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10/15/2020 12:01 AMSome friends recently offered me a pound of freshly picked shiitake mushrooms for $8 a pound. I asked if I could get two. So this is a very short column, so I can give you two mushroom soup recipes, both of which are incredible. One is easy; one takes a little longer. With the easy one, once cool, purée it, if you like. You can use shiitake mushrooms (discard the woody stems), cremini, or other varieties. You may double both recipes and they freeze beautifully.
Easy Mushroom Soup
Yield: 6 Servings
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
½ pound sliced mushrooms
¼ chopped onions
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ freshly ground black pepper
2 cans low-salt chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half cream
Directions
Cook, on medium heat, mushrooms and onions until tender, about 10 minutes.
In a small bowl, mix flour, salt, pepper and one can broth; stir until smooth and add to the mushroom mixture. Stir again until smooth. Add the other can of broth and bring to a boil. Cook until thick, 2 minutes. Reduce heat, add cream and stir until flavors are blended, 15 minutes.
Potage Crème de Champignons
From Charles Virion’s French Country Cookbook (Hawthorn Books Inc., New York, 1972
Yield: serves 8
Ingredients:
5 cups canned chicken consommé or stock
1 small bay leaf
4 sprigs fresh parsley
1 sprig thyme
1 ½ cup fresh mushrooms
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 small onions, chopped fine
3 tablespoons flour
3 egg yolks*
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Madeira wine (optional)
1 tablespoon chopped parsley (for garnish)
Directions
Simmer stock with bay leaf, parsley and thyme for 10 minutes. Remove herbs. Set aside.
Slice mushrooms (I buy them sliced and they are already cleaned). Sauté mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of butter until mushroom liquid evaporates. Do not scorch the mushrooms or the taste will be bitter. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Clean skillet with a paper towel; over medium high heat, sauté the onions in the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter.
When onions are tender and transparent, add flour and stir constantly s that the butter is well blended with the flour.
Cook mixture slowly for 3 or 4 minutes, then start adding the stock, a little at a time, until you have a smooth, white sauce. Add mushrooms and cool. (I keep a few mushrooms aside to garnish the soup.) If you think the mixture is too thick, add a little bit more of the stock.
After the mixture is cooled enough, put the entire mixture through the blender until smooth. (Only pour enough of the mixture into the blender until is it one-half full; if necessary, do this in batches.)
Beat together the cream and the egg yolks. When you’re ready to serve the soup, reheat it gently. When very hot, but not boiling, add the egg yolk-cream mixture, stirring until well blended. Season with salt and pepper.
You can now add the optional Madeira, if you wish. Pour soup into bowls and garnish with parsley and reserved mushrooms.
*I mixed the cream with the whole eggs, forgetting to use only the egg yolks. It didn’t seem to make a difference.
Lee White of Old Lyme has been a food editor and restaurant reviewer for more than 25 years. You can email her at leeawhite@aol.com.