The creaminess of this soup belies the intensity of the wild mushroom flavour that fills your mouth! With each spoonful, you get the up front flavours of wild mushrooms and sherry then a smooth mouthfeel and a soft creamy finish. This is NOT your Mama’s cream of mushroom soup!
1/4 sample bag of Marx Foods dried Wild Black Trumpet Mushrooms (approx .5 oz)
1/4 sample bag of Marx Foods dried Wild Lobster Mushrooms (approx. .5 oz)
1/2 sample bag of Marx Foods dried Wild Morel Mushrooms (approx. 1 oz)
1/2 sample bag of Marx Foods dried Wild Porcini Mushrooms (approx. 1 oz)
1/2 sample bag of Marx Foods dried Wild Matsutake Mushrooms (approx. 1 oz)
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup water
pinch salt
1 med shallot, cut in halves and sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 Tbl butter
1 Tbl plain flour
3 Tbl sherry (NOT cooking sherry, plain drinking sherry)
1 Tbl mirin
1.25 C chicken broth
1/2 C (+/-) dry white wine
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves (1/2 tsp if dried)
3/4 C heavy cream
2.5 Tbl crème fraiche
1/4 tsp sugar
salt and pepper
Put first eight ingredients in a microwave on high until liquid is simmering. Remove and set aside for at least 15 to 30 mins for the mushrooms to cool and absorb the wine liquid. When they are cool, strain out the mushrooms and retain the liquid.
Put butter in a heavy soup pot on low heat and add shallot and garlic to sweat. Chop mushrooms coarsely and add when shallots are translucent. Add in the thyme leaves. Turn up to med high and stir in the flour to create a roux to thicken the soup. Cook for about 3 mins to ensure the flour will not be detectable. Add in sherry, mirin and about 1/2 cup of the reserved mushroom liquid. Stir for a couple of minutes. Add in white pepper and chicken broth. Taste and add in wine to taste. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Turn off heat and blend with stick blender until the mushrooms are in very small pieces. Since they are dried, they are very toothsome and need to be thoroughly chopped. You don’t want chewy pieces of mushroom in a cream soup! You can use a regular blender if you don’t have a stick blender.
When mushrooms are thoroughly chopped, return to simmer and turn off heat. Add in crème fraiche and sugar (if needed). Add up to 3/4 C of heavy cream to reach desired consistency. Check salt levels. Reheat gently if needed.
Serve a small portion as a first or second course. Its rich intensity would be perfect with a steak or lamb chop dinner. This soup would hold up nicely to a red wine such as a rioja.
