Homemade Mushroom Soup

For anyone who's only tasted canned mushroom soup before, this recipe for mushroom soup made from scratch will be a revelation. All you need are some everyday grocery-store mushrooms, milk and a little cream plus a splash of sherry and a sprinkle of nutmeg. Prepare to be astounded ...

Homemade Mushroom Soup ♥ KitchenParade.com, just a few ingredients, results are nothing at all like from a can.

Homemade & Home Delicious. Real Food, Fresh & Family-Tested. Budget Friendly. Great for Meal Prep. Easy DIY. Low Carb. Vegetarian.

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Meet St. Louis' Very Own "Mushroom Lady"

Quick Note: This story and recipe were first published in my hometown newspaper here in St. Louis, hence the local angle ...


Missouri’s Bootheel and the country of Japan share a mycological treasure: climates, water and timber perfect for cultivating mushrooms. Leave it to a clever Englishwoman to figure that out.

Nicola Macpherson is St. Louis’ very own "mushroom lady". Her company, Ozark Forest, grows shiitake and oyster mushrooms year-round on a family farm using renewable, sustainable and organic agro-forestry practices.

Whew. Yeah, that's a mouthful, am I right?

So how does she do that, really, in lay mushroom terms?

  • First, specially harvested oak limbs are inoculated with mushroom spawn.
  • Then they're left alone to incubate for six to nine months.
  • Come spring, the spawn are soaked in water for 24 hours.
  • Then comes the real magic. After a few days? The mushrooms are ready to harvest!

Ozark Forest mushrooms mostly get grabbed up by the chefs at local farm-to-plate restaurants. But keep a look-out for a woman with a lovely English accent peddling mushrooms at weekend fairs and farmers markets.

Until then, for a luscious pot of creamy mushroom soup, use fresh mushrooms foraged all on your own ... in the supermarket .

Homemade Mushroom Soup ♥ KitchenParade.com, just a few ingredients, results are nothing at all like from a can.

About This Recipe

This is a creamy mushroom soup, packed with bits of mushroom and an abundance of mushroom flavor.

The distinctive ingredients are the mushrooms (an entire pound!), milk and cream for the soup's liquid plus a touch of sherry and nutmeg that make all the difference.

Ingredients = chicken stock + butter + mushrooms + onion + flour + milk + cream + sherry + salt & white pepper + grated nutmeg

Please do make Mushroom Soup at least one full day – and preferably two – ahead of time, this gives the flavors plenty of time to meld together into something extra special.

The recipe makes about 5-1/2 cups, but can easily be scaled up or down. The soup is rich so half-cup servings are often appreciated if the soup is being served as a starter.

Homemade Mushroom Soup ♥ KitchenParade.com, just a few ingredients, results are nothing at all like from a can.

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How do you save and share favorite recipes? recipes that fit your personal cooking style? a particular recipe your mom or daughter or best friend would just love? If this recipe for mushroom soup from scratch hits the mark, go ahead, save and share! I'd be honored ...


Homemade Mushroom Soup ♥ KitchenParade.com, just a few ingredients, results are nothing at all like from a can.



KITCHEN CLASSIC: HOMEMADE MUSHROOM SOUP

Hands-on time: 30 minutes over 90 minutes
Time to table: Minimum 24 hours, preferably 48 hours
Makes 5-1/2 cups

  • 4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1 small onion, diced small
  • 1 pound pound fresh mushrooms, trimmed, a few sliced, the rest chopped fine
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • Hot Chicken Stock
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon dry sherry
  • Salt & white pepper to taste
  • Grated nutmeg, for serving

Bring the chicken stock to a boil in the microwave.

Meanwhile, in a large, heavy saucepan or a Dutch oven, melt the butter on medium heat. Add the onion and "sweat" for about 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms as they’re prepped, cook until just beginning to soften.

Stir in the flour until all the lumps are gone, let cook for a minute or two to cook off the floury taste. A quarter cup at a time at first, slowly add the hot stock, stirring the whole time, letting each addition mix in completely before adding another. After all the stock is stirred in, bring the liquid to a boil, adjust the heat to maintain a slow simmer. Let cook for about an hour, until the mushrooms are soft.

Stir in the milk, cream and sherry; heat through but do not boil. Season to taste with salt and white pepper.

Cool and refrigerate for 24 - 48 hours for the deep mushroom flavor to develop. Before serving, gently rewarm but don’t let boil. Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with nutmeg. Savor every spoonful.

VARIATIONS On occasion, I've lightened this soup considerably by using Smart Balance instead of butter and fat-free half 'n' half for the milk and cream. I've also thickened it with arrowroot rather than flour but have learned to do the thickening at the very end of cooking, rather than the beginning. To lower the calories a little, use just 2 tablespoons butter but really allow the time for the mushrooms to soak up the butter.

ALANNA’s TIPS I can't impress this strongly enough: do-do-do make the soup at least a full day ahead of time and even better, two days. Usually when a recipe says to allow 24 hours for the flavors to develop, it's okay to make the soup in the morning for dinner that night. This soup? No way. You'll be wondering what all the fuss is about if you eat it too soon. Ditch that salty water that's boxed up as chicken broth, instead just combine the bones from a rotisserie chicken and some water. See? It's No-Big-Deal Homemade Chicken Stock. Please know, the texture of this soup is thinner (soupier?!) than the heavy gloppy stuff that canned soup has trained our tastebuds to expect. For a thicker soup, use less stock or work in another tablespoon or two of flour. To "sweat" onions is to gently cook them without allowing the onions to turn color, without browning them. For this delicious soup, choose shiitake, cremini or baby bella mushrooms. These can be expensive so to economize, it's just fine to use half the less expensive white button mushrooms. I like to keep food recognizable, making it clear what's on a plate or inside a bowl. So once for this soup, I broke apart the mushroom caps into large chunks with my hands, a technique first learned with the World's Best Green Bean Casserole. That said, for this soup, I think the texture is best when most (let's say 3/4) of the mushroom pieces are chopped small and the rest are sliced to show off the traditional mushroom shape. Use fresh-grated nutmeg if you can, it really makes a difference. Surprisingly, this soup is as good cold as it is hot. Who knew?!
NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Cup: 214 Calories; 17g Tot Fat; 11g Sat Fat; 56mg Cholesterol; 200mg Sodium; 8g Carb; 1g Fiber; 5g Sugar; 6g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 5 & PointsPlus 6 & SmartPoints 10 & Freestyle 9 & myWW green 9 & blue 9 & purple 9 & future WW points.

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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Alanna Kellogg
Alanna Kellogg

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

Comments

  1. Anonymous7/11/2007

    My husband loves mushrooms, I have been looking for easy soup from longtime. This looks delcious.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Padmaja ~ Oh then your husband will completely love this. Some times the simplest things can be the very best.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous7/11/2007

    Isn't life better with your own mushroom lady? You're so right--I love the woodsy flavor of these mushrooms, so I know I'll love your recipe. Your creamy bowl of soup looks so appetizing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous7/11/2007

    Hi, Alanna!
    This work is very good
    thank you

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous7/11/2007

    Mushrooms definitely rule!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous7/11/2007

    Alanna,
    I like to add about an ounce of reconstituted wild mushrooms (and the juice) to my soup. Makes for a much richer flavor.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous7/11/2007

    Are the mushrooms thinly sliced or prepped another way? Also...I found that a good bit of the broth evaporated when simmered with the lid off. I was a little disappointed in the texture...it didn't get very creamy with only 1/2 tab flour.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Susan ~ Thanks! I fell in love with mushroom soup all over again, testing this recipe.

    David ~ Thanks!

    D ~ So do you!

    Kevin ~ Great idea, I'll try that next time.

    Anonymous ~ I'm sorry the soup was disappointing. And good catch on the prep. I like to break fresh mushrooms into pieces. That way, as they cook and shrink, they seem a lot more like mushroom vs bits of soft mush (ha!) in canned mushroom soup. The soup does have a consistency some thinner than canned soup, if that's the comparison. If you'd like to correspond about this a bit more, feel free to e-mail me directly.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous7/11/2007

    I love the idea of trying this as a cold soup - that wouldn't have occurred to me, somehow. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. But I also love hearing your reactions, your curiosity, even your concerns! When you've made a recipe, I especially love to know how it turned out, what variations you made, what you'll do differently the next time. ~ Alanna