Cream of Mushroom Soup

Steven Pennington

Homemade soup that is silky and smooth with a perfect texture. Such a special soup

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 12

Total Time 17

Course Soup

Cuisine French

Servings 6 People

Calories 221 kcal

2 ½ cups Mushrooms (Chopped) / crimini mushrooms have more flavor than white mushrooms
3 Tablespoons Shallot (Chopped)
8 ounces Heavy Cream or Half & Half
1 Tablespoons Fresh Thyme or (¾ tablespoon dried thyme) / Rub dry herbs in your hands to release the natural oils
32 ounces Chicken Stock or Vegetable Stock
1 leaf Bay Leaf
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
pinch Black or White Pepper
1 splash Sherry Vinegar or Sherry Wine / optional

Get Recipe Ingredients

First, begin by washing & rinsing the mushrooms under cold water to remove any dirt. Use your fingers and feel each mushroom cap ensuring there is zero dirt left behind.
Next, do a rough chop up the mushrooms, they will end up in a blender so the way they look isn't important. Just make sure you chop them up to medium pieces.
In a medium pot, add 1 tablespoon of butter, melt the butter, then add all of the shallots - 3 tablespoons.
Saute/cook the shallots for 2 - 3 minutes over medium heat.
At this point, add in a pinch of sea salt or kosher salt.
After the shallots have cooked a few minutes then add in the chopped mushrooms and sautee them for 4 to 5 minutes. Add more butter if needed.
Once the mushrooms are lightly browned, add a splash of sherry wine or sherry vinegar. Around 1 tablespoon.
Cook off the raw wine/vinegar.

As soon as the sherry is cooked off, add in the rest of the butter and melt. (4 tablespoons)
Add 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour to the mushrooms and combine and cook away the raw flour.

Add half of the chicken stock to the soup base/roux. The soup will begin to thicken. Once you see it begin to thicken, add the rest of the chicken stock.
You can add in more chicken stock if you believe it is needed to control the thickness.
Tip: The longer the soup cooks the tighter the soup will become.
Then add the fresh thyme (chop before adding), reduce the temperature to medium-low and simmer.
Cook the soup for a few minutes to develop the flavor. (5 mins or more) Low heat...
Transfer the soup base to a blender. Turn on the blender and while blending add in the heavy cream or half & half.
The amount of heavy cream or half & half will depend on how thick you want your soup.
If you feel like you've added too much heavy cream, turn up the heat and reduce the soup some on the stovetop.
The Fix: If the soup is too thin, watery.
If you needed to, mix cornstarch and water together to make a slurry, then add to the soup base. Start with a small amount and see how much the soup thickens before adding all of it.

Keep a few mushrooms for garnish. Make very thin slices and arrange them over the soup once you've plated. Add some fresh thyme flowers for a pop of color, plus showing which ingredients are in the soup.

Chef Notes:

If you do not have sherry wine or vinegar, substitute with cognac, brandy or wine white.
Other types of mushrooms to add, Maitake, shiitake
If you love garlic, roast a full bulb of garlic in the oven with olive oil and salt and pepper wrapped in aluminum foil. Add to while making the roux.
For decoration, learning how to tourne a mushroom is fine dining fancy addition. Check youtube.

Keyword Cream of Mushroom Soup