A Delicious Mushroom Soup

On a trip to my local wholesale club last week I purchased a large container of sliced white button mushrooms.  With so many mushrooms on hand I decided to make a mushroom soup.  I've made cream of mushroom soup in the past, but I really wanted to make a soup without cream.  I turned to the Internet for inspiration and found Anthony Bourdain's mushroom soup on the Dinner Tonight blog on Serious Eats.

Delicious Mushroom Soul

This soup was just what I was looking for.  It is made with simple ingredients and no cream.  All you need is onion, chicken broth, mushrooms, parsley, butter, salt, pepper and sherry.  I had all of the ingredients on hand, with the exception of the sherry.  I thought about leaving it out, but decided it would impart a flavor that may be necessary to a flavorful soup.  A quick trip to a local spirits store and I was all set.  With sherry in hand I made the soup.

If you check my recipe against the original you'll see I made a couple of changes.  First, I used three tablespoons of olive oil in place of three of the six tablespoons of butter.  I also used dried parsley, one teaspoon.  I've made this soup using packaged chicken broth and my own chicken stock.  I needed to use a bit more salt with my own stock, so be sure to taste to get the right amount of salt and pepper.  I used a 2 to 1 proportion, salt to pepper.

Mushroom Soup

The Mushroom Soup Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 12 ounces mushrooms, mine were sliced
• 32 ounces chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 2 ounces sherry
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions
In a heavy pot heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  Add the onion, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper and cook until soft, but not browned.  Add the rest of the olive oil and butter to the pot.  Add the mushrooms to the pot.  Season with another 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.  Stir to combine and cook for eight minutes.

Cook the Mushrooms

 Pour the chicken broth into the pot.  Add the parsley and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook for an hour.

Simmer for One Hour

Remove the pot from the heat.  Using an immersion blender, puree the soup to the consistency you prefer.  Return the pot to the heat. 

Puree the Soup

Add the sherry and taste for seasoning. Heat and serve. 

Yum!

You can get the printable Mushroom Soup recipe by clicking the link.  Check out Serious Eats for the original recipe.

Enjoy!