creamless hearty mushroom soup

I love mushrooms. They are delicious, nutritious, full of anti-oxidents and low in calories. They are also versatile, you can fry, grill, saute, steam etc... Not to forget, there is such a wide variety out there that there is bound to be a species that appeal to the individual. However, much can be said about canned mushroom soup.... I've not touch those for a long time now since I've discovered how easy it is to create a healthy yummilious version at home.

Hearty mushroom soup (serves 4-6)

15g butter
1 small yellow onion diced
3 cloves of garlic diced
1 bay leaf
750g mushrooms diced - portobello, brown button and oyster
5 porcinin/shitake mushrooms diced
350ml chicken stock
100ml milk

Heat butter in large skillet.
Saute onion & garlic at low heat for 10minutes.
Add mushrooms into pan and fry at high heat for about 15minutes. The mushrooms will release liquid into the pan as they cook.
Turn off the heat and blend all the contents in the pan.
Add chicken stock and bay leaf to blended mushrooms and bring in to a boil.
Reduce heat to simmer and add milk.
Stir well to combine.
Serve warm.

Garnish options: fresh cream, truffle oil, grilled mushrooms (by cooking mushrooms in clean dry skillet till all the moisture has been released)

chocolate cake for a dear friend

My friend Alex is finally getting married. Hence, I decided to make a small cake for him and his wife and our dear friend, Jianying who came back to sg for the wedding.

This is a smaller 6-inch version of the chocolate mousse layer cake I made previously, using 2/3 of the recipe. The cake was covered with whipped cream as I used 70% dark chocolate for the mousse this time and hence the whipped cream helped to temper the bitterness of the chocolate.

I did however, 1/2 the coffee used in the chocolate mousse which helped accentuate the taste of the chocolate and yet no coffee flavour. I'll probably 1/2 the rum the next time round.