Winter Soup with Enoki Mushrooms and Pea Shoots

Along with some some dear friends, we escaped the Midwest winter to the California desert for a very brief while to golf and relax. While we're glad to be back home, the weather there was so beautiful with unseasonably warm temperatures and abundant sunshine that it seems SE Wisconsin feels even colder now after being in California.

The first thing I wanted to make after we returned home was a hearty soup to make our tummies feel they were filled with sunshine.  

I made a basic beef stock with lots of veggies and had hoped to use the meat from the beef shanks used in making the beef broth, but they weren't as tender as I'd hoped and had too much gristle.  I made a quick trip back to the store to buy a very small chuck roast which I seared and roasted in the oven until it was falling-apart tender.  It was a great idea and one I'll continue to use when I make this soup in the future! A fortunate find of some fresh pea shoots and Enoki Mushrooms sounded like they would 'brighten' the soup beautifully, so those went into my cart also.

The flavorful crunch of the Enoki Mushrooms and the spring-time fresh taste of the pea shoots really took the soup from ordinary to extraordinary!

One of the inspirations for making this soup was a copy of Brodo - a Broth Bone Cookbook that I had recently ordered.  I found some some great ideas in it, one of which was to garnish soup with roasted garlic paste made from whole roasted garlic bulbs.  It was perfect on this hearty beef broth soup adding a wonderful depth of flavor.

 
I also made some simple cheese, garlic and herb puff pastry breadsticks using this recipe that I've shared before. This time, I added some granulated garlic along with a little dried basil, oregano, red pepper flakes and sea salt to the breadsticks.

We could still get plenty of snow here in March, but here's hoping the last three weeks of winter are kind to us all!

Winter Soup with Enoki Mushrooms and Pea Shoots

Printable Recipe Note: This broth if best if made a day ahead and refrigerated overnight so that any fat solids can be removed after chilling. You have several options for using the broth... 1. Drink it alone as a warm and rejuvenating cup of broth. 2. Add roasted beef and additional reserved vegetables the next day as stated in the recipe below. You may reuse the vegetables used in making the broth but they will be very soft. 3. Add cooked noodles of your choice to your bowl before ladling in the broth and top it with a soft-cooked egg and sliced scallions. Ingredients for making the broth: 3 pounds of meaty beef bones, such as beef shanks or shin 1 large onion, peeled and cut into large dice 3 celery stalks, washed and cut into large dice 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into large dice 1/2 bunch parsley, washed 3-4 sprigs of thyme, washed 1 Bay leaf (optional) 3-4 inner stalks (hearts) of celery with leaves 1 tablespoon ground pepper 1 tablespoon fine sea salt Cheesecloth for straining broth Additional optional ingredients to make your broth into vegetable and beef broth bowls as I did: 1 large onion, peeled and cut into large dice 3 celery stalks, washed and cut into large dice 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into large dice 2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into large dice 1/2 small green cabbage, washed, core removed and cut into 1" pieces 2 pounds of beef chuck roast, roasted and chilled overnight (see below) Optional Garnishes: 1-2 whole garlic bulbs, roasted and mashed into a paste with a fork (see below) Enoki mushrooms and pea shoots for garnish (optional) Additional chopped fresh parsley for garnish Directions With kitchen twine, tie together the parsley, thyme and celery heart stalks and optional bay leaf into a bunch (the Bouquet Garni). Heat a large stock or soup pot over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and and add the bones to pot. Sear until browned on all sides, about 20 minutes. Remove bones from pot and pour off excess oil. Return the bones to the pot and add water to cover bones by about 2-3 inches. Bring to a boil, skimming the foam off the top every 10 minutes. Boil for about 45 minutes. Add additional water if necessary to keep bones covered. Add the diced onions, celery, carrots and Bouquet Garni. Add salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered for about 4 hours. Add more water to the pot, if necessary to keep bones under water. After the broth has simmered for 4 hours, allow to cool for 15 minutes. Place a colander over a very large bowl or another pot and strain the bones and vegetables from the broth. I like to strain the broth a second time over a finer-mesh strainer lined with a layer of cheesecloth. Any solids which remain in the cheesecloth, skim off with a large spoon and discard. You will need to do this in stages. Discard the bones, bouquet garni and vegetables. Chill the broth overnight and skim off the fat solids the next day. I like to strain the broth again the next day over a strainer lined with cheesecloth to get rid of any additional fat solids or residue. At this point you will have a wonderful beef broth to enjoy any way you choose. To make vegetable beef soup using the broth follow these directions: The day you make the broth with the bones and vegetables, while it is simmering for the 4 hours, preheat the oven to 325F. Heat an oven-proof, covered pan or enamel cast-iron dutch oven with lid over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sear chuck roast until very browned on both sides, seasoning with salt and pepper on both sides when turning. When well-browned, add 1/3 cup of water to the pot, cover and place in the preheated oven for 2 hours. Chill and reserve for the broth bowls the next day. Your may use the liquid from the roasted beef in your beef broth also. At the same time you are roasting the meat, you may also roast the bulbs of garlic. Remove any loose skin from the garlic. Slice off the tops of the garlic bulb to expose the cloves. Rub with olive oil to coat and season with salt and pepper. Wrap the bulb/bulbs in aluminum foil, and roast until tender, about 1 hour. When cool enough to handle, squeeze the garlic cloves from their skin onto a cutting board. Mash them with a fork into a paste. Place in a bowl, cover and refrigerate until the next day. The day after you make the broth and have removed the fat solids and strained it, place the broth back in the pot and bring to a low boil. Add the additional optional vegetables and simmer until tender, about 45 minutes to an hour. Meanwhile, remove roasted chuck roast from refrigerator and slice into 1/4-1/2 inch thick julienne slices, removing any fat as you cut. Place as many slices of beef you desire into a soup bowl and then ladle the hot broth and vegetables on top. Garnish with a teaspoon of mashed roasted garlic, Enoki mushrooms, pea shoots and chopped parsley. Enjoy! Inspired by Brodo, A Broth Bone Cookbook