Soups are fantastically nutritious and quick and easy to prepare.
Alternatively, cooking soup in bulk and freezing it for when you need it, is the winning solution for many time and energy-conscious eco-friendly families.
And bread? Bread recipes are popular on the internet, but how do you know if they will turn out well and taste as good as they look in the pictures?
We have put together some tasty home-made bread and soup recipes created and perfected by the South African Mushroom Farmers' Association to help you get cooking this weekend.
Vegan creamy cashew nut mushroom soup
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
650g mixed cultivated mushrooms (big browns, portobellos, portabellinis, buttons, etc)
1 large onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp sherry vinegar
1 tbsp white miso paste
1 tbsp fresh sage leaves, minced
4 cups vegetable or mushroom stock
½ cup raw cashew nuts
Crispy sage leaves
1 handful of fresh sage leaves
¼ cup olive oil
Olive oil, for cooking
Salt and pepper, to taste
Method
Roughly chop the different mushrooms.
Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large Dutch oven or pot.
Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are golden brown and their moisture has evaporated.
Scoop out a few golden brown mushrooms for topping the soup when serving. Set aside.
Add onion and cook until softened.
Add garlic and cook until fragrant.
Add vinegar and cook for 2 minutes.
Pour in the stock, and bring to a gentle simmer.
Stir in the miso paste and season with salt and pepper.
Simmer for 5 minutes for all the flavours to come together.
Place cashew nuts in the jug of a blender.
Scoop out half of the soup and add it to the blender.
Begin blending at a very low speed and work up to high until the soup is completely smooth.
(Be careful when blending hot liquids - make sure you allow the steam to escape out the top of the jug)
Return the blended soup to the pot, and stir to combine.
Taste to adjust seasoning.
Just before serving make some crispy sage leaves.
Place the ¼ cup of olive oil in a small saucepan.
Heat until a test leaf sizzles immediately in the oil.
Fry a few sage leaves at a time until crisp, ± 10 seconds.
Transfer quickly with a fork, before they brown, to a tray lined with a paper towel.
Sprinkle generously with salt.
Serve the soup scattered with a few reserved mushrooms, crispy sage leaves, and a fresh crack of black pepper. Enjoy!
Mushroom and paneer stuffed naan
Makes: 8 large naan bread
Ingredients
Naan dough
60ml warm water
1 tbsp honey or sugar
¾ tsp active dry yeast
180ml full cream milk, warmed
260g full cream plain Greek-style yoghurt
600g flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb of soda
½ tsp salt
Filling
250g button or portabello mushrooms, sliced
225g mozzarella cheese, grated
225g paneer, grated
½ cup coriander, roughly chopped
¼ cup chives, chopped
1 clove of garlic, grated
½ tsp dried chilli flakes
4 tbsp butter, melted
Garlic butter
4 tbsp butter, melted and still warm
2 tsp garlic, finely grated
1 tbsp coriander, chopped
Olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Method
To make the dough
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the warm water, honey, and yeast. Allow sitting for 5-10 minutes until the yeast is activated and begins to foam.
Add the milk, yoghurt, flour, baking powder, bicarb of soda, and salt.
Mix on medium speed until the flour is completely incorporated, about 5 minutes.
Dust a clean work surface with flour.
Tip the dough out and knead until it forms a smooth ball.
Grease a large mixing bowl and place the dough inside and cover with cling film.
Allow sitting in a warm place for 1 hour, until doubled in size.
To make the filling
Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large frying pan on medium heat.
Sauté the mushrooms until they have released all their liquid and are golden brown.
Season lightly and place in a bowl.
To the bowl add the mozzarella, paneer, herbs, garlic, chilli flakes and mix well.
When ready to make the naan divide the dough into 8 balls.
Flatten each ball out into a round.
Add 3-4 tbsp of the mushroom and cheese mixture to the centre.
Fold the dough up and around the cheese, pinching it in the centre to seal it.
Using a rolling pin, roll each piece of stuffed dough into a large oval.
Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
Heat a large cast iron pan over high heat.
Brush both sides of the naan with melted butter.
Grease the pan lightly with a paper towel dipped in olive oil.
Carefully place the hot naan into the pan.
Cover with a lid and set a one-minute timer.
Flip and cook, uncovered for another 2 minutes on the second side.
Large deeply golden spots should appear all over both sides.
Keep the cooked naan bread in a warm oven while you finish the rest.
To serve
Combine all the garlic butter ingredients and brush liberally over the warm naan.
Serve straight away with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt.
Brothy chicken and mushroom soup
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
Broth base
6 free-range chicken thighs, skin on & bone in
4 cloves garlic, smashed
± 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
± 3 bay leaves
4 large portobello mushroom steaks, roughly torn into chunks
(or 6-8 large brown mushrooms)
2 carrots, roughly diced
2 onions, skin on, quartered
2 stalks of celery, leaves included, roughly diced
Handful fresh parsley
± 3l chicken or vegetable stock
To finish the soup
1 large carrot, very thinly sliced
1 stalk celery, very thinly sliced
2 spring onions, finely sliced
250g white button mushrooms, sliced
Salt and pepper, to taste
Fresh dill fronds, to finish
Method
Place chicken thighs in a large Dutch oven or soup pot.
Add the garlic, thyme, bay leaves, mushrooms, carrots, onions, celery, and parsley.
Cover with enough chicken or vegetable stock.
You can also use water.
Bring to a gentle simmer.
Cook until the chicken is very tender and pulls away from the bone. About 1 hour.
Remove the chicken thighs.
Discard the skin and bones. Shred the chicken and set it aside.
Continue to simmer the soup for another 30 minutes to 1 hour until the soup is concentrated in flavour and very tasty.
Strain through a fine mesh strainer. Discard all the aromatics.
Return broth to the stove. Taste to adjust seasoning. If you started with water you will need a good amount of salt and pepper.
To finish the soup
Add the finely sliced carrot, celery, and spring onions. Simmer until tender.
Add the white button mushrooms and simmer until just cooked through.
Return the shredded chicken to the pot.
Stir everything together.
Ladle the soup into bowls and finish with plenty of fresh dill fronds.
Serve with toasted slices of seed loaf and enjoy!
Gluten-free mushroom and zucchini bread
Makes: 1 loaf
Ingredients
± 1 packed cup shredded zucchini (from about 2 large zucchini or marrows)
125ml good quality olive oil
125ml full cream plain Greek-style yoghurt
2 large eggs
Zest of 1 lemon
325g gluten-free flour mix
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarb of soda
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, minced
250g small portabella mushrooms, sliced
Olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Method
Preheat the oven to 180˚C.
Lightly brush a 22cm loaf tin with olive oil.
Line the bottom with a baking paper “sling” so it is easy to lift the loaf out when cool.
Squeeze the water out of the grated zucchini.
In a medium bowl combine the zucchini, olive oil, yoghurt, eggs, and lemon zest.
Mix well.
In another bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, baking powder, bicarb of soda, salt, all the spices, and the fresh rosemary.
Heat a light drizzle of olive oil in a large frying pan and cook the mushrooms until golden brown. Season lightly.
Add the mushrooms to the flour mixture.
Mix to coat the mushrooms in the flour.
Pour in the wet ingredients and fold everything together until well-mixed.
Scrape batter into the prepared tin.
Bake for ± 1 hour until golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the middle of the bread comes out clean.
Let cool in the loaf tin for 15 minutes.
Remove the bread from the tin and cool on a wire rack completely before slicing.
Serve the mushroom and zucchini bread with a generous swish of herb butter and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, enjoy!
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