Spicy Miso Soup with Roasted Shitake Mushrooms & Green Beans

I recently had the opportunity to get to work with Reynolds to help create recipes for their Endless Table Program on Instagram. If you aren’t familiar with the program, it is basically a bird’s eye view of a table featuring countless dishes that are all connected. It’s really cool, definitely check it out on Instagram, and visit the website for all the recipes.

Reynolds sent me some parchment paper and foil in order to help me create some of the meals for the table. I pretty much use the parchment paper whenever I am roasting anything in the oven. Literally nothing will stick to it and it also makes cleaning up super quick.

For my first recipe, I created a vegetarian miso soup with roasted shitake mushrooms and green beans.   Although summer is around the corner, I love to make these Asian inspired soups all year long. They are so simple to make and there are countless ways you can change them up.

This soup makes a great lunch but is also perfect for a light dinner. I usually like to add a bit of extra heat to the soup with some sriricha right before I eat it.

Spicy Miso Soup with Roasted Shitake Mushrooms & Green Beans

Ingredients

• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 3-4 tablespoons yellow miso paste
• 2 tablespoons hot water
• 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 Thai chili, scored
• 1 package (8 oz) rice noodle
• 6-8 ounces shitake mushrooms, sliced
• 6-8 ounces green beans, cut into thirds
• 1 large egg
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoon sea salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with Reynolds® Parchment Paper. Place mushrooms on baking sheet and drizzle with half the olive oil and half the salt. Set aside momentarily
2. Centre green beans on a sheet of Reynolds Wrap® Aluminum Foil and drizzle with remaining olive oil and salt. Fold over edges of foil to create a packet. Ensure it is tightly sealed
3. Place the mushrooms and the foil pack green beans in the oven and roast for 10 minutes, stirring the mushrooms halfway through.
4. Heat vegetable broth to a low simmer in a medium pot. Pour in the soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice vinegar. Add the whole Thai chili to simmering broth (this will be removed later)
5. Whisk the miso paste with hot water in small bowl until smooth then add to the broth. Continue to simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
6. Cook noodles according to package directions while the broth is simmering. When the noodles are done, evenly divide them into two serving bowls.
7. Bring a small pot of water to a boil and carefully drop in the egg to cook for 6 minutes. Remove from water and peel.
8. Divide the mushrooms and green beans between the two bowls and then pour the broth evenly between the bowls.
9. Slice the egg in half and place 1 half in each soup. Garnish with sliced green onion.

The Best Homemade Hot Chicken Sandwich 

This sandwich is about as close to perfect as a chicken sandwich can be. There isn’t too much going on in it, but this is one of those times where keeping it simple is the way to go.

The chicken is double dipped in flour that’s seasoned with cayenne and paprika, which creates a perfectly crisp and spicy crust. It’s then topped with some hot sauce and a few pickles.  I went with bread-and-butter pickles for this sandwich. They have a nice sweet and tangy crunch that complements the spicy chicken quite well.

Now, this would be great simply between two slices of bread, but putting it on a freshly baked buttermilk biscuit takes it to the next level. Not just any biscuit, a jalapeño-cheddar biscuit. They’re flaky, buttery, spicy, and cheesy all at the same time. The Jalapeño seeds are removed so they aren’t too spicy, but they have a subtle heat that you’ll definitely notice.  If you don’t feel like making the biscuit, feel free to use any bread you want.

Ff you want to see me assembling the sandwich, check out the video I made with my friend friends at Unbuttoned Media on my Instagram.

Hot Chicken Sandwich 

Ingredients

• 1lb chicken breasts
• 1½ cups flour
• 1½ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1½ tsp paprika
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 tbsp hot sauce

If you want to make the biscuits, the recipe can be found here: Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuits

Method

1. The night before you plan to make this, pound out the chicken breasts to an even thickness and cut them in half cross-wise. Place them in a bowl and pour in the buttermilk and hot sauce. Cover and refrigerate. (If you can’t do this the night before, try to do it at least a few hours in advance to allow the chicken to marinate)
2. Get the chicken ready for frying – start by heating the oil to 350°F/177°C. Whisk together the flour, cayenne, paprika and salt in a large bowl and place it next to the bowl with the chicken. Working one at a time, coat chicken in flour, then dip back into the buttermilk, and then coat in an additional layer of flour. Lay the chicken on a parchment paper lined sheet until ready to fry. Fry the chicken, a few pieces at a time for 7-8 minutes or until an internal temperature of 165°F/74°C is reached.
3. To build the sandwiches, slice biscuits (or other bread  in half and then fill with chicken, some hot sauce, and a few pickles.

That’s right. Candied. Bacon. Butter.  Doesn’t get much better than that.  Use it on steaks, pancakes, waffles, toast, bagels, wherever.  You really can’t go wrong.  Once its wrapped up, just keep it in the freezer and slice it off as needed.

Candied Bacon Butter

Ingredients

• 1 stick of butter (room temperature)
• 3 slices of bacon
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp black pepper

It’s pretty simple to make, start off by preheating your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper and a wire rack (optional). Lay down the bacon and evenly coat in the brown sugar and crack on the black pepper. Cook for 25-30 minutes or until crisp. Remove bacon from oven, allow it to cool, then finely chop it. Add the butter and chopped bacon to small bowl. Using a wooden spoon, mix it together until evenly combined.

To roll it up, tear a square piece of parchment paper and place the butter on roughly in a log shape. Fold one end of parchment paper over the butter and using a straight edge (ruler or baking sheet) tuck the parchment paper under the butter and form into cylinder. Continue to roll and then twist the ends shut. Put it in the freezer to firm up.