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Cream of Chanterelle Soup
Oct. 21st, 2016 07:33 amA neighborhood friend has been foraging in the forest for mushrooms. She's very knowledgable about them and sometimes sells them to restaurants. She loves to eat them, but hates to cook. She is also a fabulous gardener and has given me a lot of plants and advice. She asked our neighborhood Facebook group if anyone would be willing to make and share a recipe using chanterelles, if she provided the mushrooms. I stepped up, since I wasn't sure I'd even knowingly eaten a chanterelle. I basically followed this recipe: http://cappyhead.livejournal.com/89657.html
Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped onion
1⁄2 teaspoon chopped garlic (I just used one clove of garlic)
1⁄2 lb chanterelle mushroom, sliced
1 teaspoon flour
2 tablespoons white wine
3 1⁄2 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream or 1 cup whipping cream
salt and pepper
My additions:
2 - 3 tablespoons of cornstarch
3 - 4 tablespoons of sherry, to taste
Directions
In a saucepan, heat the olive oil, then add the onion, garlic and chanterelles. Cook until the onions are transparent. Dust with the flour. Add the white wine and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add the heavy cream and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve in prewarmed bowls, and garnish with chives or parsley.
What I actually did:
First off, since she gave me almost a pound of chanterelles, I doubled the recipe. Also, I was taught that you should salt & pepper your onions before/while sauteeing them, so I did that, too. I thought it was weird that the recipe said to sautee the onions, garlic & mushrooms all at the same time, but I followed the recipe as written. Next time I'll sautee the onions & garlic first, as it was difficult to even see the onions to judge their doneness amongst all of the mushrooms.
Other than adding some sherry into the mix at the end, I pretty much followed the recipe exactly, since I'd never made a mushroom bisque before. Once I had added the heavy cream, I thought the broth was a bit thin, so I thickened it a little bit at the end with a cornstarch & water slurry and simmered for a few more minutes. I also thought that the mushroom-to-broth ratio was way off. It needed about twice as many mushrooms. So before I gave half of the soup to my friend, I ladled off almost a quart of broth. (Tasty, tasty broth!) I'm going to sautee some baby bellas today and stir them into the remaining broth.
My opinion about chanterelles is that they were lovely, but perhaps my palate isn't refined enough to tell the difference between them and regular white button mushrooms. Or perhaps this wasn't the best recipe to allow their uniqueness to come through. I mean, it just tasted like mushroom bisque. Delicious mushroom bisque, but no different than I imagine a bisque made with any other mushroom would taste. The texture was softer then other mushrooms, though. They didn't have the squeakiness that a white button mushroom or portobello would have.
Conclusion: would make again, with twice as many mushrooms (or half the amount of liquid). In my not-so-humble opinion, the soup was as good as any I have had in a fancy restaurant. I think I got the seasoning just right. I also think the addition of some sherry at the end is crucial.
KEEWERD
Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped onion
1⁄2 teaspoon chopped garlic (I just used one clove of garlic)
1⁄2 lb chanterelle mushroom, sliced
1 teaspoon flour
2 tablespoons white wine
3 1⁄2 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream or 1 cup whipping cream
salt and pepper
My additions:
2 - 3 tablespoons of cornstarch
3 - 4 tablespoons of sherry, to taste
Directions
In a saucepan, heat the olive oil, then add the onion, garlic and chanterelles. Cook until the onions are transparent. Dust with the flour. Add the white wine and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add the heavy cream and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve in prewarmed bowls, and garnish with chives or parsley.
What I actually did:
First off, since she gave me almost a pound of chanterelles, I doubled the recipe. Also, I was taught that you should salt & pepper your onions before/while sauteeing them, so I did that, too. I thought it was weird that the recipe said to sautee the onions, garlic & mushrooms all at the same time, but I followed the recipe as written. Next time I'll sautee the onions & garlic first, as it was difficult to even see the onions to judge their doneness amongst all of the mushrooms.
Other than adding some sherry into the mix at the end, I pretty much followed the recipe exactly, since I'd never made a mushroom bisque before. Once I had added the heavy cream, I thought the broth was a bit thin, so I thickened it a little bit at the end with a cornstarch & water slurry and simmered for a few more minutes. I also thought that the mushroom-to-broth ratio was way off. It needed about twice as many mushrooms. So before I gave half of the soup to my friend, I ladled off almost a quart of broth. (Tasty, tasty broth!) I'm going to sautee some baby bellas today and stir them into the remaining broth.
My opinion about chanterelles is that they were lovely, but perhaps my palate isn't refined enough to tell the difference between them and regular white button mushrooms. Or perhaps this wasn't the best recipe to allow their uniqueness to come through. I mean, it just tasted like mushroom bisque. Delicious mushroom bisque, but no different than I imagine a bisque made with any other mushroom would taste. The texture was softer then other mushrooms, though. They didn't have the squeakiness that a white button mushroom or portobello would have.
Conclusion: would make again, with twice as many mushrooms (or half the amount of liquid). In my not-so-humble opinion, the soup was as good as any I have had in a fancy restaurant. I think I got the seasoning just right. I also think the addition of some sherry at the end is crucial.
KEEWERD
