I crave mushroom soups!
On Saturday I took Andrew to the Museum of Fine Arts for the first time (they offered children's activities)! We ate lunch outside the cafeteria, in the garden. Perfect spot to sip on hot soup. It was good but not that good so I was thus inspired to try making something better.
Buy a 1/2 ounce baggie or use up to 3/4 ounce of dried Porcini mushrooms. Soak them in 2 cups of water for 15-30 minutes. Stir occasionally, they tend to release a lot of sand/grit.
Sautee one chopped up onion in 1/2 stick of butter over medium in an accommodating pot for your soup, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt.
Next add 1 peeled, small diced carrot and cook until softened, 5 minutes.
Add a large handful of chopped white mushrooms. I would have used Shiitakes, if they weren't $5 a package!
Also add a stalk of fine-chopped celery, or in my case since we didn't have any, 1 heaping tablespoon of dried celery flakes.
Also add in a clove of minced garlic and some thyme.
Add 1 cup of chicken stock (I had some homemade, frozen) and the Porcini mushroom liquid (scoop the shrooms out to cut up a little bit for the finished soup) and a splash of your favorite white wine or champagne vinegar. The acidity is important, you could also experiment with other choices you may happen to have on hand.
Bring to a simmer.
Add in a discretionary amount of heavy cream. I eyeballed it and would guess it was around 3/4 cup.
Simmer for 20 minutes to reduce and concentrate the flavor. Salt and pepper to taste.
Use a stick blender or other blending device to puree the soup. Add in the reconstituted (and chopped if large pieces) porcini mushrooms. Serve!
This soup was so delicious I even licked the pot! The taster did taste some but at that moment was more focused on snacking on hummus and Ritz crackers.
