This week's culinary adventure was inspired by Joe, whose favorite soup is creamy mushroom. For this dish, I envisioned slow cooking several varieties of meaty mushrooms in a creamy broth seasoned with soothing, wintry herbs. So off I went to the Buford Highway Farmer's Market, which has twice the selection of mushrooms as Kroger, Publix, and Whole Foods combined at at least half the price. Seriously, friends, I wish I could have snapped a picture of all of the different types of mushrooms! I was so overwhelmed. I did my best to pick what I could out, and ended up with a cart full of button, shiitake, maitake, oyster, and enoki mushrooms. Holy cow!
Next came the fun part -- cleaning the mushrooms. Folks, mushrooms are not easy to clean, but they should be washed thoroughly since dirt tends to cling to them. It took a good half-hour to properly rinse a sink full of delectable fungi, but it was worth it. I roughly chopped the larger mushrooms and threw them in a crock pot with water, chicken bullion (see appropriate measurements on box/bottle so your soup does not end up too bland or salty!), leeks, garlic, chives, (a very small amount of) rosemary, and a generous amount of salt. Oh, and to make it creamy, I added some 2% milk and 2 tablespoons of butter.
The soup did turn out pretty well! Based on this experience, I decided that when life gives you mushrooms and leeks, one should COMBINE THEM TO MAKE SOUP! Mushrooms and leeks are like salt and pepper, avocados and lime, butter and toast. I've convinced myself in my head that leeks bring out that delicious glutamate-y, umami flavor that I crave while eating mushrooms. I'm not completely clear on the science of the umami taste and glutamates, though, since the umami taste is something really intangible and difficult to identify. Umami generally translates to "savory, brothy flavor" due to (usually naturally occurring) glutamates in a food (I know, what does that even mean? See tangent**). Regardless, my point is, mushrooms and leeks proved to be a stellar combination. Each creamy bite of the soup had a variety of these delicious, meaty, hearty fungi swimming in a flavorful broth. Adding the milk and butter gave the broth a bit of sweetness and actually brought out the savory flavors of the other ingredients.
Overall, it wasn't a bad first try, but if I had to make improvements to the recipe, I would add a cup of rice to make it a bit more hearty, as well as a little flour to thicken the broth. Overall take-home message: This is a great dish to prepare quickly in a large crock-pot just before you leave the house for several hours. I can guarantee that you will come home to a lovely, aromatic kitchen. See the finished product, as well as the modified recipe, below. By the way, don't be alarmed by the amount of mushrooms used; these delightful vegetables contain a great deal of water and tend to shrink significantly when cooked. Oh, and you certainly don't have to use the varieties of mushrooms in this recipe; use whatever is on hand at home or available at the grocery store (within a reasonable price bracket -- mushrooms can be expensive!).
[**Tangent: Most people label monosodium glutamate, or MSG, as an artificial chemical that is used in large amounts in soy sauce-based foods and french fries when, in fact, MSG is a naturally occurring compound that results when sodium, water, and glutamate combine. Glutamate is an amino acid that is commonly found in fish, meats, mushrooms, and even parmesan cheese! While I think MSG sensitivities are completely legitimate, I think they more than likely occur when someone is exposed to exorbitant amounts of it in terrible restaurant food, where they are forced to use bottled MSG to make people think their food tastes better than it actually is. Why do I think this? Because if you have eaten any of the above mentioned foods containing glutamate, you have consumed MSG at some point in your life. In fact, we all consume it on a daily basis; it's just that we all intake varying amounts.]
Ingredients:
-6-8 oz button mushrooms
-6-8 oz shiitake mushrooms
-6-8 oz maitake mushrooms
-6-8 oz of enoki mushrooms
-6-8 oz of oyster mushrooms
-1 stalk of leeks
-3 shallots
-3 cloves of garlic
-a handful of chives
-1 small sprig of rosemary (Note: rosemary is a delightfully aromatic spice. However, in large amounts, rosemary can be extremely bitter and overwhelming, and can easily overpower any dish.)
-chicken bullion (use according to instructions; use as much as appropriate for the amount of liquid -- water + milk -- added to the soup)
-salt (to taste)
-4-5 cups water
-3-4 cups milk
-2 tablespoons butter
-1 cup of rice
-1/4 cup flour
Preparation:
-Wash all mushrooms thoroughly.
-Dice all mushrooms (except enoki -- you can just cut the ends off those) into 1 inch-ish cubes.
-Finely chop shallots, garlic, leeks, chives, and rosemary
-Combine mushrooms and herbs/spices into a large crock pot with water, milk, chicken bullion, flour, butter, and salt to taste. (Believe me, the butter makes the whole dish come together and makes it even more comforting -- I don't recommend taking that out of the recipe!)
-Cook 1 cup of rice on stovetop or microwave separately.
-Leave crock pot on high for about an hour (but watch the mixture carefully to make sure the milk does not boil over), then set on low for several hours.
-About 30 minutes before serving, add rice to the soup. Adding the rice later (as opposed to throwing it in with the other soup ingredients in the beginning) (1) prevents the rice from using the soup broth to cook and (2) ensures the rice does not become "wilty" (I like my rice to have texture in soups instead of it melting into the soup, but that is personal preference).
-Serve while hot; can add a bit of shaved parmesan cheese, but this is certainly optional.
-ENJOY!
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