BC used to be Before Connie in our home. Now it's also Before Covid. Before our lives got upended. We had season tickets to six different theatres in Indy and Carmel. Had being the operative word. When we went to IRT - which is Indiana Repertory Theatre - we stopped at Palomino's for dinner. We ate in the bar and always had their Portobello mushroom soup and their Chop Chop Salad. Now, not only are we not going to the theatre but Palomino is closed. Permanently. Makes me sad every time I walk by. And, I really missed that soup and salad.
Now, as luck would have it, for many years WTHR and Marsh put out an annual cookbook at Christmas. It's a long story, but thanks to my friend, Lisa, I own all the copies. Ok, the short version. I was missing one year. Lisa's wonderful mom died. She came into town to clean out her condo. All her friends were invited to come over and say hi. Of course we did. She tells me I must take something. Wound up taking a bowl and a pitcher. Navy blue with sunflowers. That bowl is my FAVORITE bowl. I love it! And, best of all, I think of Lisa and Jan when I use it. So, I asked about cookbooks. Connie rolled his eyes. I have plenty. Jan had about a dozen cookbooks. And, there it was, the missing WTHR/Marsh cookbook. It too has become one of my favorites.
Back to Palomino. One of the recipes in the 2008 cookbook is their Chop Chop Salad. I made it in 2008 and hadn't made it since. On to the internet for the soup recipe. SCORE! It's on Epicurious. But, they always served bread with our soup and salad. Ina Garten's new cookbook has an outrageous garlic bread recipe that had my name written all over it. Good to go.
There's a lot of chopping and a lot of steps here for all three recipes. It's not a 20 minute meal. Not by a long shot. But, it's worth all the time you put into it! We gave the soup and the garlic bread a five and the salad a four. But, it was almost a five! Now, keep in mind that Connie is NOT fond of soup. And, he loves this!
Palomino Portobello Mushroom Soup
Ingredients:
2/3 c unsalted butter
8 oz leeks, white and green, cross sliced at 1/4"
8 oz yellow, onion, diced
8 oz portobello mushroom caps, chopped (I used three big shitakes)
12 oz cremini mushrooms, chopped
5 oz AP flour (I used 1/4 c)
6 oz chicken stock
2 oz dry sherry
1 qt heavy cream
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/4 oz kosher salt
Directions
Melt half of the butter in a stock pot or dutch oven. Add the leeks and onions and cook for about five minutes or until the onions are translucent
Add the chopped mushrooms and cook for about 5-10 minutes or until they're tender
Add the cream, sherry, cayenne and salt and let it simmer
While you're cooking the mushroom mixture, melt the rest of the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour and cook it for a few minutes. Whisk in the chicken stock slowly. Then, let that simmer for half an hour.
Take about a quarter of a cup of the warm cream from the mushroom mixture and stir it slowly into the roux. Then, add another and another until you have a cream sauce that can be poured into the mushroom mixture.
Let the soup simmer for 15 minutes. You can serve it topped with some more sherry.
adapted from Epicurious
Palomino Chop-Chop Salad
Ingredients:
Balsamic Vinegar Dressing
2 egg yolks
2 c extra virgin olive oil
3/4 c balsamic vinegar
3 cloves finely mince garlic (I used roasted garlic)
3/4 t kosher salt
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
Salad
3 c julienned romaine greens
1 T julienned fresh basil
2 T provolone cheese, cut into 1/4" cubes
3 T grated Parmesan plus more for serving
1 T garbanzo beans
2 T julienned wine salami (I used genoa)
1/4 c julienned smoked turkey breast (I used turkey deli meat)
2 oz diced tomato
ground black pepper
Directions:
Palomino tosses this and serves it that way. I did mine like a cobb salad, then tossed it once it got to the table. To make the dressing, you whip the egg yolks then slowly drizzle in the olive oil followed by the vinegar. Then, mix in the garlic and the salt and pepper. This will make dressing for about six of the salads.
adapted from The Sunrise Cookbook, 2008
Outrageous Garlic Bread
Ingredients
12 T unsalted butter
1 head garlic, cloves separated and peeled (I'd roasted garlic so I just squeezed the cloves out of one of the heads)
1 c freshly grated Parmesan
2 T minced fresh parsley
2 t lemon zest
1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 20-24" long crusty baguette (I used an Italian loaf)
fleur de sel or sea salt
Directions:
You'll need to bake this at 450 so preheat your oven
You can handle the garlic one of two ways. Ina calls for melting the butter and slowly cooking the cloves for 20 minutes. I slice the top off a head of garlic, drizzled it with olive oil, put it in an ovenproof dish and baked it for an hour at 300. Then, once the butter was melted, I just squeezed the head of garlic and all the cloves popped out, nicely roasted. At that point I added the parmesan, parsley, zest, pepper flakes and salt and pepper and let it simmer for about 10 minutes,
Next, you prep your bread. Cut it in half lengthwise. Put the halves on a half sheet or in a 9x13 pan. Something to catch the drips of butter. Because there will be drips of butter! Then, score the bread into serving pieces but don't cut all the way through the loaf.
Slather the bread with the butter mixture. Bake it for 5-7 minutes. You want the top to be bubbling and a little brown.
adapted from Modern Comfort Food by Ina Garten
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