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    Sunday, July 17, 2016

    A Classic Cream of Mushroom Soup

    Mushroom Soup

    I had some chicken stock sitting in the fridge, thought I would make some soup
    Had a glance through my Go-To Cajun Cookbook… that I bought on our first trip to New Orleans
    in 1988. Le Bouche Creole, by Leon E Soniat Jr.
    I don’t think you would go wrong with any recipe in this book.
    Elizabeth David
    Julia Child
    Jacques Pepin
    Marcella Hazan
    and Leon
    These authors have created little bibles for me, all well worn
    I will never throw them away.
    My heroes!

    So, what jumped out at me, was
    Cream of Mushroom Soup, even though I didn't have any mushrooms…
    I did have to go to the Supermarche, so I bought some

    It’s a little fiddly but well worth it
    Serves 8-10 people

    Voila Lunch
    Take
    500 gms mushrooms
    125 gms butter
    1 litre Milk
    1.5 litres of Chicken stock
    1 onion
    Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
    1 bunch spring (green onions)
    8 tablespoons flour
    2 bay leaves
    1 teaspoon Dried basil 
    1/2 teaspoon Tabasco
    2-3 tablespoon good chicken stock powder, I use the Vegeta Brand


    Boil the onion, bay leaves and tops of green onions in the stock for 1/2 hour
    Strengthen the stock with the powdered stock
    Strain

    In a heavy pot, melt the butter over low heat
    Add flour
    Cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly
    Warm the milk then
    Add the milk very slowly

    Stirring all the time, to avoid lumps

    When the sauce is well mixed and creamy
    Slowly pour in the strained stock

    Clean the mushroom, remove the stem and chop them finely add them to the stoup
    While this cooks, slice the mushroom tops
    After the soup has simmered for about 10 minutes
    Season with Salt and pepper to taste
    Then the Tabasco and the sliced mushroom

    Let cook for another 5-10 minutes
    stirring occasionally

    When the soup is served garnish each bowl with a little green onions 

    As I am always On my "Waste Not Want Not" Crusade
    This soup, also made a wonderful mushroom sauce
    That evening, I made myself dinner, using some leftover vegetables
    and some beautiful Filet Steak

    Just popped the vegetable into the oven and roasted them
    Not too long about 20 minutes
    After I had cooked the steak, I removed it from the pan and
    Ladled in some of the soup into the hot pan

    Mixed with the yummy meat juices, it reduced down a bit and the sauce was delicious
    I forgot to take the picture before I dressed the steak, but you can get the idea
    It was such a tasty dinner and no Waste
    You may notice with the soup above there is a little Toasted Sandwich to accompany it
    Very simple, It does need to be the old plastic white bread though, sorry,
    There are times this just has to be
    This filling was perfect
    Quantities are up to you...depending on how many people you are serving

    Slices of white bread, well buttered
    A little beaten egg
    Sliced ham
    Grated cheese 
    Sea salt and Black pepper
    Chopped Green onion or chives

    Lay the bread, butter side down onto a chopping board
    Place all the other ingredients, into a small bowl and mix well

     Spread the ingredients Over the un-buttered side
    Place the lid on and cook in your toasted sandwich machine, or you can cook on a non stick skillet
     Excellent and a lovely view, to go with my lunch

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