Ugly Mushroom Soup

I love mushroom soup, but absolutely deplore cream of mushroom soup.

Most places that serve this poison this totally by either adding too much cream, or too little mushrooms. Or both. Some add so much cream that it should be called “cream soup with mushrooms” instead.

Disgusting.

Over the weekend, I had to right the wrong myself so I set out to make a hearty mushroom soup WITHOUT cream. And as usual, it turned out really ugly but surprisingly very tasty.

Ugly Mushroom Soup

I don’t measure my quantities as usual but here’s a rough recipe.

Roughly 500gms of mixed mushrooms (portobello, buttons, shitake)
Few pieces of dried Chinese mushrooms soaked in warm water
1 large onion, chopped
Few rashes of bacon, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 knobs of butter
Splash of Olive oil
Fresh and dried Thyme
Half cup of white wine
About one cup of chicken stock or water
Juice of half a lemon

Start with chopping all your mushrooms. You can be rough, it doesn’t matter as you’re cooking it all down anyway. Butter and olive oil goes into the pot, then saute onions and garlic for a few minutes until soft. Careful not to burn anything, especially the garlic which browns and burns quickly. Add the bacon and fry for a few minutes until some lard is released.

Add all the mushrooms including the chinese dried ones then add the white wine. You should add a little bit of the water used to soak your dried mushrooms for flavor. Your pot should come up to 3/4 with chopped mushrooms. Don’t worry, they’ll cook down very soon in a few minutes. Add a bit of fresh and dried thyme and some salt, then add enough stock and/or water to cover. Bring to boil, then reduce to a moderate simmer. Cook for at least 30 minutes until the mushrooms are soft.

When done, scoop out about 1/5 of the soup and reserve. Take a stick blender and process the hell out of it. Careful to take the pot off the fire first and watch out for splashes. If you don’t have a stick blender, pour into a food processor and do the same.

Blend until smooth, then add the the reserved soup back and mix well, add the 2nd knob of butter to give it bit of richness, and some water if its too thick. Now you have some chucks of mushrooms swimming in the soup. Season to taste and keep warm. Just before serving, squeeze in the juice of half a lemon. The lemon cuts the warm, earthy flavor of the mushrooms and gives it a brighter lift.

To serve, scoop out into a bowl and add some fresh thyme and a few drop of truffle oil if you have. I took some leftover bacon and grilled it, cut into little chunks and sprinkled on top of the soup.

Eat.