Make Mushroom Soup

Mushroom soup is a hearty and delicious dish to make on a cold winter night. Tender, versatile and full of flavor, mushrooms lend themselves to a wide variety of soups, from thick, creamy varieties to broth-y stews. Mushroom soup is easy to make and is great garnished with cheese and served alongside a crusty piece of bread.

Ingredients

White Button and Portobello Mushroom Soup

• 1 large white onion
• 10 ounces (283.5 g) white button mushrooms
• 10 ounces ( 283.5 g) baby Portobello mushrooms
• 10 stalks fresh thyme
• 1 cup (236.59 ml) vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon (14.79 ml) tapioca flour
• 1 cup (236.59 ml) almond or cashew milk (unsweetened)
• 1 dried bay leaf
• ½ tablespoon (7.4 ml) soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon (2.46 ml) salt
• pinch of pepper

Cream of Mushroom Soup

• 8 ounces (226.7 g) fresh mushrooms
• ¼ of an onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3 tablespoons (44.37 ml) butter
• 2 ½ tablespoons (37 ml) flour
• 2 cups (473.18 ml) chicken broth
• 1 cup (236.59 ml) light cream
• pinch of salt
• pinch of pepper
• pinch of nutmeg

Mushroom and Beef Stew

• 1 tablespoon clarified butter (also called ghee) or beef tallow
• 4 ounces (113.4 g) bacon
• 1 pound (453.6 g) beef stew meat
• 6 shallots
• 1 large green onion
• 5 carrots
• 5 stalks celery
• 1 pound (453.6 g) small fingerling potatoes
• 2 pounds (907.2 g) mixed mushrooms
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 small bunch of thyme
• 2 cups (473.18 ml) dry red wine
• 3 quarts (2.83 l) beef stock
• 1 small bunch fresh parsley
• pinch of salt
• pinch of pepper

Steps

Making White Button and Portobello Mushroom Soup

1. Prepare the onion, mushrooms and thyme. Dice the large onion into small pieces and set aside. Wash the white button and baby Portobello mushrooms and slice each mushroom lengthwise into several pieces. Then remove the leaves from the stalks of thyme.
2. Cook the onions over medium heat. Place a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the diced onions and let them sit, stirring them occasionally with a spatula. Cook for five minutes.
3. Add the mushrooms and cook for five minutes. Shift the onions to the side of the saucepan, then add the mushrooms into the middle. Let the mushrooms cook for five minutes in the uncovered pan.
4. Sprinkle in the thyme and cook for ten minutes. After five minutes, start to stir the mushrooms and onions together. You should notice that the mushrooms have exuded a significant amount of water. Then add the thyme leaves, stir, and cook for ten minutes.
5. Add the bay leaf, salt and soy sauce. After the soup has cooked with the thyme for ten minutes, drop in the bay leaf and stir it in. Then sprinkle in the ½ teaspoon of salt and ½ tablespoon of soy sauce.
6. Combine the tapioca starch and vegetable broth. In a medium sized bowl, measure out the vegetable broth and then add one tablespoon of tapioca starch. Stir the ingredients together until the tapioca starch dissolves.
7. Add the broth mixture and the almond milk to the soup. After you have finished mixing, pour the tapioca and broth mixture into the large saucepan of mushrooms. Then pour in the almond milk and stir to mix the ingredients.
8. Cook for fifteen minutes. Let the soup cook uncovered for around fifteen minutes. Add black pepper, then taste. If you want a more matured flavor, or you feel the mushrooms haven’t been cooked enough, let the soup continue to cook. Add additional spices if you wish.
9. Garnish and serve. When you are satisfied with the flavor of the soup, turn off the heat or keep it at a simmer to keep the soup warm. Pour the soup into a bowl and garnish with Parmesan cheese if you wish. Enjoy your soup while it’s hot!

Making Cream of Mushroom Soup

1. Slice the mushrooms, onion and garlic. Wash the mushrooms, then dry them and cut them vertically into slices. Dice the onion until you have 2 tablespoons of chopped onion, then set it aside. Finely dice the 2 cloves of garlic.
   • Shitake and button mushrooms are great in cream of mushroom soup, but you can use any kind of mushrooms you like.
2. Melt butter in a wide, shallow pot. Place a pot over medium heat and wait until it gets hot. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and use the handles of the pot to tilt it and help the butter slide around the bottom.
3. Add the mushrooms, garlic and onion to the pot. Pour the sliced mushrooms, garlic and onion into the frying pan. Cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are soft, for about five minutes.
4. Sprinkle in two tablespoons of flour. After you have cooked the vegetables for about five minutes, sprinkle in two tablespoons of flour over the surface of the vegetables. Use a spoon to stir and integrate the flour.
5. Pour in the chicken broth and cook. Add two cups of chicken broth, then stir with a spoon to mix everything together. Allow the mixture to heat until it has slightly thickened, about five to ten minutes.
6. Combine cream, one tablespoon of flour, and seasonings. Pour one cup of cream into a medium sized bowl, then add one tablespoon of flour as well as the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir to combine and dissolve the flour.
7. Pour the cream mixture into the soup. After combining the cream with the flour and seasonings, pour the mixture into the pot of soup. Stir frequently and allow the soup to heat until it has thickened. This should take around ten or fifteen minutes.
8. Serve while warm. After the soup has thickened, it’s ready to be served! Ladle it into bowls and add toppings like oyster crackers or cheese, or serve it along with a slice of bread.

Making Mushroom and Beef Stew

1. Chop the bacon and vegetables. Before you start making the stew, chop the bacon into fine, ½ inch pieces. Peel the shallots and chop them finely. Cut the green stem off the leek and dispose of it, then slice the white section into thin rounds.
   • Peel and chop the carrots into rounds about a half an inch thick, and chop the celery into half-inch pieces as well.
   • Chop the parsley coarsely.
   • Wash and chop the mixed mushrooms into inch-long pieces lengthwise if possible. Try to use a mix of mushrooms that may include shiitake, button, chanterelle, cremini or porcini mushrooms.
   • Keep the potatoes whole if they are small, otherwise cut them into small chunks.
2. Heat butter over medium-high heat. Place a Dutch oven or a large stock pot on the stove over medium-high heat. Then add the clarified butter and melt it, tilting the pot so that it coats the entire bottom.
   • If you can’t find clarified butter or beef tallow in your grocery store, make it by melting unsalted butter in a pot over medium heat for 30-40 minutes until the liquid turns clear. Then strain using a fine strainer and cool the butter.
   • Clarifying butter cooks out the water and solids, which gives it a higher smoke point and makes it ideal for frying.
3. Fry the bacon until crispy. Place the bacon in the pot and cook it until it crisps, about five to ten minutes. In this time the bacon should be rendered, meaning that it expels its fat. Remove the bacon after it turns crispy.
4. Cook the beef stew meat. Add the pound of beef stew meat to the pot and cook it for about two minutes on one side. Then flip to the other side and remove the meat when it has browned all over, about four minutes.
5. Fry the vegetables. Add the chopped shallots and leek to the pot and fry them until they are fragrant, about two minutes. Then add the carrots, celery and mushrooms into the pot. Remove the leaves from the bunch of thyme and add them along with the two bay leaves. Fry the vegetables for two minutes.
6. Pour in the dry red wine and the beef stock and add the beef and potatoes. After frying the vegetables, pour in the 2 cups of dry red wine and the 3 quarts of beef stock. Then add the browned beef and the fingerling potatoes.
7. Bring the stew to a boil then let cook for around two hours. Keep heating the pot until the stew comes to a boil. Then turn down the heat and simmer the stew until the potatoes and meat are tender, anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours.
8. Remove the stew, garnish and serve. After the meat and potatoes have cooked, take the stew off the heat. Sprinkle in the crispy bacon and the chopped parsley. Taste to see if it needs any more salt or pepper, then serve and enjoy while hot!

Tips

• Use several types of mushrooms for added texture and a more nuanced flavor.
• Add extra spices like oregano or cumin into the soup if desired.

Sources and Citations

See also

• Make Minted Fresh Green Pea Soup
• Make Carrot Soup
• Make Split Pea Soup
• Make Broccoli Cheese Soup
• Make Butternut Squash Soup
• Make Tomato Soup
• Make a Very Simple Tomato Soup
• Make Potato Soup
• Make Pumpkin Soup
• Make Celery Soup

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What links here

• Grow Edible Mushrooms
• Preserve Fresh Mushrooms