Mushroom Soup

In the vein of Martini House, this soup is all about the mushrooms. My approach combines fresh, earthy mushrooms with the intensity and woodsiness of dried ones. The dish has rich mushroom flavor, with a little cream and brandy as icing. This is a great first course, particularly in the winter, but I can eat the whole pot any meal, any season.

Mushroom Soup

Makes about six servings.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound white button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 pound shiitake mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
2 ounces dried mushrooms, preferably an assortment of morels and black trumpets
2 cups warm water, for soaking
1 medium leak, white part only, sliced into 1/4-inch chunks, washed, and dried
1 large yellow onion, 1/4-inch dice
4 garlic cloves, smashed and minced
herb sachet with 6 sage leaves and stems, 3 sprigs thyme, 2 sprigs rosemary, and 1 bay leaf, wrapped in a cheese cloth and tied shut with cooking twine
1/3 cup brandy, preferably cognac
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
sea salt, to taste
freshly-ground white pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, for garnish

Inspect the dry mushrooms, removing any grit. Place the dried mushrooms and warm water in a bowl. Let soak for at least 30 minutes. Remove the mushrooms, squeezing out as much excess water as possible. Strain the soaking water through a cheesecloth or coffee strainer and into a second bowl. Reserve.

To clean the fresh mushrooms, gently scrub with a wet paper towel or scrape with a pairing knife. Pat dry. In any recipe, particularly where you are going to saute, you want to avoid rinsing your fresh mushrooms.

In a large dutch oven over medium heat, add the butter and melt. Once bubbling, add the onions, leaks, and a pinch of sea salt and cook, stirring, about 4 minutes, until the onion and leeks are soft and translucent but not brown.

Add the garlic, fresh mushrooms, and reconstituted mushrooms. Be careful of splatter if the reconstituted mushrooms are damp. Raise the heat to medium-high. Add freshly-ground white pepper to taste. Be hesitant to add more salt at this point, unless you have a really good feel for your stock. Cook, stirring, for about 10 minutes. The mushrooms should sweat most of their liquid, which will then evaporate, and deflate.

Add the herb sachet—don't worry, it won't burn. Stir it around in any remaining liquid and butter to infuse for about a minute.

Carefully add the brandy. Let it cook down until it glazes the vegetables, about 2 minutes.

Stock added and simmering

Add the chicken stock and mushroom water. Raise heat to high and bring the contents to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat and simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.

Purée the soup with an immersion blender …

… until it reaches the desired consistency

Remove from heat and, carefully, use an immersion blender to finely purée the soup.

Add the cream …

… and stir to incorporate

Add the heavy cream and adjust seasoning to taste. Stir.

Plated, Garnished, and Ready to Eat

Serve in warm soup bowls with garlic croutons and fresh thyme. You can make garlic croutons by modifying my roast garlic bruschetta recipe—use stale bread if possible, bake until crispy, and then cut into big chunks. Optionally garnish with a morel mushroom, sauteed in butter.