Mushroom Soup

Summer school holidays kicks in today. Everyone at home is still fast asleep except yours truly. Woke up early, made myself a cup of coffee and snuggled into my living sofa to enjoy the Wimbledon ladies' semi-finals. A lot of grunting, struggles, and double faults from Sharapova on the TV. Although we are officially well into summer now, the wet and cool spring weather is still lingering around. The cool weather had me thinking of making a hot soup for lunch, and so, I decided on this light and earthy Mushroom Soup. I used some dried Porcini mushrooms (for its nutty and earthiness flavors) and a couple of other varieties of fresh mushrooms. There’s no cream in the soup, the creaminess of the soup came from the potatoes. It's a delicious soup, light and yet comforting. Back to Wimbledon, I was ecstatic Sharapova won. She is one of my favorite players is the WTA circuit and I am glad she's in the final this weekend. Her victory certainly made my day and it put me in the right mood to take my kids out for some retail therapy followed with a nice dinner to celebrate their summer break.


Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

20 g Dried Porcini Mushrooms
2 Cups Boiling Water
600 g Mixed Fresh Mushrooms, (Cremini, shitake, chanterelle or button mushroom) cleaned and sliced
2 Cloves Garlic, peeled and chopped

1 White Onion, peeled and diced

3 (about 330 g) Yellow Wax Potatoes, peeled and finely diced
Fresh Thyme (small handful)
Fresh Italian Flat Leaf Parsley (small handful)
2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 ½ Cups Chicken or Vegetable Stock

Sea Salt

Freshly Ground Black Pepper



Method


Soak dried mushrooms with 2 cups of boiling water for about 15 minutes. Pick out the soaked mushrooms, and reserved the liquid.


Heat the olive oil and butter in a large pot; add garlic and onions with a pinch of salt. Cook the mixture until soft and translucent but not brown in color. Then turn the heat on high and toss in all the mushrooms, thyme, and parsley. Cook for a minute or 2, season with some salt and pepper. Mix in the finely diced potatoes, reserved liquid, and chicken or vegetable stock. 



Bring it to the boil and simmer for about 20 to 25 minutes. Allow the soup to cool slightly before you puree it with a handheld blender. Bring the soup back to the boil and season with some salt and pepper. Serve warm.