Saturday, February 6, 2010

Mushroom Soup

I'd post a photo but my family ate all of it, then tipped the pot on its side and licked that clean, too. You don't really have to measure this soup all that carefully. Just use a whack of butter, an onion or two and a bunch of mushrooms, splashes of wine and cream and broth if it needs to be thickened or diluted...let your judgment and taste buds be your guide. The 35% cream makes the difference between ordinary and heroically good and it doesn't take much. Here's the basic recipe.

Mushroom Soup

1/2 stick butter (4 TBSP)
1 onion, chopped (Vidalia is my favourite)
2 packages (1 lb) mushrooms, chopped fine
1 tsp dried thyme (or more to taste) or 1 tbsp fresh
sploosh of dry white wine (about 1/2 cup)
3 cups chicken broth
4 TBSP flour mixed with a bit of cold water to make a slurry
1 cup of heavy cream (or milk, although may I say "blech")
salt and pepper to taste

Heat butter in a heavy saucepan. Add chopped onion, mushrooms and thyme. Try not to faint from the heavenly aroma and at this point, expect shouts from all quarters of your house along the lines of, "Hey, what are you making?!" Stir and cook the mixture for about 5 minutes or so, then add wine, and broth. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes, then add flour and cook for another 2 minutes to thicken. Reduce heat, add cream and salt and pepper to taste. Eat with homemade bread.

Or oatmeal scones. I'll post that one next.

6 comments:

Sandy said...

I am totally making this soup this weekend! My husband just LOVES anything mushroom and we could really use some soup since it's sooo cold outside! Thanks for sharing!

nightsmusic said...

Oh, I am a mushroom fiend! What a great start to the recipe collection. :D Thanks, Pam.

Diane T. said...

Okay, Pam, you've hit the trifecta of interests with my son (Eldest). Not only does he love photography and your hilarious and/or thought-provoking posts, but he loves cooking. So I've made a deal with him... I'll make the mushroom soup and he can make your bread recipe.

BTW, you've now taken up permanent residence on my computer. I had the bread and the carrot/parsnip recipes floating in my general "recipes" folder, but today's recipe has forced me to create a "Pam" folder. I can see that I'll be adding to it as times goes on :-)

A Novel Woman said...

Ah, I love you guys!

And if you have any wild mushrooms, or shitake mushrooms, you can add those.

Feel free to play around with it - add liquid or subtract if you like it thicker. Add more thyme if you like a punch, or a bit less. But the thyme really makes it.

Lottery Girl said...

MMMM!!!!

Looks yummy! I adore mushrooms.

Debby said...

Mmmmmmm. Sure to be making this. And I agree. When I make potato soup or cream of broccoli soup, really, the cream makes all the difference.