water and the spices. Turn heat down to medium low and let simmer 30 minutes. Turn heat off, cover and set aside.
- In another medium large pan over medium heat, saute onion and garlic along with a Tblsp. olive oil. Stir and cook 2 minutes until the onion gets that glassy look.
- Slowly add the mushroom mixture, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
- Add almond cream mixture and heat through. NOTE: I like to make this a day in advance so the flavors can develop fully. Just gently heat the next day. I also added a few finely chopped tiny bok choy this time (because as you know, I had plenty) for the final three minutes of cooking. This is totally optional. You can also garnish with vegan parmesan if you like.
Almond coconut cream: 1 cup almond milk 2 Tblsp. full fat coconut cream (it's sold in a small can or you can use the cream top of a full fat can of coconut milk) Blend well in a high speed blender. Store in refrigerator. Also makes an excellent coffee creamer.
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