Fine Mushroom Soup

In this recipe for a smooth, creamy soup, raw brown mushrooms are finely chopped in a processor before being slowly fried with a little onion and garlic until most of the moisture has evaporated. This is combined with lightly thickened stock and just before serving a little cream is added.

Ingredients

10 g	Dried porcini mushrooms, slices (if available) (Main)
½ cup	Water, hot
250 g	Brown mushrooms, large (Main)
1	Onion, small
1 clove	Garlic
4 Tbsp	Butter
1 Tbsp	Flour
3 cups	Chicken stock, or beef stock
1 to taste	Soy sauce
1 to taste	Ground black pepper
¼ cup	Cream

Directions

1. Put the dried mushrooms in a small bowl, pour the hot water over them and leave to steep. Roughly chop the mushrooms, put in a processor and pulse until finely chopped. Finely chop the onion and garlic. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy frying pan and add the chopped mushrooms, onion and garlic. Fry over a moderate heat for about 15 minutes until the mushrooms have exuded moisture, then dried to form a crumbly mush.
2. When the dried mushrooms have softened, strain and reserve the liquid, and chop them finely. Add these to the mushrooms in the frying pan. While the mushrooms are frying, take a heavy saucepan and melt the remaining butter and stir in the flour. Cook until the flour is light golden brown, then stir in the stock and also the liquid reserved from soaking the dried mushrooms. Simmer for 15 minutes, then add the fried mushrooms from the pan. Continue to simmer for another 10 minutes. Taste, and season with soy sauce and a little black pepper, if need be.
3. If the soup is too thick, add a little water. When ready to serve, add the cream and reheat.