Creamless Mushroom Soup a la Jerry's

[Rachel Perlow]

Creamless Mushroom Soup a la Jerry's

Serves 4 as Main Dishor 6 as Appetizeror 6 as Soup.

This recipe was inspired by a soup we had at Jerry's Osteria restaurant in Tenafly, NJ. This is one of our favorite places and their soup was divine. Earthy with lots of funky mushroom flavor. Jason has to avoid dairy products and this soup has a creamy texture from the mushrooms that is augmented with a potato - but be sure to not use too much potato! The use of water is recommended over beef broth, but broth could be used, or concentrated beef base could be added, but it shouldn't taste too beefy. The final texture should remain a little chunky, hence the use of an immersion blender rather than a regular blender. If you don't have one, you can use a regular blender or food processor, but just pulse a few times.

Edit: To follow-up, I preferred the smoother puree from using a regular blender. The immersion blender tended to shred the mushrooms rather than finely puree them. Save some chunks from the blender for texture.

• 1 T Olive or Vegetable Oil
  
• 1 medium Onion, finely diced
  
• 1 stalk of Celery, finely diced
  
• 1 small (about 4 oz) starchy Potato, peeled & diced
  
• 3/4 oz dried Porcini
  
• 1 qt Water, divided
  
• 10 oz White Button Mushrooms, chopped
  
• 10 oz Cremini or Portobella Mushrooms, chopped
  
• Salt to taste (at least 1/2 tsp)
  
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
  

Optional Ingredients

• 1 tsp or more good beef base, like Better Than Boullion (or Vegetable Base)
  
• 2 T Sherry, Cognac or Brandy
  
• Best Quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Truffle Oil
  

Heat a 6 quart soup pot over a moderate flame. Add 1 tablespoon oil, allow to heat for a bit then add the Onion, sauté for a minute before adding the Celery. Stir, then cover and allow the vegetables to sweat for a few minutes before adding the Potato.

Meanwhile, soak the dried Porcini in 1 cup of hot water, set aside.

Add the chopped fresh mushrooms to the sweating vegetables. Stir it all up and continue sweating. Lift the lid every so often to stir the vegetables, but keep the lid on for the most part to retain the vegetable's steam.

After about 5 minutes, using a slotted spoon, remove the Porcini from their soaking liquid (retain the liquid), chop them up and add them to the pot, cover. After the mushrooms have released their water and start to look cooked (about 5 more minutes), add about 1/2 tsp Salt and some freshly ground Black Pepper. Add the reserved porcini soaking water (pour slowly to keep any sediment from going into the pot) and 3 more cups of water. Turn up the heat to bring to a boil, then immediately reduce the heat to maintain a simmer (covered) for about 15 minutes.

Turn the heat down and use an immersion blender to puree the soup, but don't make it too smooth, it should still have some chunky texture, but the non-mushroom vegetables shouldn't be identifiable. Taste the soup. If you think it still needs salt, and don't need it to be vegetarian, add some really good beef base, about 1-2 teaspoons. Stir it in until it dissolves completely. If you don't have good beef base, just add some more salt and pepper. At this point, add the Sherry, if using. Stir it in and allow the soup to simmer for about 5 more minutes.

Serve the hot soup with a drizzle of Olive or Truffle Oil on top.

Keywords: Appetizer, Soup, Kosher, Vegan, Vegetarian, Easy, Vegetables, Dinner, Lunch, Immersion Blender, American, Italian

( RG205 )