Cream of Mushroom Soup
Recipe information
Yield
for about 2 quarts, serving 6
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
The Soup Base. Sauté the onion or leek slowly with the butter in a heavy-bottomed covered saucepan, for 7 to 8 minutes, until tender and translucent. Blend in the flour and cook slowly 2 or 3 minutes, stirring. Off heat, gradually whisk in the hot stock. Bring to the simmer over moderate heat, and whisk in the milk.
Step 2
The Mushrooms. Blend in the mushrooms and dried tarragon, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. Stir in optional cream, simmer briefly, then season to taste, adding drops of lemon juice if needed. Garnish with tarragon sprigs, or with sautéed mushroom slices floated on each serving.
VARIATIONS
Step 3
CREAM OF BROCCOLI SOUP. Prepare the soup base as described above. Meanwhile, separate the small buds and stems from 1 or 2 heads of broccoli (about 1 1/2 pounds) and set them aside. Peel and slice the stems, and boil them over 1/2 inch of water (page 25). Purée them in a food processor with 1 cup of the soup base, then fold into the remaining soup. Simmer the reserved tender buds briefly in the broccoli-boiling liquid; refresh in cold water to set color; drain, and set aside; just before serving, reheat briefly in a tablespoon of butter. Rapidly boil down the cooking liquid until reduced to 1/2 cup, and add to the soup base. When ready to serve, heat soup to the simmer, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes with up to 1/2 cup of heavy cream or sour cream. Correct seasoning and serve, decorating each portion with broccoli buds.
Step 4
CREAM OF ASPARAGUS SOUP. Boil 2 pounds peeled fresh asparagus spears until almost tender (page 24). Refresh in cold water and cut off about 2 tender inches at the tip of each spear. Cut the bud ends off each tip, slice buds in half or quarters, and reserve for garnish—sautéing them briefly in butter before serving. Reserve the rest of the tips to purée later, and chop up the remaining stalks. Add these stalks to cook with the onions for the soup base, and purée the finished soup base through a vegetable mill to eliminate coarse asparagus strings. Purée the reserved tips (not buds!) and add to the soup base. Simmer with 1/2 cup or so of heavy cream or sour cream, correct seasoning, and top each portion with the sautéed asparagus buds.
Step 5
CREAM OF CARROT SOUP. Trim and peel 8 medium-size carrots. Reserve one for garnish. Chop the rest roughly and add them to cook with the onions in the soup base. Shave reserved carrot into strips with a vegetable peeler; steam over boiling water several minutes until tender. Decorate each serving with a cluster of warm carrot strips.
Step 6
OTHER VARIATIONS. Adapt other vegetables such as spinach, parsnips, celery, broccoli to the same system, and see also the next section using a rice purée.
Crème fraîche—french sour cream
Step 7
This is unpasteurized heavy cream allowed to ferment naturally. You can simulate it either by blending 1 tablespoon of sour cream into a cup of heavy cream and allowing it to ferment and thicken at room temperature, or by whisking together equal amounts of sour cream and heavy cream until thickened. The cream will keep for a week under refrigeration.
To keep cream soups and sauces
Step 8
To prevent a skin from forming on the surface of flour-thickened soups and sauces, stir them up every few minutes. Or, to keep longer, float a film of milk or stock on the surface by filling a large spoon with the liquid, laying the spoon flat on the surface as you tip it, then spreading the liquid over the surface with the back of the spoon.
