Mushroom Soup

For a while now I have been making mushroom soup without ever really being satisfied with it. You see, I don't particularly care for mushrooms. But I have had mushroom soups that I could eat without gagging so I knew there was a formula out there that would make the perfect (for me) soup.

Today, I found it.

You need a good combination of colour, taste and smell. Too dark and it looks like you are eating something dark and horrible from a forest. Too mushroomy a smell and I get the same feeling. And I want it to taste enough of mushrooms that you can tell what it is, but not so little that the mushrooms take a back seat to some other flavour.

This is what I did:

I picked three kinds of mushrooms with taste and colour ranging from dark and heavy to almost white and light.

First, I took two big portabella mushrooms, sliced into 1/4" slices and browned them on a medium heat with a little oil salt and pepper.

Then, the same with about six or seven shiitake mushrooms.

Finally, about six biggish white mushrooms.

These all went in a blender with some home made chicken stock and pureed for around three minutes.

A medium onion, sliced, three cloves of garlic and one bell pepper, were all sauteed till soft with salt, pepper, oregano and parsley, then into the blender with a little chicken stock.

The two blends, one medium grey and one light green, were combined in a saucepan and brought to the boil. Adjust the seasoning and ... you're done.

[Note: do take the small amount of time to make your own stock. This way you are not adding someone else's idea of chicken stock into your soup, and you can genuinely call it your own creation! I make a super simple one: two small chickens, three medium onions, two-three large carrots, three stalks of celery. Don't peel the onions or the carrots; there is loads of flavour in the skin. Into a large pot, just cover with water, then bring to a boil and simmer till it is reduced by about a third. Strain, de-fat and use. I like to make it very plain so I can add seasonings as I go in whatever recipe I am using - but that's just me.]