Iowa Spring-Summer 21 - 26

Cobble Hill Eatery &
Dispensary, Cedar Rapids
Andy and Carrie
Schumacher, Co-owners
When Andy and Carrie
Schumacher lived in Brooklyn,
New York, they lived right next to
the neighborhood of Cobble Hill.
" We had all of these amazing
restaurants and shops, " Carrie
recalls, " and the energy that came
out of all of these was just
amazing. " That's the spirit that
inspired the proprietors of the
Cedar Rapids restaurant when
they moved back to Iowa with
their young family.
The Schumachers have
brought the best of Brooklyn as it
complements the best of Iowa.
This means a dining space
festooned with live plants,
passionate chefs creating food
tailored for the local community,
attention to sustainability and
local ingredients, and pure
hospitality.
The menu changes with the
seasons and according to what's
available at Cedar Rapids farmers
markets. The food is made from
scratch, with unique local twists,
and touched with the creativity of
the Cobble Hill kitchen.

Mushroom Crepes (serves 4)
Chef Andy Schumacher

12 crepes (recipe follows)

1 medium onion (1 cup sliced)

1 pound oyster mushrooms (or any you
can get your hands on)

4 ounces cremini mushrooms (about 2
cups sliced)

1 pound shallots

3 sprigs thyme

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 branch rosemary

Kosher salt

1 quart heavy cream

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

Fresh goat cheese, crumbled, about 2 to
3 ounces (we prefer Humboldt Fog)

¼ teaspoon ground clove
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Fresh chives, thinly sliced, about 4
tablespoons

CREPE RECIPE
3 tablespoons butter

½ cup water

1 cup flour

2 eggs

¾ cup milk

¼ teaspoon salt

TO MAKE THE CREPES: Melt the butter in the microwave. Combine all ingredients in the
blender and puree on high; drizzle in the melted butter. Stop the blender and scrape down the
sides of the blender and make sure all the flour is incorporated. Blend again and pour out in a
bowl; let the batter rest 30 minutes. Heat a 10-inch nonstick pan over medium heat. Drizzle scant
2 ounces of batter into the pan and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan with the batter in an even
layer. Cook until the bottom is starting to slightly brown, about 2 minutes. Flip the crepe and cook
an additional 20 seconds. Cook 8 crepes for dinner. You will have extra batter.
TO MAKE THE DISH: Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Remove the stems from the oyster
mushrooms and separate them into individual petals. Peel the shallots and cut them into quarters.
Combine the mushrooms, shallots, oil, black pepper, clove, nutmeg, ginger, and 1 teaspoon
kosher salt into a bowl and toss to coat. Spread the mix out into an even layer over two cookie
sheets and roast in the oven until the veggies start to brown and are tender. Make sure they are
not crowded on the cookie sheets so they can roast without steaming. They should get good and
roasted with good color and caramelization. Set aside to cool.
While the veggies are roasting, peel and slice the medium onion and the cremini mushrooms,
stems and all, and combine in a large saucepan. Tie the thyme and rosemary together with string
and add to the saucepan with all the heavy cream. Bring the mixture to a boil and immediately
turn down the heat and gently simmer for 20 minutes or until the cream is reduced by half and the
onions and mushrooms are very, very tender - if they are not tender and the cream is reduced,
add some water and continue to simmer. Once the mixture is ready, remove the herbs and let
cool until just warm. Then puree in a blender on very high speed. The goal here is to create a
smooth mushroom cream that should coat the back of the spoon and be the consistency of ranch
dressing. If the mixture is too thick, add water and re-blend until it's the right consistency. Pour the
cream back into a saucepan and season aggressively with kosher salt to bring out all the flavors.
TO ASSEMBLE THE DISH: Take the roasted mushrooms and shallots and set aside a few of
the cooked mushrooms for garnish on each plate; chop the remaining shallots and mushrooms
until you have a very fine minced mixture - you can use a food processor for this as well. Roll
the mixture up into the 8 crepes for dinner (each person gets 2). Place the rolled crepes on a
cookie sheet and set aside. Lower the oven to 300 degrees. When you are ready to eat, place the
crepes in the oven to warm, about 10 minutes; meanwhile, warm your mushroom cream on the
stove until hot. Place two crepes on each plate, drizzle the mushroom cream over and around the
crepes on the plate, garnish with the reserved oyster mushrooms (you can heat those in the oven
with the crepe rolls), and top with some crumbled goat cheese and thinly sliced chives.

26 IOWA SPIRITS

Iowa Spring-Summer 21

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