French Mushroom Soup

There is nothing to beat the taste of the perfect soup. And today Clare Jones from Mushrooms Canada will be showing us how to make a delicious French Mushroom Soup served on a chili winter evening or to start of for your next dinner party. This recipe has a rich flavor that will be sure to impress. Let’s get cooking. You’re watching DailyWeb TV. Meriel Bradley: Don’t go away because we have Clare Jones here from Mushrooms Canada. Now, what delightful recipe do you have with us today? Clare Jones: Today, I’m going to make a French mushroom soup. Yeah, really good on cold winter evening. Meriel Bradley: So, how do we start? Clare Jones: We’re going to start by putting a quarter cup of butter into a nice heavy bottom soup pot. Meriel Bradley: Right. Clare Jones: And just let that melt. And to that, we’re going to add a pound of sliced mushrooms. Now, I’m using the brown cremini mushrooms and the white mushrooms here. Meriel Bradley: Now, is that for extra flavor or— Clare Jones: Sure. Yeah the brown just giving it a little extra flavor but you could also use some Shiitake mushrooms in here if you like. It would give it a nice flavor too. Meriel Bradley: Now, what do we do? We just— Clare Jones: We’re just going to sauté that on medium heat for about five to six minutes, just until the water comes out of the mushrooms and evaporates. So now, we’re going to sprinkle a third of a cup of flour over the sautéed mushrooms and just cook that for about a minute. Meriel Bradley: Is this to thicken up the soup? Clare Jones: The flour is what helps thicken the soup. Yeah. But you want to cook it to get that starchy flavor out of the flour and that sort of browns it a little bit and gives it a better flavor. Meriel Bradley: So, you’re left with s nice thick soup without a floury taste. Clare Jones: That’s right. Meriel Bradley: Now, there was water in the mushrooms that evaporated, has all the goodness stayed in the mushroom? Clare Jones: Yes, it has actually. Yeah, all the waters evaporated, all those vitamins and minerals and nutrients that are in the mushrooms have been retained in them. Meriel Bradley: Now, is this done? Clare Jones: Well, the next step we’re going to do is just gradually stir in six cups of chicken stock. Meriel Bradley: Right. Clare Jones: And then we’re just going to bring that to a boil. Meriel Bradley: Now, because I’ve pre-cooked the flour that means I’m not going to get a lumpy mixture. Clare Jones: No, it should blend in with the broth especially if the broth gets hotter. Meriel Bradley: Oh, it smells good already. Now, we’ve been diligently stirring this and it’s boiling— Clare Jones: Looks good. Meriel Bradley: It does look and smells good. Clare Jones: So, now we’re going to add a half a teaspoon of dried thyme and a bay leaf and a quarter cup of chopped green onions. And then we’re just going to cover that and let it simmer on a lower heat for about 15 to 20 minutes and that just sort of gets all the flavors mixed together. So, once it’s done simmering, you just want to remove the bay leaf. Now next, we’re going to have to take two egg yolks and add to that a half a cup of whipping cream and just whisk that together. Meriel Bradley: Now, what is that going to be for? Clare Jones: This just makes the soup nice and creamy and it actually makes it even thicker. And it’s important to use whipping cream not table cream because if you use table cream, it’s going to curdle. Meriel Bradley: Oh, we don’t want that to happen. Clare Jones: Now, we need a cup of the hot broth that we’re going to add back into the egg mixture here. Meriel Bradley: So, do I try not to get any mushrooms— Clare Jones: That’s okay. Meriel Bradley: Its okay? Clare Jones: Yeah, no that’s fine. The reason we do this is if you just pour the egg yolks and cream right into the soup, the eggs would cook and it would be more like egg drop soup which we don’t want. Meriel Bradley: Right. Clare Jones: So, this will heat up the eggs and then we can have that back in. Meriel Bradley: Alright, so do I just gently just pour it in and you whisk? Clare Jones: Sure, just pour it in there and, yeah. And let’s get it together. Meriel Bradley: Now, that wasn’t quite a cup, do you need some more? Clare Jones: That’s okay as long as it’s not hard enough. Meriel Bradley: Soft? Clare Jones: Yeah, just to heat that up, that’s fine. And then we’re going to add that— Meriel Bradley: Now, do you bring it up to a gentle heat and not boil it? Clare Jones: Yes. Meriel Bradley: Okay. Clare Jones: And then just bring that up to hot. It takes about five minutes to get it there. Meriel Bradley: Smells good. Now, is this ready to eat? Clare Jones: It’s almost ready. We’re just going to season it with a little white pepper. Meriel Bradley: Oh, white pepper. Why white pepper? Clare Jones: It’s nice with the flavor. Meriel Bradley: Yeah. Clare Jones: The black pepper can be a little overpowering sometimes, it’s nice and mild. And there is a variation on this recipe where you can add some cherries. So, we’re going to do that, a quarter cup of medium cherry and just stir that in. Of course if you don’t want to do that, you don’t have to. Meriel Bradley: That’s very British. Clare Jones: It is. Meriel Bradley: A little bit of cherry. Clare Jones: And the soup is ready. Meriel Bradley: Is this now taste time? Clare Jones: It is. Meriel Bradley: Alright, that looks delicious. I’m going to just put a little bit in because I’m dying to taste it. Clare Jones: Okay, I’ll just give you a little parsley just top put on the top. Meriel Bradley: Yeah. That is delicious! Clare Jones: It is good, isn’t it? Meriel Bradley: Fabulous, fabulous recipe! And if you want to make this recipe and you should, you can go to mushrooms.ca. I’m Meriel Bradley. We’ve been making a delicious French Mushroom soup and you’ve been watching DailyWeb TV.