Cream of mushroom soup
This soup is reliably tasty and easy to make and works well as a starter, or a main, along with some bread and salad perhaps. I like the fact it is creamy and smooth but there are juicy chunks of mushroom in it. Use your own judgement a little with how much milk/stock to add. If the soup ends up too thin then just boil it down for a bit longer.
Ingredients
275g mushrooms (I used button mushrooms but any type would work)
1 tbsp oil
Very large knob of butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp plain flour
450ml vegetable stock
450ml milk
Salt and pepper
Heat the oil and half the butter in a saucupan and add the onion and three quarters of the mushrooms (including all the mushroom caps). Fry for a few minutes, stirring frequently, then cover and sweat over a gentle heat for approx 7 minutes, stirring occassionally. Meanwhile, melt the rest of the butter in another pan and fry the remaining mushrooms for approx 5 mins, until they are slightly soft and tender.
Stir the flour in to the soup mixture and cook for one minute, then gradually add the stock and milk, to make a smooth sauce. Season to taste. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 mins. Use a food processor/hand-held blender to process the soup until smooth. Pour the soup in to a clean saucepan and add the remaining fried mushrooms. Add a swirl of cream and a couple of basil leaves when serving, if you like.
Jamie Oliver’s new book
(Photo from www.gorenjegroup.com)
I’m a bit excited to hear that Jamie Oliver is launching a ’15 Minute Meals’ book in September. He felt that his 30 Minute Meals book was too complicated so is making his new recipes simpler and even quicker (although based on the fact I didn’t manage to make his 30 minute meals in less than an hour, maybe we should expect to make 15 minute meals in 30 minutes…) There will be meat, fish and vegetarian dishes from all over the world and tips on how to get great flavours using less ingredients. In Jamie’s words – ‘bloody good cooking for busy people.’ I’m all for fast meals! Here is the link:
katielovescooking 