Thursday, February 25, 2010

Ina's Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

Today I decided to make Ina's Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup. Being a Very snowy day I thought it'd make a great dinner. Literally it took about 21/2 hours to do everything! From all the sauteing, dicing, bringing to boil, simmering etc. It was absolutely worth it but much more suitable for a Sunday meal. It was extremely earthy with all of the fresh mushrooms, leeks, Mayan sweet onion, and parsley. I started around 3:30 and didn't finish til about quarter of 6 but it was perfect timing for my dad. He had been out shoveling/snow blowing for that entire time period. I was happy he could come in to a hot meal. We had some nice marble rye bread to add to it. Very satisfying.

I'm beginning to realize just how time consuming Ina's meals are. I've never been one to make Sandra Lee's meals but I think I'm going to try some of hers also in the future. But I must say, even though Ina's meals cost more and are more time consuming I haven't been disappointed with any of them. The mushrooms it called for were Shiitaki, Cremini, and portobello . I decided to use regular mushrooms instead of the shitaki to save money. It worked out perfectly fine. I absolutely love mushrooms. Only sauteed though. Not raw. It is definitely a recipe worth trying out on a weekend. :) Here is the recipe for you....

Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup
Ina Garten 2006 Barefoot Contessa At Home
All rights reserved.

Ingredients

  • 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

Directions

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.

1 comment:

  1. That's the down side of home cooking-sometimes the fabulous meals take the longest.

    ReplyDelete