Kitchens Are Monkey Business: Rosie Makes A Mushroom Soup.

Monday, May 23, 2022

Rosie Makes A Mushroom Soup.

It's May on the Outer Banks. That means it May be in the high 70s or 80s today. Or it May be in the 40s with a Nor'easter ablowin'. Or it May be thunder bolts and lightning. Very very frightening. One just never knows down here. (And by the way, if you're ever on a road trip and Bohemian Rhapsody comes on the radio, I AM THE ONE you want in the car with you singing that song. Trust me.)

Oh, now where was I? Oh yeah. It's May. And it was cold and windy the other week. A Nor'easter blew for like 5-6 days.

And I wanted SOUP! So we're having Mushroom Soup today. I'm making this up as I go along and I pulled it all together in under 30 minutes from start to finish. Didn't measure anything, but I can give you thereabouts and you can have a fine time making this and enjoying it.

Rosie's Mushroom Soup

2 - 3 TB unsalted butter

1 medium onion, chopped

assorted mushrooms, chopped (Probably 6-8 ounces of shiitake, portabello, cremini, and oyster mushrooms)

1 garlic clove, minced

fresh thyme

3 TB flour

2+ cups beef broth

about 1/2 cup cream

liberal splash cream sherry (maybe 3 TB)

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

small cubes Brie cheese

torn focaccia or croutons

truffle oil

freshly cracked pepper

Melt butter in medium (2 quart) stock pot over medium heat. When foamy, toss in onions and mushrooms. Cook, stirring, about 2 minutes. Add in minced garlic, about a teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, and flour. Cook, stirring, another minute. Slowly, pour in beef broth, stirring constantly, allowing mixture to thicken. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour in cream and sherry. Heat through. Check seasoning. Ladle into small bowls. Drop in a few small cubes of Brie and serve with focaccia wedges on the side or croutons on top. Sprinkle with more thyme leaves and drizzle some truffle oil over top. Just a few drops. A little goes a loooong way. More pepper, if desired.

Now for the how-to's:

We want about this much onion and mushrooms.

Mel the butter and let the shiitake hit the pan!

I cooked the mushrooms about 2 minutes, then added in the garlic.

You don't want garlic to burn - it gets bitter.

Add in another tablespoon of butter and let it melt.

Sprinkle in the flour and cook another minute to get the raw taste out.

You're making a "roux" here - fat and flour. It's your thickening agent.

You just don't see it because of all the onions and mushrooms.

Slowly stir in the beef broth.

If you like, you could use vegetable broth.

Probably two cups of broth. Let it thicken. Not too thick. Not too thin.

Taste test and season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

Now here's a little trick for you.

If it's still not thick enough for your tastes (and this is all personal),try a beurre manié, AKA "kneaded butter."

Now, you've already made the roux when you added the flour to the butter in the pan. A roux is basically equal parts flour and fat and, in this case, it's cooked just long enough to eliminate the raw taste of the flour. FYI, there are different categories of roux, ranging from light and blonde to dark and brown. A light roux is used to thicken sauces (like a béchamel, cheese sauce, gravy, and soups). A dark roux is cooked longer and is commonly used in Cajun or Creole cooking to flavor the dish, like a gumbo or jambalaya.

Back to the beurre manié. Say you've already made your roux and added your liquid, but you might have added too much liquid and you want your soup thicker. If you just add in flour at this point, it will clump and you'll get doughy lumps. What you do is make a beurre manié. Take equal parts butter and flour and knead them together by hand until evenly incorporated. Add a small chunk of the beurre manié to your soup and stir it in. The butter coats the flour and as it melts, it distributes the flour evenly, thickening your soup without clumping.