Mushroom Chowder

The only problem in buying those Costco mushrooms is what do you do with all of those? This recipe will give you reason to use at least a half pound or more!

It may seem like a lot of ingredients, but the flavour is incredible as a result of all of the spices. I did not make this VEGAN! I did use cream cheese in place of the cashew cream. That choice is yours to make…

There is a fair amount of prepping, but mainly due to the spices,cleaning the mushrooms, etc.

Mushroom Chowder

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oil or vegan butter
3 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
8 ounces baby Bella mushrooms quartered
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon thyme or 1 spring fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground sage
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon flour
3 cups broth or water
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon salt depending on the saltiness of your broth
1 1/2 cups cubed potatoes, small cubed (FYI I skipped the potatoes as I wanted to use croutons as a garnish as shown in the photo)
1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup cashew cream, 1/2 cup raw cashews blended with 3/4 cup water or use any other thick non-dairy cream or you can also use 1/3 cup vegan cream cheese
green onion for garnish
OPTIONAL Old Bay Seasoning for a seafood taste

1. Heat the oil or vegan butter over high-medium heat in a large sauce pan. Once hot, add the garlic, onion, and celery, and a good pinch of salt and cook until the onion is starting to turn golden. 6-9 mins

2. Then add in the mushrooms and another good pinch of salt and cook until the mushrooms are starting to sear on some edges. 4-8 mins

3. Then add in the bay leaves, thyme, sage, onion powder, black pepper, and the flour and mix in for a few seconds

4. Then add in the broth. Add 1 cup broth and mix so the flour doesn’t get lumpy, then slowly add the rest. Add potatoes, vegan Worcestershire sauce, and salt and mix in. Cook partially covered for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked well.

5. Mash some of the potatoes. Add in the cashew cream and bring to a good boil. Taste and adjust salt and flavor.

6. If the chowder has thickened too much, add in more water or broth if needed and bring to a boil. Taste and adjust salt and flavor. Take off heat, remove the bay leaves and serve garnished with black pepper and green onion.

Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup

Costco strikes again! I bought the double package of tortellini when I really only needed one for a previous recipe. What to do? Find a recipe on Pinterest to use the one that was left. Eureka! Pinterest! Not only did it look yummy, it was…

Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup

Author: Karina – Cafe Delites Serves: 10

Ingredients

500 grams | 1 pound ground Italian sausage (or ground chicken, turkey or beef), browned*
1 brown onion, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
2 teaspoon beef bouillon powder (or chicken)
½ teaspoon salt
4 cups beef broth (or chicken or vegetable broth — I use low sodium)
¼ cup cornstarch mixed and dissolved in ¼ cup water
3x 340 gram | 12-ounce cans full fat evaporated milk or half and half
1x 340 gram | 12 ounce packet three cheese tortellini (I used one of Costco’s, remember)
5 cups fresh baby spinach (whatever amount works for you)
1 cup milk

Instructions

Place the browned sausage, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, Italian seasoning, beef bouillon powder, salt, and broth in a 6-quart / liter slow cooker bowl. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 7 hours.
Uncover and skim any fat that is sitting on the top of the soup with a spoon; discard. Stir in the cornstarch mixture with the evaporated milk (or half and half or cream). Add the tortellini and mix well. Cover again and cook on HIGH heat setting for a further 45 minutes until the soup has thickened, and the tortellini is soft and cooked through.
Add in the spinach, pressing the leaves down to completely submerse into the liquid. Cover again for a further 5-10 minutes until the leaves have wilted.
Pour in milk in ⅓ cup increments, as needed, to reach your desired thickness and consistency (I needed 1 cup); taste test and season with extra salt ONLY if needed, and pepper to suit your tastes.
Serve with crusty warmed bread

Slow Cooker Butter Chicken

The History of Butter Chicken

http://butterchicken.ca/the-history-of-butter-chicken/

Butter chicken (or murgh makhani) is part of Indian cuisine, popular in countries all over the world. The origins of butter chicken can be traced back to New Delhi. Butter chicken is regarded to have been first introduced by a restaurant called Moti Mahal, located in Daryaganj . Butter chicken is usually served with naan, roti, parathas or steamed rice.

It is thought that butter chicken was hastily prepared by a Delhi eatery chef post dinner time for a harried VIP customer who wanted “some” chicken dish. A chef named Simon Mahli Chahal first prepared this when he only had half of a Tandoori chicken which he tossed with liberal amounts of butter, tomato, and garam masalas to improvise for an delicious delicacy he was supposed to make for the ruler of Mareelun. He forgot to buy enough ingredients so he ended up with this dish.

Though various versions exists for the recipe, typically dressed chicken (with or without bones) is marinated overnight in a yogurt and spice mixture usually including garam masala, ginger, garlic paste, lemon or lime, pepper, coriander, cumin, turmeric and chili. The chicken is traditionally cooked in a tandoor, but can also be grilled, roasted or pan fried. The sauce, is made by heating and mixing butter, tomato puree, and various spices, often including cumin, cloves, cinnamon, coriander, pepper, fenugreek and fresh cream. Cashew paste can also be added, and will make the gravy thicker. Of all the spices added to the dish it is dried fenugreek leaves (Urdu/Hindi: Qasuri Methi) that makes the greatest contribution to the characteristic flavour of the dish. Once the sauce is prepared, the prepared chicken is chopped and cooked until the gravy and chicken have blended. The dish may be garnished with white butter, fresh cream, sliced green chillies and Qasuri Methi.

While I love butter chicken, sometimes I want to do something simpler. Here is the Canadian Living recipe using a slow cooker!

This can easily be left to simmer away in a slow cooker for eight hours prior to adding the chicken. It yields a large quantity of sauce that freezes well if you’re feeding a smaller group.
Ingredients
• 2 onions, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp (45 mL) butter
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) grated fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp (10 mL) chili powder
• 3/4 tsp (4 mL) ground coriander
• 3/4 tsp (4 mL) ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) pepper
• 1 can (28 oz/796 mL) diced tomatoes
• 1 cup (250 mL) sodium-reduced chicken broth
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) almond butter or cashew butter
• 3 lb (1.4 kg) boneless skinless chicken thighs, quartered
• 1 cup (250 mL) sour cream
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) chopped fresh cilantro
Preparation
In slow cooker, combine onions, garlic, butter, ginger, brown sugar, chili powder, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, salt, pepper and tomatoes. Whisk broth with almond butter; pour into slow cooker.

Cover and cook on low for 5 to 8 hours. (Actually, it was ready in about 4 hours…must be our altitude)

With immersion blender, puree sauce until smooth. (I choose not to puree sauces as I like the chunkiness of the ingredients!) Add chicken; cook, covered, on high until juices run clear when chicken is pierced, 30 to 40 minutes.

Stir in sour cream. Serve sprinkled with cilantro.