Barefoot Bloggers: Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

Chelle of Brown Eyed Baker chose this week's recipe--Ina's Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup! This is my first Barefoot Blogger assignment and I was especially excited. I really do love mushrooms, so it was perfect. I actually made the soup over the weekend and was surprised to find that everyone enjoyed it. I was only able to reserve about two cups or so as leftovers, which a friend and I indulged in earlier this week. Yummy!

The recipe called for a couple types of mushrooms, but I wasn't able to get my hands on either porcini or cremini mushrooms. So I just bought the typical packaged mushrooms you can find at any grocery store and they worked just as well. After all, the fact that I still had the shiitake and portobello mushrooms still made it wild, right? Here's a picture of all the mushrooms I had:

I've seen leeks before but hadn't used them in a recipe until now. Like an idiot, I got ahead of myself while reading the recipe and mistakenly mixed the leeks into the broth.

Lucky for me, I still had enough leeks left to saute the mushroom caps with later on. And it actually wasn't too bad a mistake after all. I think I enhanced the flavor of the broth in the process!

While this was cooking, I took a small taste of the mixture and it was delicious! Maybe it was the good Riesling white wine I used (I accumulated a good collection of wines at our housewarming party). I actually saved all the vegetables from the broth and ate them later on as well. It was wonderful!

As I mentioned earlier, I served this at a dinner party I had last weekend and it was a hit. The only picture I got of a family member was of my brother, Jon. He liked the soup too, although the first thing he said after his first spoonful was, "hey, where's the meat in here?" So typical. It was actually kind of cool that evening too, so it was nice addition to the dinner table. If you're interested in trying it, you should! Here's the recipe (taken from the Food Network website):

Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

5 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms

5 ounces fresh portobello mushrooms

5 ounces fresh cremini (or porcini) mushrooms

1 tablespoon good olive oil

1/4 pound (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, divided

1 cup chopped yellow onion

1 carrot, chopped

1 sprig fresh thyme plus 1 teaspoon minced thyme leaves, divided

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 leeks)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup half-and-half 1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

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

To make the stock, heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large pot. Add the chopped mushroom stems, the onion, carrot, the sprig of thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Add 6 cups 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 pound of butter and add the leeks. Cook over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the leeks begin to brown. Add the sliced mushroom caps and cook for 10 minutes, or until they are browned and tender. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the white wine and stir for another minute, scraping the bottom of the pot. Add the mushroom stock, minced thyme leaves, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the half-and-half, cream, and parsley, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and heat through but do not boil. Serve hot.

Serves 5 to 6.