Mushroom Stew & Dumplings

Today was a day of wintery doldrums. I yearned to make something that would remind me of the stew my dearest Moth would make for re-heating after a day of pulling brush out in the frigid winter air. She always makes it with our home-grown beef; having none of that, I settled into the usual mostly-vegetables routine.

While Bean and I mulled around the kitchen, I steamed a small bundle o' asparagus. When it was done, it was pureed into the most pleasing of green shades! Next to the vast supply of mushrooms it held its own quite well (see picture).

The next step was to saute:

olive oil

scallions

garlic

and when this was browned (or at some random time) I added a bit of red wine and a massive pile of chopped mushrooms. They came from a 'wild medley' (crimini, oyster, shiitake, etc.), and it excited me very much. I added the asparagus puree, and let this simmer as I mixed up a simple dumpling dough:

3/8 c. flour

oregano, thyme, and garlic

~1/4 c. water

These I dropped (plop!) into the water, and then this all simmered and spat and whined while I cleaned up the kitchen for Ma'am. And then?

A delicious combination of spices! I'm not sure exactly what made this scrumptious to me, but I wish to know for the future. For now it shall remain a mystery.

Potato Chips

I wanted to make Moth something, since May 9th is Mother's Day -- so I attempted these potato chips, since that's all she seems to ever eat. They came out good but I decided against sending them because seriously, who in their right mind mails potatoes?

They were simply:

potato, sliced

soaked in olive oil

sprinkled with oregano + salt + pepper

and baked for about 10 minutes on each side, at 400 degrees. They were soft when they came out, but crisped up nicely in due time...

Baked Artichokes

Baked this in a cute little ramekin:

4 artichoke hearts

1 tomato, diced

olive oil

lime juice

salt

pepper

oregano

Don't know how long I kept them in there for; I was making truffles and blabbing incessantly at the same time. But they were tasty mixed with Simon's garlic chicken mix and some rice!