Spring Shroom Soup

April showers have brought spring and a little bit of winter back to some of us.  It has been too long since my last post.  Field season preparations have been driving everyone at work off their own personal deep ends and motivation has been lacking for much of anything after the onslaught at work.  Alas, soon enough, you’ll have to deal with me talking about mosses and bogs again. 

But in the meantime, my garden offerings of spinach and lettuce are a welcome addition to the dinner rotation, and I’ve made some fantastic rhubarb and strawberry pies already (hopefully another post soon).  As usual, my free-time-fun often focuses on food; and tangentially, the garden is coming on fast.  Tulips have a few hangers-on, the tree peony is out, lilacs are passé, and the iris are just starting to shine.

With the unseasonable chill of the day and inspiration from some heavy clouds, I took a trip to the Phoenixville Farmers’ Market to pick up some Oley Valley Mushrooms from Joe with the intent of tossing together one of the best mushroom soups I’ve ever had.  It is simple, straightforward, and delectable and I’ve been dreaming of it for weeks.  I first made it for Thanksgiving with the intent of serving it as a warm teaser outside as we deep fried the turkey, but the soup was so good that when it was done, those of us who were in the kitchen at the time proceeded to eat so much of it that it never made it to the party. There was happiness in that kitchen that night, my friends. 

It was time to revisit.  It has been too long since this soup, as well.  Surprisingly, the original recipe comes from Anthony Bourdain’s  Les Halles Cookbook, but I first ran across it in Bon Appetit.     I say surprisingly in regard to Anthony Bourdain because, really…. Have you heard of the guy?  When I think of Bourdain, I think of tripe, and kidneys, and organs of all kinds mixed in with snake, and marmot, and pigeon feet.  This recipe was so surprisingly bare-boned I figured it had to be good to rock his world.  And it was.  It is.  You’ll love it.  The only problem I have with this now slightly modified recipe, is that if you don’t at least double it, you’re going to be sorry that you didn’t make more.  The original recipe only says it serves four.  If you're anything like me, you’ll want oh so much more than that.

Mushroom Soup

 

Ingredients:

• 6 Tbls butter: divided
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced (Vidalia’s are nice, but if you cook any yellow onion nice and slow in butter they turn a delightful sweet all on their own)
• 12 ounces/340 g button mushrooms – This last time I happened to use 360 grams and used a combination of crimini and trumpet
• 4 ½ cups chicken stock or broth
• 1 sprig of flat parsley
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 ounce high quality Sherry… or more if you’re really into it.  I think Anthony calls for 2 oz, but I like more subtlety.

How To:

In a medium saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat and add the onion and then sauté until the onion is soft and translucent.  Add the chopped mushrooms and the remaining butter. Let the mixture cook slowly for about 10 minutes.  The onions and mushrooms will throw some water and that is good because you Do Not want your onions to brown At All…    cook them slowly.  Stir in the chicken stock and the parsley and bring to a boil.  At this point, reduce the heat and then simmer for about an hour. 

Once you've been taunted sufficiently by the smell rising from the saucepan, fish out the parsley and get rid of it.  With an emulsion blender or a regular blender (in batches), blend the hot mixture until smooth.  The emulsion blender will render little bits and pieces of mushroom and I kinda’ like this better than totally smooth, but you be the judge.  Check for saltiness and season appropriately for your tastes – if you used salted chicken broth, chances are good you will need no salt at all.  In fact, you may want to avoid the salty broth and season just at the end just to make sure you don’t overdo it.

Add the Sherry, mix well, and serve with a little parsley garnish and some fresh bread.

This soup is also fantastic – if not even better - the next day, if you can keep it around that long.