Soupruary 26th: Cream of Mushroom

Say it with me now: Umami. Oooomahhhhmeeeee.


Location:
My lilypad


Attendees:
Brent, Laura, Sebastien, Katie, Matt, Tiffany, Joshua, me


Entertainment:
Catchphrase, complete with one free radish pass per person (unless you eat it accidentally)
The New Yorker Cartoon Caption game, complete with half-eaten radish game piece


Brent's amazing Batman impression, fueled by approximately a loaf of bread with butter and salt


Menu:
Linguine cacio e pepe
Balsamic-glazed zucchini
Roasted tomato caprese
Wild mushroom soup


The Soup:
One of my favorite soups from last Soupruary was Jamie Oliver's wild mushroom delight, but I'd seen this recipe praised on a few different blogs so I thought I'd give it a try. The result? Delicious, but I still think last year's wins.

Matt isn't quite down with mushrooms as the main event, as you can see:


But I think everybody else was on board. Brent made some good satisfactiony noises and deemed it incredible, and I would've almost certainly licked my bowl had I not been in polite company. (Okay, polite company + Sebastien.)


It's fun to watch the dried mushrooms get fatter and turn the water dark brown, so that's a lovely little roadside attraction on the highway to Yumtown.


Adapted from The Balthazar Cookbook

1 ounce dried mushrooms (I used a mix of oyster, porcini, shiitake morels)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 sprigs of rosemary
4 sprigs of sage
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 pound white button mushrooms stemmed, cleaned and thinly sliced
1 pound shitake mushrooms stemmed, cleaned and thinly sliced
6 cups water
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
soft goat cheese
white truffle oil

Soak the dry mushrooms in 1 cup of warm water for 20 to 30 minutes, until plump. Strain the soaking liquid (I was supposed to use a coffee filter, but I used a double-fine sieve because I use a French press, thus no filters in la maison); reserve the plumped mushrooms and strained soaking liquid.

Heat the olive oil in your soup pot over medium. Throw in the fresh herbs and let them sizzle a bit, stirring a few times. When the oil is smelling amazing, add the onion, garlic, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes or until the onion is translucent.

Turn the heat up to high and add the fresh mushrooms. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the water, reconstituted mushrooms and soaking liquid, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the herbs, then add the cream and butter. Puree with an immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender until it reaches the consistency you want. Serve with a bit of goat cheese and a little drizzle of truffle oil.