Wild mushrooms make the soup
Cool fall weather brings to mind woodsy flavours. Maybe it’s the smell of autumn leaves and damp soil, coupled with the occasional sunbeam. You want something hearty bubbling away on the stove.
As I prowled the market the other day, wondering what might go into a simmering pot, a pile of golden chanterelles seemed destined to be turned into soup. I decided to add a hint of parsnip for its complementary sweetness, then grabbed a couple of onions, some thyme and some parsley.
There’s a difference between farm-harvested food and wild-foraged food that often corresponds to depth of flavour. This is certainly the case with mushrooms. A wild mushroom always tastes deep and earthy in a way no ordinary button mushroom can.
Though many kinds of mushroom can be cultivated, the wild mushrooms we prize the most, like chanterelles, morels and porcini, must be collected by hand.
Lest you think wild mushroom foraging is a simple idyllic walk in the woods, basket in hand, take it from me that this is most often not the case.
Wild mushrooms pop up according to their own rules, when conditions are correct, and the sunshine-moisture ratio is just so.
While a lucky hunter does sometimes happen upon a bonanza cluster of easy-access beauties, far more likely is the very unglamorous experience of crawling on your belly through the moss and mud, dodging thorny branches, and generally getting rather cold and soggy. And it can take years to build up the experience required to tell the edible mushrooms from the deadly ones.
Hence the price: You’re paying an expert to roam the forest and bring back the goods. Never mind. This wild mushroom soup needs just a half-pound, along with little boost from dried ones.
For a creamy texture (but without dairy, except a little butter), the soup is puréed, and a wild mushroom crouton tops it off. If you do want a touch of real cream in your cream-of-wild-mushroom, add a drizzle of crème fraîche.
Creamy Wild Mushroom and Parsnip Soup
Makes 4 to 6 servings
2 tbsp (30 mL) butter
2 medium onions, sliced, about 2 cups
2 small parsnips, peeled and chopped
1 small carrot, peeled and chopped
1 thyme branch, plus 1 tsp (5 mL) thyme leaves, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
6 cups (1.5 L) chicken OR vegetable broth, more if necessary
2 tbsp (30 mL) chopped dried morel OR porcini mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 15 minutes, then drained
2 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil
½ lb (225 g) chanterelles OR other wild or cultivated mushrooms, in roughly 1/8-inch slices
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 slices day-old baguette
2 tbsp (30 mL) chopped parsley
Crème fraîche, optional
Melt the butter in a deep heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions, parsnips, carrot, thyme branch and bay leaf. Season generously with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft and lightly browned, about 10 minutes.
Add the broth and the soaked dried mushrooms. Bring to a boil, then adjust the heat to a gentle simmer.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over high heat in a wide skillet. When the oil is hot, add the chanterelles, stirring with a wooden spoon, allowing them to brown a bit. Season with salt and pepper, then turn the heat to medium and sauté 5 to 7 minutes, until the mushrooms are cooked through. Add the garlic and 1 tsp (5 mL) thyme leaves and cook 1 minute more.
Transfer ½ cup (125 mL) of the cooked chanterelles to a small skillet and add the rest to the soup. Let the pot simmer until the parsnips and carrot are quite tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Discard the bay leaf and thyme branch. Purée the soup in a blender and strain through a fine-meshed sieve. Thin with more broth if it is too thick, and correct the seasoning. Keep hot.
Warm the reserved mushrooms. Toast the baguette slices lightly and put a spoonful of mushrooms on each.
Ladle the hot soup into bowls. Top each bowl with a mushroom toast, a little chopped parsley, and a drizzle of crème fraîche if you like.
New York Times News Service
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