Ah, Gracie ~ you got my mouth ready for my favorite Mushroom Soup, a recipe shared by a friend from a long-ago food forum where everyone shared some of the best recipes. This recipe is from a long gone restaurant and takes most of the day to make.....but, as I said, it's my all time fav and well worth the time and effort. I hope you give it a try.
MUSHROOM SOUP FROM THE GOLDEN MUSHROOM RESTAURANT
(Chef Kevin Enright, Oakland Community College Culinary Studies Institute)
Chef Kevin was a chef at the Golden Mushroom restaurant and shared the recipe for their famous mushroom soup with us.
3 oz. onion cut in 1/4 inch dice (about 1 medium sized onion)
1/2 stalk celery cut in 1/4 inch dice
4 oz. clarified butter
2 or 3 oz. dried mushrooms (whatever amount you can find ~ Asian Markets carry them)
1/2 large leek, clean well and cut just the white part into a 1/4 inch dice (I used a whole leek)
3 Tbsp. flour
2 qt. chicken stock
1 bay leaf
salt, white pepper and nutmeg to taste (I used black pepper)
2 oz. clarified butter
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced thinly (I used ****ake caps only, not stems & crimini/baby bella)
1 c. half and half or heavy cream
"Sweat" the onion, celery and leak in butter until it is clear and the water is evaporated from the vegetables. Add flour and cook until it turns light tan in color and then set aside. In a large pot, warm up the chicken stock, dry mushrooms, bay leaf, salt, white pepper and nutmeg. Add the vegetable and flour mixture and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 40-60 minutes until thick (if soup gets too thick and a little more stock). "Sweat" the mushrooms in a small amount of clarified butter until almost dry (au sec). Strain the soup pot of all solids. Add the mushrooms to the broth and simmer for 10 minutes. Warm the cream and add to the soup. Adjust the seasonings. (makes 2 quarts)
Beth’s Notes:
I didn’t use clarified butter….but it’s important to use a nutmeg and grate it yourself using a microplane. I used about ¼ tsp. grated (approx. ¼ of a nutmeg) in the vegetable broth.
I used the stems/trimmings from the fresh mushrooms in the vegetable broth. It all gets strained out in the end when they have given up all their flavor.
If you want to freeze, do so before adding the cream. Then, when reheating add your cream at that time.
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