soup - cream of mushroom, champignon
t=teaspoon T=tablespoon
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Cream of Mushroom Soup
Does 'Cream of Mushroom Soup' make you think of that ubiquitous canned stuff? THIS quick homemade version soup will spoil you forever. Add as much cream as you like, or less, or none - and it is wonderful. However, a little cream and the egg yolk marry the flavours, carrying it to a noble height with a touch of finesse. See below for further great tips.
about 4 generous servings
All you need is:
13-14
med. champignon (about 300 gr.) - reserve one
1 sm. onion
1 rounded T. butter plus more
2 rounded T. flour
1 litre beef broth
250 ml. water
100 ml. or more cream
1-2 egg yolks
1/2 sm. glass of dry white wine, or German White Burgundy OR sherry *see note below
2 t. crumbled dried sage or 1 rounded T
. fresh, chopped
salt
white pepper
Melt the butter in a medium soup pot. Chop the onion finely and cook 5 min. in the butter. In the meantime, chop the mushrooms finely before adding with the sage to the onions. Allow all to cook until the mushrooms turn light brown.
Sprinkle over the flour, stir and cook another few minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add the wine and cover after a few minutes more. Allow to simmer 20 minutes.
While it cooks, slice the reserved mushroom very finely and lightly brown in a little more butter for the garnish. If you don't have croutons on hand, now is the moment to make them from day old bread (keep in a slightly warm oven so they remain crunchy).
Adjust taste with a little salt (herb salt is nice with this) and a generous amount of white pepper. Allow to simmer again a few minutes before removing from heat. Puree with an immersion wand if you like to the consistency you prefer. Those who feel they have problems with digesting mushrooms won't the finer they are minced or pureed).
Mix the egg yolk with the cream and whisk into the soup. Return to heat to gently warm, being very careful that it does not simmer, in which case the egg may curdle. Still tastes great, but is not so appetizing.
Garnish with the mushrooms slices, croutons and a leaf (or small tops) of fresh sage or, of course, parsley!
Note to wine: a dry to medium sherry is great in this soup. However remember the rule: wine cooks with the food, sherry is always added just before serving.
Variation: a few dried mushrooms soaked in hot water for 30 minutes, squeezed out, discarded and the liquid strained deepens the delicious flavour of this quick soup. Replace the water called for in this recipe with the amount of mushroom liquid used. Like a very smooth, creamy soup? Before adding the cream, strain and rub the mushroom and onion through a fine sieve (or puree very well). Increase the cream or use half cream and half crème fraîche.
Tip: if you wish to save half of this soup for later, remove that amount before adding the cream and egg yolk. You can always add those later AFTER you have reheated the soup (otherwise it may curdle), and the extra ratio of yolk to soup just makes it even tastier.
Another tip: need 'Cream of Mushroom Soup' in a recipe but can't bear the thought of the canned stuff? Make a large batch of this soup (double or triple), use 1/3 less broth,
double the flour called for and after adding the mushrooms, allow to reduce down to at least half. Adjust flavour with salt and pepper. Note that it will not be so-thick-it-can-stand-alone like the canned, but you can reduce the liquid in the recipe you need it for - or just add cornstarch to it and heat to the desired consistency. Freeze in cup portions. Whatever recipe you are using it in, replace the liquid with a proportionate amount of cream and an egg yolk if you like. You'll never go back to the canned - and you are using real and fresh ingredients. No fillers or flavour boosters!
All recipes are excerpts from "Welcome to My Kitchen" - The Epicurean Table and are copyright of the author. Recipes are not to be
added to any form of archive or other works of any kind. Contact the author for further information.
The Epicurean Table © 1999-2006 Patricia Conant