Summertime in the Kitchen

This week has been absolutely wonderful so far.  I started my Monday morning with a bowl of oatmeal (1/3 cup oats, 2/3 cup coffee/vanilla almond milk mixture), topped with chia seeds, hemp seeds, cacao nibs, almond butter and fruit.

Add coffee and we're all set.

I had lunch ready for when Christopher came home on his break - homemade mushroom soup, and tuna melts.

I can't remember if I had ever made homemade mushroom soup before this, but either way, it turned out beautifully.  I served it up with saltine crackers for crunching over top, because you just gotta!

Easy Mushroom Soup

1 ounce dried mushrooms
1-2 T olive oil (truffle oil if you have it; that's what I used)
2 leaves of fresh sage
1 sprig rosemary
1/2 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3/4 tsp salt
pinch of white pepper
1 lb mushrooms (mixture of white and cremini or shiitake)
3 cups chicken or beef stock
1 T unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream

Soak the dried mushrooms in 1 cup warm water for about 20 minutes or so, then remove the mushrooms and chop, and strain liquid through a coffee filter, reserving the liquid to add later.

Heat the oil in a dutch oven on medium.  Add the herbs and sizzle for a minute or so to infuse the oil.  Add the onion, garlic, salt and pepper.  Cook five minutes, or until onion is translucent, but not browned (add more oil if needed).  Turn on to high heat and add mushrooms.  Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Add stock, dried mushrooms and dried mushroom liquid.  Simmer with the lid on for about 30 minutes.  Remove the herbs.  Add the butter and cream.  Puree in a blender or with an immersion blender until smooth (in batches if necessary).  Return to pot and keep on a simmer until ready to serve.

For the tuna melts, I mixed a drained can of tuna with some mayo, grainy mustard, dijon mustard, minced red onion, minced celery, salt and pepper.  I toasted the bread, then topped it with the tuna mixture, and some grated smoked cheddar.  I broiled on low for about 10-15 minutes, watching closely, and then broiled on high for about a minute.

On Monday morning I also worked on a couple pie crusts ...

And then I finished off the pie in the afternoon.

Last summer I really delved into pie making, and made a different kind each week.  The peach pie was a big hit, so I thought I'd start my summer baking with that.

Christopher looooooves his desserts.

When he got home from work we chilled out and visited for a while, before starting on dinner.  Christopher took the lead on this dish, which has become a new favourite of ours.

I posted the recipe for this rosemary polenta with eggplant here.  We topped it with smoked cheddar - soooo good.

For dessert ...

Peach pie of course!

With a Monday this delicious, the week was definitely off to a great start.

I always have a list of things that I want to do in the summer, including walks around the lake with friends, farmers' market trips, camping, experimenting with new recipes, and baking things I've never baked before, etc..  I have so many things I'm looking forward to making this summer. 

What is something fun on your summer to-do list?