Cream of Mushroom Soup

We have been having freaky weather of late ... when it's hot, it's scorching ... and when it rains, it pours. Oh yes it does! Not that I am complaining. Not when I have a piping hot bowl of Cream of Mushroom Soup.



This recipe - from Donna Hay - was exactly what I was looking for. It uses only cream and milk, without any need for stock. YES! Finally. :) Easy peasy! The only thing I'd like to add is, if you do not have an immersion handheld blender like me, you can use a food processor to chop up your mushroom to bits (of your desired chunkiness) before cooking.

Tip: To get a varying texture, add the mushrooms into the food processor in 3 batches. By the time the third batch gets chopped up into nice chewy bits, the first batch would have become a smooth puree.



Recipe
(from Donna Hay magazine, and seen at Evan's lovely blog)

- 30g butter
- 1 brown onion, finely chopped
- 500g white button mushrooms, chopped (feel free to use a variety of mushrooms)
- 3 cups milk
- 1/4 cup single or pouring cream
- Sea salt, cracked black pepper
- Shaved parmesan

1. Heat a large saucepan over high heat. Add butter and onion, and sweat the onions. Add mushrooms and cook till the onion is softened, and liquid from the mushrooms is almost gone.

2. Add milk and bring to a boil. Add cream, sea salt and black pepper.

3. Use an immersion handheld blender* to blend soup until desired smoothness is achieved.
If you do not have an immersion blender, use a food processor to chop up your mushrooms to your desired chunkiness before cooking.

4. Ladle into soup bowls and top with cheese & black pepper before serving.