Almost off to Mushroom Soup land

This winter I'm teaching myself soups, and one of my objectives is not only to master soups, but to go for soups that I wouldn't normally eat (because traditionally I only liked chicken soup, later onion and later tomato). "Weirdo" soups like carrot or mushroom I wouldn't go near, except I started trying them in good restaurants and finding they were really yummy if done properly.

So, I've now got carrot soup down to a science. Maybe not perfect, but I think it's yum, and so has everyone I've fed it to. Nicely spiced, good texture.

For some reason, I want to do mushroom soup next. I equate this to my fear of unsecured heights and my bizarre urge to go bungee jumping (which I did, taking my then-61 year-old mother along). I now believe mushrooms are good when properly done, and I'm trying to learn how to do them.

I forgot to pick up some vegetable stock, and don't think I have any here, so I'm just going to try concentrating it. I was going to blend in some red onion - don't ask me why, but it struck me that I should; I'm debating garlic, haven't decided, but I'm thinking not.

For mushrooms, I got a couple different types, picking what I thought were stronger flavors (e.g.: not the subtle lobster mushroom), specifically portabella, and then dried porcinis and dried morels - I don't know how the dried will work in soup, but I figured once reconstituted and blended, it should be good.

Any thoughts/recommendations before I begin?

i'd go easy on the onion and garlic til further on in the process

can't wait to hear how it turns out....

I was pretty much decided when I posted.

I think the red onion would add something, if I don't go overboard, which I wasn't planning to do.

I'm trying to figure out what kind of spices supplement mushrooms. I've had good luck with salt & pepper, and for herbs, thyme and tarragon, but haven't tried anything else.

So I'm thinking to keep it simple; salt and pepper, mushrooms, red onion, butter. I have some cream if I think it needs it. Sometimes the best soups are the most pure/simplest. The fiddler in me wants to put something else in there, but I can't figure out what it should be.

One of my Polish/Lithuanian/Russian aunts used to wind up her (clear) mushroom soup with a squirt of lemon. I recall it as being really delicious.

Oh, and I always start by sauteeing the mushrooms in half butter, half olive oil. I just like the flavor better - it seems more substantial, even in the lightest soups.

I'm starting to have a borscht jones.

I sauteed a ton of thinly sliced onions in olive oil and butter, slowly, with a hit of salt and, later, sugar, letting them sweat for more than an hour. VERY low heat.

Then I used some organic mushroom stock from Whore Foods and some champagne (we had just opened it), and let it simmer for another half hour.

Put it outside for the night, brought it inside this a.m., heated it up, and what a breakfast we had!

Save the soaking water from whatever mushrooms you use. I always throw it in with everything else in my Sour and Hot Soup - which uses shitakes.

Always use garlic. It improves everything. Everything.

Have a ball, and stay warm.

I don't think I could bring myself to do that...

Well, I've started it. I took about two slices of red onion, chopped and in the pan with melted butter, then dumped in the mushrooms and salt and pepper and tossed it all, and added some more butter, then some vegetable broth and water (kinda stock-like, I guess), and have it on a simmer.

I'll give it 45 mins to an hour, let it go do, try it, run it through the blender, add cream if necessary, see what happens. It'll either be delicious or suck. If it sucks, no one will be the wiser, except for the people here for whom I can serve as a warning for others.

My wife won't know, and my child doesn't care, and no one else knows I'm doing this... :)

We drink a lot of champagne around here, because we're so nuts about the headaches we get from it.

Was the stock that concentrated that it needed water?

You'll love it, I bet.

used in the original French onion soup recipe. Louis the somethingerother was the first to make it.

I've decided to make Thomas too-anal-for-words Keller's French onion soup for Christmas. So I better get started tomorrow.

but I gather it pays off in his food.

I've never had it, but would like to.

I've made the Beurre Monte (butter emulsion) - great stuff, that, and easy as anything to make.

I can't fault someone for trying to expand the corners of the cooking universe.

mushroom quiche. Lord, the steps we go through! but it was the best I've ever had.

Onion soup is such a simple thing - I learned to make it from the first Julia Child cookbook - although I forgot the splash of brandy yesterday.

What's Keller's soup recipe like?

where I was asking how the hell I was supposed to cut the onions? Could anyone explain? That was Keller's directions for cutting the onions.

I just looked at the recipe & I don't notice any unusual ingredients, just exacting steps especially for making the stock. He also insists that you slice a piece of aged Comté or Emmentaler, lay it across the top of the baquette & bowl (& it must just overlap the top of the bowl) then place shredded aged Comté or Emmentaler over that.

It was insane.

I'll stay with my ditzed-up Julia Child.

Now, I'm really curious, though - gotta check out his cookbook.

Thank you so much ........

Bouchon cookbook. which is his comfy, easy recipes. :rofl:

He's insane.

But his food's incredible.

Always use garlic. It improves everything. Everything.

I have a friend who says, "There are only two kinds of food in the world--things that can be improved with garlic and things that can be improved with chocolate. The two sets are almost completely mutually exclusive." I've found it to be largely true. However, at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, they have chocolate-covered garlic and chocolate garlic ice cream. But they go a bit overboard there.

I didn't say it would be edible - I just happen to believe garlic and onions are necessary for me to ingest in large quantities every day or else my horns and tail re-appear.

Your friend's right, but I'd add "sour cream" to that list.

I love Gilroy and have all their cookbooks. I must admit, the recipes I've tried haven't been all that great, but the whole notion of the Garlic Festival is almost more than I can bear.

And it smells so good around there.............

And I use garlic toothpaste.

And deoderant, too.

My hero:


And a true saint:

Guess what I chose to photograph when I got my new digital camera with the amazing zoom feature?

DO use the liquid left from reconstituting the dried mushrooms (run it through a coffee filter if you think it might have any residual grit). Also, are you going for a vegetarian version of the soup? If not, I'd think a little demi-glace or some other incarnation of good beef stock would be a great addition.

my first instinct was to use some beef stock I had - I figured it would be perfect.

Unfortunately, the stock had turned, and I had to throw it out.

I finished making the soup. Although it doesn't suck, it doesn't interest me either - tastes like regular cream of mushroom soup (although I guess this could be considered a success). I'll let it go overnight, let the flavors concentrate, and see if it's any better, although I suspect not. My wife will probably like it.

I think next time I would go for a thai version - coconut milk and curry. Other than that, I think I'll move on - I didn't like it that much.

Since I'm not fond of cream soups, I wonder how it was pre-cream.

it was a little too much for me - I wanted to tone it down.

Right now it's at a state a mushroom soup lover would like, but not me.

I guess I should explain - about 20 mins from here is a place called the Presidential Grille, owned by someone from the area that was the White House chef for many years. We were specifically recommended the mushroom soup, and although I usually don't like mushroom soup, we ordered on the basis of the recommendation, and it was pretty frickin' good. Damned good.

So, I guess that's what I had in mind when I started this little adventure.

Given how half-assed I did it, with no recipes, and just mushrooms I thought would be okay, the fact that I got something that is decent for the regular m-soup lover, is probably cause for celebration. I don't like it, but I never liked mushroom soup to begin with, except for what I had from that restaurant. For a first try, I think I'll give myself an 'E' for effort. :)

A splash of sherry, or something of the like? This thread has me craving mushroom soup now....