Gibson's Goodies: Back to the Basics People!

Cream of Mushroom Soup

I know I've mentioned in the past that food is art, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it has to take hours and hours slaving over a hot stove. Sometimes it's best to take a step back and start at the very beginning, the ABC’s of the kitchen.

Ingredients:

10 ounces of White Mushrooms
1 Tablespoon Sunflower Oil
3 Tablespoons Butter
1 small Onion, minced
1 Tablespoon All-Purpose Flour
2 Cups Vegetable Stock
2 Cups Milk
A pinch of dried Basil
2-3 Tablespoons Light Cream (optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Source: The Soup Bible

Before we dive right in, I want to come clean about my relationship with mushrooms. For many years I avoided the little buggers at every cost, spending numerous family dinners patiently picking them out of whatever dish, letting my dinner go cold and always ending up the last one at the table.

But in a recent effort to try new and daring things (yes, to me ‘shrooms are daring) you might see a recurrent theme of mushrooms through several of my next few dishes. So not being versed with this particular ingredient, I decided to start simple, really simple...

Preparation:

To start, the mushroom caps need to be separated from the stems. Finely slice the caps and finely chop the stems. Next heat the Sunflower Oil and ½ the butter in your sauce pan. Add to this the minced onion, ‘shroom stems and roughly ¾’s of the sliced mushroom caps. Fry the mushrooms and onions for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat, cover the pan and sweat over low heat for 6 or 7 minutes.

Now it’s time for the flour, stir it in and cook for about 1 minute. Slowly add the Vegetable Stock and the milk, making a smooth, thin sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil, and then lower the heat and simmer, only partly covered, for 15 minutes.

It’s break time! Let the soup cool slightly, I say 5-10 minutes. Pour into a food processor and blend until smooth. Now add the remaining butter and fry the last of the mushroom caps over low heat for 3-4 minutes, until tender. Remove these and rinse the pan. Now pour the blended soup back in the pan, add the fried mushrooms and heat until very hot. This is your chance to taste the soup and adjust your Salt and Pepper. Also if you’re using the Light Cream (which I highly recommend) this is the time to add it. All that’s left to do now is to serve it up. Well, that and the dishes (sorry)!