Creamy Mushroom Soup

If you like mushrooms, then this soup is definitely something that you’ll want to try. It does take a bit of time to make, but it’s worth it. Now, I’m sure you’re sitting there wondering, where I came up with the idea for mushroom soup. Well my husband and I were watching Food Network and Ina, The Barefoot Contessa, was making wild mushroom soup. It looked really good and Howard said that he wanted me to try to make it. I made a few changes to the original recipe to fit our tastes and the final result was a success.

What You’ll Need…

3oz Shitake Mushrooms

6-8oz Button Mushrooms

6-8oz Cremini Mushrooms

4 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 Large Onion (Chopped)

2 Large or 4 Medium Carrots (Chopped)

1 Rib Celery (Chopped)

2 Cups Kale

2 Cloves Garlic

2 Cups Sour Cream

¼ Cup All-purpose Flour

1 Cup Chicken Stock

Salt (To taste)

Pepper (To taste)

2 Tablespoons Herbes De Provence

Parsley (To taste)

Start out by cleaning the mushrooms by wiping them with a dry paper towel. Separate the stems from the caps and slice the stems into ½ inch pieces. Slice the mushroom caps into bite sized pieces and set them aside for later. Also at this time chop the carrot, and onion into medium-to-large pieces.

Now, to make the mushroom stock, heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot. Add the chopped mushroom stems, ½ of the onion, carrot, and about 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cook the stock over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. At this point add 6 cups water. Bring the stock to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

While the stock is cooking chop the remaining 1 or 2 carrots, a rib of celery, 2 cloves of garlic and remove 2 cups of kale from the stems. 

In another large pot heat 2 tablespoons of olive and then add the kale. Allow the kale to wilt for about 8 minutes before adding the remaining ½ onion, carrot, and celery. Allow the vegetables to cook for about ten minutes, stir occasionally. After 10 minutes add the mushrooms and allow them to cook for 10 minutes.

At this point the stock should be done. Strain the stock using a mesh strainer over a bowl and reserve the liquid. You will have about 5 cups of stock. Do NOT throw away the vegetables that are left in the strainer, they are still perfectly good. Save them and sauté them up as a side dish for another meal.

Once the mushrooms have cooked for about 10 minutes add the ¼ of flour and allow it to cook for 1 minute. This will help to thicken the soup a little. After a minute add the chicken stock and stir the soup for about another minute. You can use win instead of chicken stock, and that’s what the original recipe calls for, but we don’t drink wine. 

Now, add the mushroom stock, Herbes de Provence, salt, pepper, and parsley and bring the soup to a boil.  Once it comes to a boil reduce the heat and allow it to simmer for 15 minutes. Lastly, add the sour cream and allow it to heat through. Do not let it come to a boil. 

Serve hot and enjoy!