Russian Wild Mushroom Soup With Farro Food

MUSHROOM AND FARRO SOUP

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add mushrooms, onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables have softened and moisture has evaporated, 7 to 10 minutes.
• Add farro to the pot and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes. Season with garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, oregano, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Pour in white wine and cook until wine has mostly evaporated, 3 to 5 minutes. Pour in broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until farro is softened, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Stir in frozen peas and cook until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Remove soup from heat and discard bay leaf before serving.

FARRO WITH WILD MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Place porcini mushrooms in a bowl and cover with warm water; soak until mushrooms are reconstituted, 20 to 30 minutes. Drain and chop mushrooms.
• Heat olive oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Saute brown mushrooms with a pinch of salt in hot oil until slightly golden and moisture cooks off, 5 to 10 minutes. Add chopped porcini mushrooms, reduce heat to medium, and cook and stir until hot, 2 to 4 minutes.
• Stir onion into mushrooms; cook and stir until translucent and golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic; cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Pour farro into mushroom mixture; stir until farro is coated in olive oil. Increase heat to high and add 1 cup chicken broth with a pinch of salt to mushroom mixture; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover the pot with a lid, and simmer, stirring once, until liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes.
• Increase heat to high and stir remaining chicken broth into farro mixture; bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover the pot with a lid, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until farro is starting to get tender, about 15 minutes. Remove the lid from the pot and continue simmering uncovered until farro reaches desired tenderness, about 15 minutes more.
• Reduce heat to low; stir creme fraiche and parsley into farro mixture. Season with salt and black pepper. Stir Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese into farro and ladle into bowls.

FARRO-MUSHROOM SOUP

Steps:

• Soak farro overnight in water to cover; drain.
• In a small bowl, pour boiling water over porcini; let stand 5 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid. Chop porcini.
• In a medium saucepan, combine farro, broth, and porcini liquid. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until almost tender, about 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet over high. Add onion, garlic, and porcini mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent, about 4 minutes. Add wild mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms have released liquid and begun to brown, 6 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in sherry; cook until evaporated, about 1 minute.
• Stir mushroom mixture into soup; cook, partially covered, until farro is tender, about 15 minutes. Season with vinegar, salt, and pepper. Serve, sprinkled with dill.

RUSSIAN WILD MUSHROOM SOUP WITH FARRO

Steps:

• Soak the dried mushrooms in enough boiling water to cover them for about 1 hour. Drain, reserving the soaking liquid, and chop coarsely.
• Melt the butter in a large heavy-based saucepan, add the onion, celery and fresh mushrooms and fry gently for about 15 minutes.
• Add the farro, the dried mushrooms, plus their soaking liquid, and the stock. Season with salt and pepper to taste, cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Add the potato and bouquet garni and simmer until the farro is cooked and the vegetables are tender - about another 20 minutes. Stir in the dill and lemon juice, then check the seasoning and adjust if necessary.
• Serve hot, with spoonfuls of soured cream on top.

REALLY WILD MUSHROOM SOUP

Steps:

• Wash all the mushrooms in lukewarm water in a deep bowl. Mix the mushrooms well to loosen the dirt. Remove them from the water by hand, leaving the dirt in the bottom of the bowl. Repeat until there is no dirt. Remove the stems from the oyster and shiitake mushrooms, then slice all the mushrooms. Keep the domestic mushrooms separate from the other types.
• Heat an 8-quart sauce pot over moderately high heat. Add the olive oil, the domestic mushrooms, and the minced shallots, and cook until the mushrooms are soft. Add the remaining mushrooms, and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the vermouth, and reduce for 5 minutes.
• Add the milk, fresh thyme, garlic, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, and lower to a simmer. Cook for 30 minutes, then remove the thyme sprig, and season with salt and pepper. Allow to cool slightly, then puree in the blender.
• Meanwhile, quickly blanch the strips of black trumpet mushrooms in salted water. Cool and add to enoki mushrooms and chives.
• To serve, reheat the soup in a sauce pot or in the microwave. Divide the tossed Enoki and black trumpet mushrooms into 6 equal portions, and place them in the center of 6 bowls. Pour the soup into the bowls at the table, pouring over the mushroom mixture to heat it up.

MUSHROOM-FARRO SOUP WITH PARMESAN BROTH

Steps:

• Heat oven to 300 degrees and bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Spread farro out on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice to toast the grains evenly.
• While farro toasts, place dried mushrooms in a small bowl and cover completely with 1 1/2 cups hot water from the saucepan. Cover the bowl and set aside to hydrate.
• Place a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add the butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Once the butter has melted, add the shallots and 1/2 teaspoon salt and sauté until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 2 minutes, adding a splash of water if necessary to prevent it from scorching.
• Stir in the toasted farro. Carefully scoop the dried mushrooms from their soaking liquid and add them to the pot. Strain their soaking liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into the pot as well, discarding any grit left in the sieve. Add Parmesan broth, white wine and thyme to the pot and bring to a boil over high.
• Once liquid boils, lower to a simmer and cook, covered, for 25 minutes. Uncover the pot and continue to cook at an active simmer until the farro is al dente, swimming in a lightly creamy broth, another 25 minutes. Remove from the heat, discard thyme stems and stir in the grated Parmesan. Season with black pepper to taste.
• When the farro is almost done, cook the fresh mushrooms: Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium-high. Add half the torn fresh mushrooms, stir to coat, then cook, undisturbed, for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then cook until the mushrooms are golden and caramelized, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the mushrooms to a medium bowl. Repeat with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil and remaining fresh mushrooms, transferring cooked mushrooms to bowl. Stir 2 teaspoons vinegar into cooked mushrooms; season to taste.
• To serve, ladle soup into shallow bowls. Top with seared mushrooms and extra Parmesan, to taste.