Mushroom Soup

This recipe is a slight variation of a mushroom soup recipe from the Autumn 2018 edition of the LCBO Food and Drink Magazine. For those of you who may be logging on to this blog from outside of Ontario, I should explain that the acronym LCBO stands for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, one of the world's largest purchasers of alcoholic beverages. This organization has been publishing a free glossy magazine of seasonal dishes for decades now. I can't tell you how many of these recipes I've made over the years. Lots.

The flavour of this mushroom soup recipe has been described as woodsy. It strikes me that woodsy soups are particularly autumnal. 

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• one largish onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 2 pounds of cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 liter or more of chicken or vegetable stock
• salt and pepper to taste
• about a 1/4 cup of sherry (or cognac)
• about 1/2 cup of heavy cream

Methods: 

Heat the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for another 2 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms have wilted, about 3 minutes. Add the stock and salt and pepper. When boiling, reduce the heat and maintain the soup at a simmer for 30 minutes. Puree the soup in a blender working in batches, or use a handheld whizzer. 

To serve, bring the soup to a simmer, add the sherry and cream and stir until the soup is steaming. Adjust the seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. 

It all started like this.