Shiitake Soup Recipe for my Woes

It's that time of year again, and I have been feeling downright lousy as of late:  coughing, congestion, weakness, and extreme tiredness.  Yesterday, though, my body was screaming out for soup.  I had just enough energy, so I made this soup and it turned out fabulous!  My body thanked me. 

Dried Shiitake Mushroom Soup:

2 c. dehydrated shiitake mushrooms

2 carrots, diced

1 onion, thinly sliced as quarter moons

1 T minced garlic

1 T grated fresh ginger

2 T olive oil

1 15-oz can turkey broth (you may use chicken broth, but the turkey broth turned out to be a wonderful flavor-enhancer).

½ c. fresh spinach

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

¼ c. frozen edamame (optional)

Pour very hot water over mushrooms to rehydrate for about 20 minutes.  Heat oil in pan and sauté until translucent.  Season with pepper and add garlic, ginger, and carrots.  Sauté on low for 1-2 minutes.  Season with salt and add mushrooms with the mushroom broth it was soaking in.  This is an important step as the broth adds additional flavor.  Add edamame, turkey broth, and spinach.  Simmer until vegies are cooked through.  Sample and season to taste.

**This is my original recipe.  I love sharing, though, so please link back to this blog.  Thanks!

This week I am linking up with the following parties:

http://www.designsbygollum.blogspot.com/.

Just a Random Photo

How is it that nature, when warning us of an ominous storm, can be so beautiful at the same time?  I stumbled upon this photo from last summer and just had to share it.  No photo editing needed to display beauty here.

Tips from the Great Depression ~ Brown Rice

Something about the frame of mind during the Great Depression fascinates me.  For the man, usually the head of the household back then, it must have been a demoralizing time.  Meanwhile the female often had to make do with whatever she had on hand and could not run out to the local Jewel. 

My grandparents raised their families during the Great Depression.   My maternal grandparents lived on a farm and found that era to be more bearable than others who did not live the self-sufficient life.  Things were tough for my paternal grandparents, though, for they lived in the city.  My grandfather took whatever jobs could be had, such as shoveling coal for homeowners' heating needs. 

There once were coal bin doors on the side of people’s homes and Grandpa would shovel coal into the homes this way.  He also delivered ice to homes, as refrigeration was performed via ‘ice boxes’ back then.  My own father and uncle would help out by selling eggs door to door.  My DH’s own grandfather lost his job with the railroad during the Great Depression and had to earn a living digging graves.  Life was tough. 

Since that generation is starting to pass away and no longer available for picking their brains (or their memories have faded), it is interesting to research available media as to the little ways homemakers made ends meet.  I plan to write a series on this topic and would like to begin with a very simple tip I found that would save money by conserving energy and yet provide a very healthy and affordable alternative to white rice.

As I perform my research, I have grown rather fond of Miss Meade’s column for housewives (Chicago Daily Tribune, 1936) for “guiding housewives to the best knowledge of cookery, hostessing, and budgeting.”  (So you mean they still had time and money for hostessing during the Great Depression?)  By the way, my computer flagged ‘hostessing’ as an unknown word:) 

Miss Meade explains what brown rice is and is not.  Apparently, Chicagoans, where Meade’s column had its readership, believed brown rice to be something that was white rice cooked in such a way to render it brown. Brown rice is, in fact, rice with its nourishing outer layers still intact.  She then explains an energy-saving method of cooking brown rice.  This is the tip I love since one of my beefs with brown rice is the lengthy cook time. 

Measure out 2 cups of brown rice.

Soak the pot of rice for at least 1 hour to soften the outer bran layer and to rid it of some of the starch. (I soaked the rice for over 2 hours.) 

In the pic below, the left-hand rice is raw brown rice, while the right side is what it looks like after soaking.

  

Pour this off and refill a pot with 2 quarts of water, bring to a boil and pour in the rice and a teaspoon of salt. Fluff with fork occasionally until tender (I omitted the fluffing).

I altered this a bit after the first trial run to be 1 cup rice with 2 cups water and left out the salt, brought to a boil and simmered for 20 minutes, covered.

I found this method to work and wondered why I did not learn of this method before?  Oldies are indeed goodies;)

NATURE AND USE OF BROWN RICE ARE DISCUSSED: Delectable Dishes Employ Its Hearty Meade, Mary

Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963); Jan 10, 1936;
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune.