Discover a shiitake mushroom recipe inspired by Martha’s Vineyard

Shiitake mushrooms from North Tabor Farm, on Martha’s Vineyard, inspired this recipe from my cookbook “The Beetlebung Farm.”

For this soup, you can replace the chicken stock with water for a vegetarian version — but if you do, increase the quantity of mushrooms to make sure you get a nice round flavor. Vegetarian or not, you can make the stock ahead when you have mushroom stems on hand, then freeze it.

A freezer full of stock is one of the ancillary benefits of buying whole chickens. For the homemade chicken stock, you can start with a raw carcass, bones, and wings, or start with the browned bones from a roast. My basic approach is the same in both cases: I put the raw or roasted bones in a pot and add water to cover by a couple of inches. Sometimes I add aromatics — coarsely chopped onion, carrot, and celery — and sometimes I keep things simple. Either way, I bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, skimming away froth and fat, until the stock tastes chicken-y — about one hour. Then I let it cool, strain it, and stow it in quart containers in my freezer, if not using right away.

Depending on what you start with and how far you let things reduce, you can expect that a medium bird will yield 2 or more quarts of stock.

Mushroom Soup with Parsley and Egg

Servings: 4

Ingredients

6 shiitake mushrooms

2 white mushrooms, sliced (or you can use more shiitakes and stems)

6 cups homemade chicken stock (see headnote)

4 eggs

1 cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves

About 4 ½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 small carrots, scrubbed, trimmed, and diced

2 small celery stalks, leaves reserved, stalks diced

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon minced garlic

4 slices toasted country bread

Directions

Separate the shiitake caps and stems. Reserve the caps. Trim the stems, then chop and transfer to a large saucepan. Add the sliced white mushrooms and stock and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the flame and simmer until the stock is flavorful, smells woodsy, and has reduced by a cup, about 10 minutes. Turn the heat off; cover the pot and let the stock steep for 20 minutes. Strain and reserve.

Soft cook the eggs. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the eggs and simmer for 6 minutes. Drain the eggs, rinse under cold water, and peel. Put the eggs in the refrigerator to let the yolks set, about 20 minutes.

Refill the pot with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the parsley and blanch until the water returns to a boil. Drain and rinse in cold water. Chop the parsley and reserve.

Heat a skim of olive oil in the large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and sweat (cook gently until soft), about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the mushroom stock and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Dice the mushroom caps. Heat a skim of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the diced mushrooms and season with salt. Cook the mushrooms until they are tender and beginning to crisp, about 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, add the minced garlic, and mix well. Add the parsley and enough olive oil to moisten the mushroom mixture, about 2 tablespoons. Adjust the seasoning with salt if necessary.

Break or cut the eggs in half. Put half an egg in each of 4 bowls. Ladle soup over the eggs. Spoon the mushroom mixture onto the slices of toasted bread and put them on the eggs in the bowls. Top each with a second half egg, sprinkle with a few grains of salt, and serve.

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Chris Fischer is a chef, farmer and cookbook author whose roots on Martha’s Vineyard date back to 1670. He used to own and operate Beetlebung Farm, his grandparents’ 5-acre parcel on the Vineyard, which was the inspiration for this illustrated homage to family and community.

Excerpted from “The Beetlebung Farm Cookbook” by Chris Fischer with Catherine Young. Copyright (copyright) 2015 by Chris Fischer. Used with permission of Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company. New York, NY. All rights reserved.