Best recipe for mushroom soup

[PassionateChef]

Please post the highest quality recipe for mushroom soup, preferably in video format.

I want to be able to copy this recipe and make a more tastier mushroom soup than my mothers! She makes is so tasty, I want to challenge her and make it more delicious! Plz in video format, if not in text format.

[Domestic Goddess]

Um, I think you can find recipes in videos in YouTube or if you want text, Google is a very good search engine.

[snowangel]

Hie thyself to the library and check out a copy of Bourdain's "Les Halles Cookbook." Best ever mushroom soup recipe.

[Beanie]

Hie thyself to the library and check out a copy of Bourdain's "Les Halles Cookbook."  Best ever mushroom soup recipe.

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or you can find it here.

[Magictofu]

You can use a very good veal broth, infuse a bunch of your favourite dried wild mushrooms in it, strain into a pan where shallots have been lightly browned and deglazed with sherry, strain again, and serve as a consommé topped with a bit of a milk based foam or even very lightly whipped cream. These "mushroom expressos" have been quite popular in recent years.

[JAZ]

Hie thyself to the library and check out a copy of Bourdain's "Les Halles Cookbook."  Best ever mushroom soup recipe.

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I must be alone in this, but I was not terribly impressed with his mushroom soup.

[prasantrin]

As a "PassionateChef", surely you must have some wonderful ideas up your sleeve. Please experiment and let us know what you come up with, and perhaps you can put a video on YouTube, too.

Are you looking for a cream of mushroom soup, or a non-creamy version? It's good to be specific.

[jefferyc]

I love the book but this one needed some improvement I thought. I simmer the chicken stock with dried mushrooms (as noted above) to get more mushroom flavor in the mix. I saute the onions and mushrooms separately and deglaze the mushrooms with a little white table wine. Some cream towards the end of the simmering process adds some richness.

[Edit]

I forgot, a few drops of truffle oil at the end perks it way up.

[second edit]

Does the loser have to do the 'honorable thing'.

Edited March 4, 2009 by jefferyc (log)

[Jaymes]

I've been making the cream of mushroom soup from Mastering the Art of French Cooking for literally decades.

Haven't found anything one bit better.

And it always get embarrassingly rave reviews.

[slkinsey]

It seems to me that most mushroom soups in the "cream of" family can be reduced to:

1. Simmer softened mirepoix and lots of mushrooms with some stock for an hour or so. Add herbs if you like -- parsley, thyme or rosemary being decent candidates (employ judiciously).

I would argue that one can amp up the flavor here by a number of methods. For example, veal stock is better than chicken stock is better than vegetable broth. Also, you can use a mixture of different fresh mushrooms besides just button mushrooms. Finally, you can always add some dried mushrooms such as porcini. Or some combination of the above.

2. Puree in a blender.

I would argue that the smoothness and silkyness of the soup can be improved here by using a good, high-powered blender such as a Vita-Prep and/or by passing the pureed soup through a fine sieve (the latter being greatly facilitated by the former).

3. Return to the heat, correct for seasonings and gild the lily.

You could add back some sauteed mushrooms for textural contrast. You can add a little sherry. You can add a little cream, either straight or whipped. You can add a tiny touch more of the fresh minced herbs you used in step 1. You can add a touch of truffle oil. You can do any combination of the above.

Basta. Doesn't seem like rocket science to me.

Edited March 4, 2009 by slkinsey (log)

[JosephB]

Try Jean Georges's recipe in Cooking at Home. It's is very refined. He starts with a mushroom broth made from a few pounds of mushroooms, some shallots and thyme, which are sauteed, boiled and strained (further reduction gives you mushroom syrup). The dish is finished with sauteed shitake, soy sauce, sherry, hazelnut oil, and toasted bread crumbs. Superb.

[MaxH]

It seems to me that most mushroom soups in the "cream of" family...

In French cooking, they and relatives often come from the Velouté soup family, derived from Velouté sauce (veal, poultry, or vegetable broth cooked down, thickened, cream added). Lots of these recipes in the Guide Culinaire, the traditional French data base from which Julia Child took selections and adapted them for US readers in her Mastering books. The GC is not a bad reference to have handy if you're ever interested in dishes like this.

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Foundation or Basic sauces -- Espagnole (brown sauce), Velouté, Béchamel, tomato. (A. Escoffier, Le Guide Culinaire 4ed., English Tr. Cracknell-Kaufmann.)

[mr.baconhead]

Please post the highest quality recipe for mushroom soup, preferably in video format.

I want to be able to copy this recipe and make a more tastier mushroom soup than my mothers! She makes is so tasty, I want to challenge her and make it more delicious! Plz in video format, if not in text format.

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Have your mother post a video of her recipe, then we can offer suggestions on improving it.

[joiei]

I've been making the cream of mushroom soup from Mastering the Art of French Cooking for literally decades.

Haven't found anything one bit better.

And it always get embarrassingly rave reviews.

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It is hard to improve on a recipe that is stellar to start with. I am also a fan of this recipe over any others I have tried.

[howsmatt]

slkinsey's recipe is close to what I would do-although I would not add something like rosemary. At the restaurant whenever I'm not happy with the amount of "mushroominess" I would add a handful of fresh-frozen-sauteed porcinis. I think these add the essence of a great mushroom soup.

As always you taste what you pay for.

The bourdain version looks pretty bland.

[cbread]

I add cream and marsala or similar to the ingredients from slkinsey. I am not so taken with blending it. I don't usually blend it at all, but if the mood strikes me I set aside enough cooked mushroom and perhaps onion too, to provide textural contrast.

[OliverB]

I made a sauce yesterday that would work as well as a soup. I browned some sliced crimini in a pan, then I put them into some veggie stock I had made a while ago. I can't remember from what I made it, but it was very red so there were some beets in there for sure. Just a remnant of some leftover veggies a while ago. I let that simmer (and reduce) for a while, added some cream and about a Tbsp of butter, salt and pepper and a bit of red wine vinegar, a pinch of sugar. Blended it up with a stick blender. Was very good with the pork tender loin I had left over and some sauteed greens and fried potato.

I could also see adding a bit of nutmeg, smoked paprika or a pinch of curry for flavor variations.

If I'd had the time I'd have strained the sauce but I think it looked just as fine with the little dark mushroom flecks and for a soup I'd leave it as is, a sprig of parsley and a couple drops of olive oil (truffle oil?).

Makes me want to run out for more mushrooms!

[Starkman]

Would sauteing the mirepoix and mushrooms first before adding stock bring out more flavor?

Starkman

[mattohara]

1 lb fresh shiitakes (or 1/3-1/2 lb dried)

mirepoixe

1/2 cup soy

toasted coriander, cumin, mustard seed, toasted peppercorn

Simmer the mushrooms with the mirepoixe, add soy, toasted seeds, strain.

It looks beautiful with a few slices of shiitake at the bottom and some fresh coriander or scallions floating on top. I'm sure using stock instead of water would add complexity but there's something nice and simple about this version that makes it amazing.

Edited October 27, 2009 by mattohara (log)