Ingredients: |
Ingredients: 1½ pounds (24 oz.) baby portobello mushrooms
1 carrot, finely shredded or diced
1 rib celery with a few leaves, finely chopped
1 medium or ½ large sweet red onion, finely diced
3-4 tbsp. butter (or dairy-free substitute) or olive oil
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour (regular or gluten-free)
5 cups chicken broth or water, or a combination, or water with 1-2 vegetable or chicken bouillon cubes
¾ cup half-and-half or milk (or So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk, or a combination)
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
½ teaspoon ground marjoram
½ cup white wine (I just use box wine - white zinfandel)
¾ to 1½ teaspoons salt (smaller amount if using salted butter and chicken stock or bouillon cubes, more if only using water, to your taste in either case)
a few grindings of fresh black pepper
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Directions: |
Directions:~1. Separate mushroom caps and stems. Take half of the mushroom caps aside and slice them about 1/8 inch thick. Coarsely chop the rest of the caps and all of the stems.
~2. In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, sauté the sliced mushroom caps in 1 T. butter or olive oil until the liquid is drawn out of them and mostly cooked away. With a slotted spoon, remove caps from pot to a bowl. Set aside.
~3. Add another tablespoon of butter or olive oil to the soup pot (or spray with olive oil cooking spray). Add the diced onion, celery and carrot; sauté until tender. Stir in the coarsely chopped mushroom caps and stems, and cook all until soft. If the mixture seems to be drying out too much, add a small amount of water, cover and simmer until the vegetables are soft. Once soft, spoon entire pot contents into a blender and puree until smooth.
~4. Have 5 cups of water and/or chicken broth ready at hand. Melt 2-3 tbsp. of butter in the (now empty) soup pot. Blend in 3 tbsp. flour with a whisk to make a roux. Cook the roux briefly, then add some of the water and/or chicken broth, whisking to blend with the roux. Increase the heat to bring this close to a boil. Continue to add the rest of the water/chicken broth. If you use less butter than flour (which I usually do), you’re probably going to have some clumps instead of a normal roux, but don’t despair. Just whisk vigorously and continuously as you keep adding the liquid and bring it all to a simmer. It should become smooth and thicken somewhat once it reaches the simmering point, even if all you use is water.
~5. When broth is thickened, whisk in the pureed vegetable/mushroom mixture, sautéed sliced mushrooms, half-and-half/milk, wine, white pepper, marjoram, black pepper, and salt. Simmer another 10-15 minutes. Taste and add more salt if needed. Enjoy! |
This recipe for Cream of Mushroom Soup is from