Cream of Mushroom Soup For Two (or three..)

LOOK AT THIS WASTE:

One week later, come new-soup-making time, I was crushed to realize that at least a third of my precious split pea sweet potato soup was still in the fridge. My family is officially sick of soup, and my dear boyfriend C was (un)kind enough to remind me that I was not working very hard at one of my original goals: to make less soup. Less quantity, that is. Its true: I can very easily cook for a dozen or more, but I have troubles when my number of servings dwindle below 5 or 6. This was also a very busy week for me (I work and attend school full time - I'm a few semesters shy of degrees in biochemistry and multidisciplinary sciences. Let's just say that 15 hours of upper division science classes is tough.) So, I decided to see what I had on hand see what small quantity of high-quality soup I could make.

Our fridge was unfortunately lacking, though. I had plenty of cooked chicken but very little stock. Heads of cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage. Radish greens. Radishes. Condiments. 6 boxes of tofu. Six large button mushrooms. Olive salad from New Orlean's historic central market (my favorite thing ever, and I savor it whenever someone I know passes through New Orleans and buys me a few jars).

What to do?! I was near giving up when I remembered my goal: Less Soup! I figured I could easily stretch my six button mushrooms into a dainty cream of mushroom soup for two.

I was disappointed to read that the common table button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, is really just an immature Portobello mushroom! I've never been much of a mycologist beyond knowing a few local edible mushrooms, but the idea that petite, cute little buttons could become huge, meaty mushrooms led me to check out several library books, of which the fruits you shall see in a few weeks when I make a more elaborate mushroom -something- post. For today, however, all I have to offer is this: delicious, delicate, creamy mushroom soup for two (or three...I'm trying, I'm trying!!)

What You'll Need
1.5 cups sliced button mushrooms
1/3 cup diced white onion
1 garlic clove, mashed
2 tablespoons butter AND/OR
Extra virgin olive oil
1.5 cups chicken broth *v
2 cups heavy cream *v
1 tablespoon corn starch, dissolved in 1/3 cup cold water
1 bay leaf
salt


Portobello mushrooms will do fine in place of button mushrooms. The soup will be "meatier" but the taste is similar. Use fresh mushrooms - dried mushrooms have a funny texture when reconstituted, and canned/jarred always taste pickle-y to me, even if the mushrooms are not pickled or marinated in vinegar.

If veganizing, use a mild vegetable broth that does not taste heavily of celery. Instead of heavy cream, I'd try unsweetened soymilk mixed with roux.

The How-To

With the bottom of your chef's knife, smash the garlic out of its skin with the heel of your palm (be careful not to cut yourself!). After removing the skin, smash the garlic a little more and chop it so that its not just one large piece of garlic mush.

In a nutshell: dice your onions and slice your mushrooms. I prefer chunky mushroom soup, with plenty of bite-sized mushroom pieces, but feel free to dice the mushrooms or run them through a food processor. If you decide to go with smaller mushroom pieces, reduce the time that you saute them.


Lightly brown the onions in olive oil or butter over medium heat. When the onions are just browned and turning translucent:

..add the mushrooms! I suggested using butter because I personally prefer the way mushrooms taste when they soak in butter while cooking. I cooked my onions in olive oil, then added a pat of butter before adding the mushrooms. Adding olive oil will afford you a little burn-resistance against burning your butter, but still keep an eye on the butter for over-heating and browning.

Add your bay leaf right now!

When the mushrooms are soft, add the chicken stock. I let the small amount of stock and mushrooms simmer for a few minutes, to let the flavors mix. I also added a small amount of salt at this time.

Add the cream! Lower the heat to "low" - the cream can and will burn.

Prepare the corn starch in cold water (the water MUST be cold in order for the corn starch to dissolve; DO NOT try to add corn starch straight to your soup! You WILL end up with lumps of mushy, pasty corn starch in your soup). When mixed, add to the pot.

Mix well, heat thuroughly, salt to taste. The soup is done!

I served my soup for two (or three) with chicken, cauliflower casserole, and radish greens with mineral water (San Pellegrino? Psh. I can out-burp you with Topo Chico Agua Mineral any day of the week!). It went with the meal deliciously.

It could have gone well on its own, as my father ate it (his serving was that blasted third serving - two cups of soup beyond my goal of mushroom soup for two). Oh well. The more soup, the merrier and at the end of the day, my family was wishing I'd made gallons for everyone to share and enjoy. You can never win >:(

Enjoy!