AM we don't have Stew Leonard's here so I don't know how this will compare. I have this in my to try file and others have certainly liked it a lot. It was posted on the Mushroom thread. Don't be put off by the length of the post, I included the comments that were on the original post. Lee RE: Cookalong #18----------------MUSHROOMS clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings * Posted by dishesdone (My Page) on Tue, Dec 29, 09 at 10:32 Renee, this has no cream and it's a fabulous soup. Delicious. It has butter, but I suppose you can use a nice olive oil! Mushroom Soup (posted SusanQ at GB's ~ I found this on Epicurious and posted some of the reader's comments as well. One comment suggests making parmesan croutons which I used and were a wonderful addition) Makes 4 servings. By Anthony Bourdain with Jose de Meirelles and Philippe Lajaunie Bloomsbury 6 tablespoons butter 1 small onion, thinly sliced 12 ounces button mushrooms 4 cups light chicken stock or broth 1 sprig of flat parsley Salt and pepper 2 ounces high-quality sherry (don't use the cheap grocery-store variety; it's salty and unappetizing and will ruin your soup) Equipment Medium saucepan Wooden spoon Blender (I used an immersion blender) In the medium saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons/28 g of the butter over medium heat and add the onion. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent, then add the mushrooms and the remaining butter. Let the mixture sweat for about 8 minutes, taking care that the onion doesn't take on any brown color. Stir in the chicken stock and the parsley and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat and simmer for about an hour. After an hour, remove the parsley and discard. Let the soup cool for a few minutes, then transfer to the blender and carefully blend at high speed until smooth. Do I have to remind you to do this in stages, with the blender's lid firmly held down, and with the weight of your body keeping that thing from flying off and allowing boiling hot mushroom purée to erupt all over your kitchen? When blended, return the mix to the pot, season with salt and pepper, and bring up to a simmer again. Add the sherry, mix well, and serve immediately. To astound your guests with a Wild Mushroom Soup, simply replace some of those button mushrooms with a few dried cèpes or morels, which have been soaked until soft, drained, and squeezed. Not too many; the dried mushrooms will have a much stronger taste, and you don't want to overwhelm the soup. Pan sear, on high heat, a single small, pretty, fresh chanterelle or morel for each portion, and then slice into a cute fan and float on top in each bowl. And if you really want to ratchet your soup into pretentious (but delicious), drizzle a few tiny drops of truffle oil over the surface just before serving. Why the hell not? Everybody else is doing it. reviews cookykamp on 12/06/06 This soup was an awesome surprise. Imagine, a mushroom soup with no cream that is absolutely to die for! And so easy too. I topped mine with home-made garlic roasted croutons and fresh grated parmesan. Can't wait to try this with Portobellas and beef broth. YUM-O! akalish from New York, NY on 10/30/06 This recipe is amazing, but a few changes are imperative. I used portobello mushrooms because I had them on hand, and I allowed the onions to brown to deepen the flavor (and because I knew the portobellos would darken the soup anyway). I did not bother with the sherry since I didn't have any on hand, nor the parsley because my chicken broth was already quite flavorful. I used a hand blender to make the process a bit easier, and allow it to cool so I could de-fat it the next day since my guests prefer lighter foods. Most importantly(!!!), I finished the soup with a few drops of black truffle oil, which was pungently delicious. I also took a baguette, sliced it and topped each slice with some freshly grated parmesean. I melted them in the oven, inevitably making frico alongside the croutons, until the bread was nice and crusty. I put a crouton in each soup (serving as a garnish) and served a plate of extra croutons and frico on the table alongside the soup. The black truffle oil and the parmesean-croutons MADE this soup. It was phenomenal. This is at the top of my list for my next dinner party. Delicious! And FYI: when I say crouton, I do mean baguette slices, not cubes--more like crostini but without brushing them with oil and baking them first. A Cook from Palo Alto, CA on 10/27/06 wonderful flavor! I doubled the recipe and added one half ounce dried porcini mushrooms, soaked and added the strained mushroom liquid to the broth. I was very glad I doubled the recipe! malby from NYC on 01/16/06 Made this for my second Christmas in a row--guests actually requested it before RSVPing! We loved it again, and I played with it this year by picking up a dried wild mushroom stir-fry mix. Re-moistened the mushrooms as the package instructed and used the reserved water in addition to the chicken stock. Wow! Adina A from Philadelphia, PA on 11/13/05 A very simple yet elegant and complex soup. One way to make it even easier to make is to put the mushrooms and onions in the cuisinart before you fry them. That way you don't have to whiz them after the sou

Sol, I've found through Dad's doctor that anything can be a diabetic friendly food if it's factored into their daily allowance of sugars and carbs and if portion sizes are kept realistic. That said, a jar of homemade salsa and some homemade wheat or corn tortillas, baked, is much healthier as a snack than a sweet. Dad, however, loves his sugared up, highly sweetened and super-refined food and he's not going to give it up, no matter the health ramifications. So I make things like pecan halves, tossed with a beaten egg white, then sprinkled with a mix of a teaspoonful of cinnamon and artificial sweetener to equal half a cup. I think I used about 3 cups of pecan halves, last time. A handful is a relatively healthy snack, given some other choices. He also likes carrot cake, so I make carrot cake muffins with whole wheat flour and keep the raisins to a reasonable level, no frosting. Zucchini muffins or bread are another possibility because the zucchini and spices "hide" the whole wheat a bit and the sugar can be reduced without noticing it a lot. Now, if I could get him to eat those things without a bunch of butter.... anyway, here are a couple of recipes: CHIPPETY DO DAH! 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour 1/2 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated) 6 tbsp. unsweetened applesauce 1/4 cup canned pure pumpkin 1/4 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters) 2 1/2 tbsp. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips 2 tbsp. brown sugar, not packed 3/4 tsp. vanilla extract 1/4 tsp. baking soda 1/8 tsp. salt Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients except for the chocolate chips (flour, Splenda, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt). Mix well. In a separate bowl, mix together all wet ingredients (applesauce, pumpkin, egg substitute, and vanilla extract). Add this mixture to the dry ingredients, and stir until completely blended. Then, fold in the chocolate chips. Spray a large baking pan with nonstick spray, and spoon batter into 8 evenly spaced circles. Place pan in the oven for about 10 minutes (until cookies appear done and feel firm). Remove pan from the oven and allow cookies to cool slightly. For best results, enjoy while the cookies are still warm and the chips are still melty! MAKES 8 SERVINGS Serving Size: 1 medium-sized cookie (about 1.5 oz.) Calories: 88 Fat: 1.5g Sodium: 93mg Carbs: 17g Fiber: 2g Sugars: 6g Protein: 3g Succulent Zucchini Bread (makes 2 loaves, 10 servings each) butter-flavored cooking spray 3 large eggs or 3/4 cup egg substitute 1/3 cup canola oil 7 packets DiabetiSweet 1 tablespoon natural vanilla 1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, packed in natural juice, well drained 2 cups grated zucchini 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 teaspoon salt (optional) 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional) 1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly coat two 8-inch loaf pans with cooking spray. 2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs; add the oil, DiabetiSweet, vanilla, pineapple, and zucchini. 3. In a second large bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt (if using). If using, add the walnuts and toss. 4. Mix the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just combined. Spoon into the prepared loaf pans. 5. Bake for 40 minutes or until a tester inserted near the middle comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out and cool on wire racks. Note: This fantastic loaf freezes well. You can top it with frozen fat-free, sugar-free vanilla yogurt, if desired. Per serving (bread only): 118 calories (35% calories from fat), 3 g protein, 5 g total fat (0.6 g saturated fat), 16 g carbohydrate, 2 g dietary fiber, 32 mg cholesterol,149 mg sodium Diabetic exchanges: 1 carbohydrate (1 bread/starch), 1 fat Hmmm, where is RobinKate? We can all say whatever we want, but she LIVES with it. I'll bet she has some good recipes. Annie

Sugar is a carbohydrate, last I checked... Furthermore, beware of the commercially prepared sugar-free products. Most of them contain Sorbitol which is sugar alcohol (but doesn't contain alcohol). It is a carb and a different kind of sugar but still, it is sugar. Everything that ends with -ol is sugar alcohol and a big no-no for the diabetics. Another thing is, lactose-free milk. This thing is good for the lactose-intolerant folks. The process of getting rid of lactose is adding a special enzyme to the regular milk, so that the lactose (milk sugar) is converted into 2 simple sugars, one of them is glucose. Meaning that it's best for the diabetics to avoid lactose-free milk altogether. Someone has posted about a diet with 250 carbs a day for the diabetic; to me it sounds a bit extreme. My carbs a day are as follows: up to 4 carbs a meal and up to 2 carbs a snack. 3 meals and 3 snacks = 18 carbs, give or take. I was told I can have an occasional candy. So far so good.

I've been reading these and all of trailrunner's post. They are just great. All the hints were great. I bake bread out of boredom, I rarely use a recipe, for better or worse and like the wet doughs as well as quicker higher yeast doughs for pizza. Someday I'll get that "super peel" with the cloth belt thingy. I am forced to pre-cook my thin pizza crusts without one- My favorite bread is an olive bread that is made locally in the East Bay and sold now only at the local Berkeley farmer's market- you can go to their bakery, and they will sell stuff to you, but it's not a store front, no sales help, no hours- if they are there they'll sell it to you- they're also fresh pasta makers- 'Phoenix Pastificio'- if you're ever in the area. I've never tried to make that bread, it's almost Holy to me...( although I know he uses a biga and those black Kalamata olives). It has a thin almost black burnt crust, with large ciabatta holes to the crumb and flavor to die for.