nate-recipe

the fungus among us...

Dinner Night has resumed at my house, and it came back in one of its most celebrated forms...Soup Night. i have long been a fan of soup. it's good food, or so i've been told. my twin sisters, georgia and angela, used to bring some mighty fantastic soups to thanksgiving and christmas dinners...stuff like pumpkin bisque and cream of asparagus (i think i will try this next).

i don't recall what i made for the first soup night, but last year i made a pumpkin and black bean soup. it was excellent (if i do say so myself) which was fortunate for me as i made enough for the party and to eat for the next two weeks.

this year i made two soups. i didn't decide on them until i was at the store with my friend, Jamie, (who is a chef and makes me nervous). i made the same soup three times beginning with thanksgiving...a curry pumpkin lentil soup...and while it was very well received, i wanted to spread my soup wings a little.

i decided to mess with a recipe i saw online for a tomato-pumpkin bisque. it got great reviews on the website, and people at the party liked it. i did not. i was skeptical about that combination, but decided that many 5 star reviews can't be wrong. it will not be made again.

soup number two was something i'd wanted to try for a long time...cream of mushroom. my earliest memories of soup involved this particular style, and i still have cans of the campbell's version in my cupboard. i explained what i wanted to do, and Jamie gave me a pointer or two. i had planned on only using milk as the base, but she told me i should consider a vegetable broth, and than add heavy cream. i took this sage advice, but grabbed a gallon of whole milk, too, which after 20 years of 2% tastes like heavy cream to me.

ok. so, here's the recipe. this makes about a gallon of soup, so keep that in mind.

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Ingredients:

4 large portabello mushrooms
1 lb of white mushrooms
2 cloves of fresh garlic
4 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon of ground bay leaves
1 1/2 cups of red wine
1 teaspoon of salt
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 gallon of whole milk
1 pint of heavy cream
24 ounces of vegetable stock
2 oz of asiago cheese (or any hard cheese you like)

Slice the white mushrooms into pieces approximately 1/8 inch thick and dice the portabello mushrooms into 1/4 inch cubes.

Grate the garlic into a heated frying pan and let it brown briefly before adding the olive oil and bay leaf. leave over med-high heat and allow the mixture to blend.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the mushrooms, 1/2 cup of red wine, Worchestershire sauce, and salt. Stir until all the pieces are covered. After the mushrooms are fairly soft, lower the heat to simmer.

In a large stock pot, heat the vegetable stock to a near boil. When it is ready, put the entire contents of the mushroom frying pan, liquids and all, into the stock. Set the heat to medium, cover it, and leave for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add 1 cup of red wine and heavy cream, stir, and re-cover. Let this cook for about 5 minutes.

Add 1/2 gallon of whole milk, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Serve into bowls and garnish with grated cheese.

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this was so good that i might just make it all winter long. i'll probably mess around with it a bit...maybe try adding some cheese to the soup during cooking, like a goat cheese or something.