Week 1:
Highfield’s Culinary Director, Gail Blakely, selected Creamy Mushroom soup as this week’s comfort food recipe. This soup turned out to be much better than the sum of its parts. The texture contrast between the two mushrooms was almost perfect, and the addition of a little soy sauce really brought out the mushroom-y flavor!
Ingredients
- 1 oz dried porcini or shitake mushrooms
- 1 1/2 cups boiling water
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 pound sliced cremini mushrooms
- 3 tbsp AP flour
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Place the dried mushrooms in a medium heatproof bowl and cover with 1 1/2 cups boiling water; soak until mostly softened, about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat; add the onion, garlic, and 1 cremini mushrooms, and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Cook, stirring occasionally until the mushrooms are softened and have released their juices, 10 to 12 minutes.
- With a slotted spoon, remove the soaked mushrooms from their bowl and cut off the stems; chop the mushrooms coarsely and set aside. Pour the liquid through a paper towel or fine sieve; return the liquid to the bowl and add the mushrooms, discarding any grit that accumulated after straining the liquid.
- Sprinkle the flour into the pot and stir to coat the vegetables; cook until lightly browned, stirring regularly, about 2 minutes. Pour in 4 cups broth and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.
- Stir in the reserved soaking liquid from the mushrooms, the chopped reconstituted mushrooms, soy sauce, thyme, and bay leaves.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered until the flavor is developed and the soup is slightly thickened, about 30 minutes.
- Remove and discard the bay leaves. Transfer about 2 cups of the soup to a blender or food processor and purée until smooth; stir the purée back into the pot, remove it from the heat, and stir in the cream.
- Serve immediately, or refrigerate and reheat before serving. Check the seasonings and garnish with chopped parsley; serve piping hot, with crusty bread.
