Heart Warming Cream of Wild Mushroom

It’s still the heat of the summer, but the milder temperatures are fast approaching. However, the mushrooms are still appearing left and right. Milder weather and fresh mushrooms only call for one thing: mushroom soup! And this soup recipe is great to warm up during the milder days of fall or after a cold day on the ski hill.

This recipe is very simple and great to freeze for later use! I will often make a little extra soup during mushroom season to have some warm soup for my thermos during my fall outdoor expeditions.

If you are a mushroom forager read this: use hedgehog mushrooms! I repeat: use hedgehog mushrooms! They were absolutely delicious in this recipe. Although I made a little mix of lobster mushrooms, dryad saddle and hedgehogs, their taste were by far surpassing the taste from the other two.

Other types of mushrooms are just great for this recipe, especially the lobster mushrooms. It kept a great texture and its unique taste. However, hedgehog mushroom is by far the best!

Ideas for improvements

As it is, the recipe is very good. However, there are a few changes you can do improve the soup/make it to your best liking:

• To make a thicker soup with more mushroom taste: Remove a few mushrooms after step 1, puree them with some stock in a blender. Then, add the puree to the soup during step 3.
• Garnish the servings with shredded parmesan cheese or finely chopped fresh parsley to add depth to the flavor.
• Garnish the servings with a tbsp of crème fraiche to add richness to the soup.
• Cook an additional 1/3 cup of mushrooms until crispy and garnish the servings with them.

Heart Warming Cream of Wild Mushroom

Course: AppetizersDifficulty: Easy

Servings

3

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

Total time

35

minutes

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp of butter

• 1 onion, finely diced

• 1 cup of fresh wild mushrooms, finely sliced (or 25-30g of dried wild mushrooms, which needs to be rehydrated before cooking)

• 1 tsp of fresh thyme leaves (or 1/4 tsp of dried thyme)

• 1/2 tsp of salt

• 1/4 tsp of ground black pepper

• 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour

• 3 cups of chicken stock

• 1 pinch of nutmeg

• 1/2 cup of heavy cream

Directions

• Heat a sauce pan under medium heat. Melt 2 tbsp of butter and, then, add the onions, the mushrooms, the thyme, the salt and the pepper. Cook while occasionally stirring until the mushrooms start to brown, about 10-12 minutes.
• Push the mushroom mix to the side. Add 1 tbsp of butter and the flour to the free side. Cook while mixing the flour and the butter for 30 seconds.
• Add about 1 cup of stock and mix to solve the flour in it. Then, add the remainder of the stock. Bring the soup to a boil and reduce the heat to medium-low. Let simmer for 10 minutes uncovered while stirring occasionally.
• Add the cream and the nutmeg, and cook for an additional minute. Taste and adjust seasoning.
  The cream of mushroom is done! Enjoy as a great warm appetizer.

SUBSTITUTIONS – Since we do not always have success when going outdoors or not everyone practices hunting, fishing or picking. here are a few ideas to substitute the harvested ingredients:

• The wild mushrooms can be replaced with any grocery bought fresh mushrooms. Example: mini Portobello, oyster mushrooms, shitake, to name a few; or a grocery bought dehydrated mushroom mix (Costco and amazon have great ones!).
• Most wild mushrooms can be used for this recipe, However, I recommend mushrooms with a strong taste such as lobster mushrooms, hedgehog mushrooms, young dryad saddle, to name a few.

Philippe April-LeQuéré

Hey! I am an outdoor enthusiast who loves cooking natural ingredients and share his passion… About Me