Thursday, September 25, 2008

Barefoot Blooging..Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

This week's recipe for Barefoot Bloggers was chosen by Chelle at Brown Eyed Baker and she made a wise choice for the beginning of fall. Just a brief history...in case you didn't know. Barefoot Bloggers is the brain child of Tara at Smells Like Home and twice a month a group of foodie bloggers with a common love of all things Ina Garten make the same recipe. We then report on our experience and review the recipe.

So Chelle chose Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup. Like all of Ina's recipes, this one is a very elegant recipe that looks far more complicated than it is. I saw Ina make this on her show and serve it to Mel Brooks (if you are interested) and it looks amazing. So I was excited to try it. I loves me some 'shrooms so I was on board from the beginning.

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Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup
by Ina Garten
Barefoot Contessa At Home

5 oz fresh shitake mushrooms
5 oz fresh portabella mushrooms
5 oz fresh cremini (or porcini) mushrooms
1 T good olive oil
1/4 lb + 1 T unsalted butter
1 c chopped yellow onion
1 chopped carrot
1 sprig fresh thyme + 1 tsp chopped minced thyme leaves, divided
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
2 c chopped leeks (white and light green parts)(2 leeks)
1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 c dry white wine
1 c half-and-half
1 c heavy cream
1/2 c minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

Clean the mushrooms by wiping the with a dry paper towel. Don't wash them! Separate the stems from the caps, trim off any bad parts, and coarsely chop the stems. Slice caps 1/4" thick and, if they are big, cut into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

To make the stock, heat the olive oil and 1 T butter in a large pot. Add the chopped mushroom stems, chopped onion, carrot, sprig of thyme, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and cook over medium low heat about 10 - 15 minutes, until veggies are soft. Add 6 cups of water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid. You should have about 4 1/2 cups of stock, if not add some water.

Meanwhile, in another large pot, heat the remaining 1/4 lb butter and add the leeks. Cook over low heat for 15 - 20 minutes, until the leeks start to turn brown. Add the mushroom caps and cook for 10 minutes, or until they are browned and tender. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine and stir for another minute, scraping the bottom of the pot. Add the mushroom stock, minced thyme leaves, 1 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper and bring to a boil Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the half-and-half, cream, and parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Heat through but do not boil. Serve hot.

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Now, for my adaptations.
#1 you will notice there is no parsley in my soup. That is because parsley was over $2 a bunch and Kroger this week. Sorry, Ina, I'm just too cheap.
#2 As if this recipe isn't rich enough, I took the advice of one of the members of th CK board and used chicken stock from my freezer to make the mushroom stock. I used 4 cups of chicken stock and 2 cups of water.
#3 Kroger, again, failed me by not having any fresh thyme, so I used dried.

Believe me, I'm not complaining about the results. I served the soup with crusty french bread and a salad of mixed greens and dried cherries with a bleu cheese vinaigrette. And it was even better for lunch the next day!

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To see what the rest of the Barefoot Bloggers think, check here.

14 comments:

Suzie said...

I feel bad for being so grumpy in my post! Glad you enjoyed the soup and your salad sounds great. Maybe I should have hung onto the leftovers instead of giving them to a friend?

NKP said...

Ooh, soup with crusty bread. I am wanting some all over again. I really should eat before visiting. Great job!
ps, parsley is pretty easy to grow in the garden, if you are interested or have the room.

Mary Ann said...

Looks yummy! Glad you liked it!

Cathy said...

I love, I mean LOVE, the idea of making this with chicken stock! This had to be perfect with crusty bread. I love your pictures!

Summer said...

Looks yummy. I bet the chicken stock added some nice flavor.

Laura said...

Yum - I wish I had thought of using chicken stock! You just reminded me that I've got some left over in the fridge - lunch is on its way :-)

Cynthia's Blog said...

you should have bought the parsley anyway. Mine charged me for cilantro and i only paid 39 cents for the whole bunch. Uhhem,...I noticed this after I got home;)

Anonymous said...

My soup looks very similar to yours. I also used dried thyme because I didn't feel like buying fresh. I wish I would have used chicken stock in my soup. It would have been much more flavorful!

Megan said...

I know what you mean about Herb prices. Once I wanted to buy fresh basil to make pesto (Foe a BB challenge) and it was so expensive and scrawney that it was cheaper to just but the pesto. Herbs should not be that expensive!!!
Soup was wonderful and looking at your pictures makes me wish I had some more. :)

Deb in Hawaii said...

I should have used the chicken stock too. your soup looks delicious and I love the blue ladle!

Christine said...

This was so much better the next day! I stuck mine in the crock pot and served it with sandwiches. Next time I am going to use chicken stock, your soup looks delicious!

Prudy said...

Crusty bread would have been a delicious addition. Looks so wonderful!

Becky said...

Brenda, love your photos! I too used chicken stock and think that really added to the soup.

Michelle A'etonu said...

ooh! your soup looks wonderful!