Mushroom Soup

By Bernadette Kathryn, LMT, IHLC

If you LOVE mushroom soup like we do, this is the recipe for you!  It’s easy, luxurious, silky, satisfying and sanctioned!

I like to clean the gills out of my portabello mushrooms. It is very easy with a spoon and gives the soup a cleaner taste.

Next I like to roast a mixture of mushrooms for a more complex flavor. I usually include button mushrooms, cremini and portabello. Any mushroom that you have and like will be OK. If you are using shitaki mushrooms, discard the stems ~ they are too woody to blend well.

Roasting the mushrooms give them a deep flavor and frees up the stove top so I can use the burners for other dishes.

After I roast the mushrooms, I pulse chop them in the food processor for efficiency, you can do this by hand if you prefer.

Then I further cook the mushroom mixture just like I would for Duxelles with a combination of chopped shallots or sweet onions, a touch of garlic, butter and optional 1/2 cup of Sherry. I simmer this just long enough to evaporate all the liquid up and give the flavors a chance to meld.

It is ideal to cook the mushrooms with a cartouche ~ which is a fancy way of saying a parchment paper lid. It allows the liquid to evaporate, although not too fast so that the mushrooms have plenty of time to develop their flavor without burning.

Next ~ I add a quart of home made beef stock to a pot with all the mushroom mixture and allow that to combine for a few minutes and then puree in my handy Vitamix BlenderVitamix Blender ~ well worth every penny!

And, viola! The end result is amazing … silky, satisfying and sanctioned!