This is a really good cream of mushroom soup that can be finished perfectly smooth without any pieces of mushrooms. Alternatively, the soup can be complemented with a wide variety of mushrooms of different shapes and sizes.
Garnish with finely minced chives
Directions
In a medium size pot, sweat the vegetables in the oil:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large shallot, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups chopped mushrooms, various types ok
- 1/2 head cauliflower, chopped
- 1 pinch of salt
When the vegetables have softened, add the chicken stock and simmer 30-40 minutes.
Pur?e the broth and vegetable mixture in a food processor until very smooth. Strain through a fine sieve. Keep the liquid and discard the pulp.
Make a blonde roux from the butter and flour by melting the butter in a shallow saut? pan and stirring in the flour until well combined.
Combine the filtered mushroom stock, the hot roux and the additional chicken stock and bring soup just to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer.
Stir in and gently heat before serving:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup whole, exotic mushrooms, like enoki
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- salt to taste
Kids!
Chopping the veggies for the stock, and provides a good opportunity to learn about different kinds of mushrooms!
Notes...
This is basically a two part recipe. Make a mushroom "stock" with vegetables and mushrooms. Puree and filter the stock, and then add some unusual mushrooms to create an interesting soup, or none at all for a smooth soup. Finish with some cream and chow down! The secret to this soup is to be sure that the stock preparation really gets a strong mushroom flavor. Use fresh mushrooms and simmer the suggested amount of time. Interestingly, the cauliflower adds a nice complexity to the soup; use it if you have it, but the soup is still good without it.