Simple. Mushroom Soup

Never buy a can again. Make room for grey mush made from the easy to find button mushroom.

This recipe calls for white or brown button mushrooms that are available at any grocery store. Mushrooms are a rich source of B vitamins such as Thiamine (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Niacin (B3) and Pantothenic Acid (B5), Vitamin B6, Folate (B9), and Vitamin D. They are also a source of Potassium and Zinc making them a great cold & flu remedy. Calcium, Iron, and Magnesium are also present. Add to this any nutrients gleaned from bone broth stock or a soup cube and this makes for a nourishing bowl of goodness.

My first experience with mushroom soup was the whitish grey slop that comes out of a can of Campbell’s. I never appreciated it until a roommate at university dumped a can of the stuff on top of some raw chicken breast and proceeded to make a beautiful roasted mushroom and chicken. Who would have thought it could transform bland white chicken breast into something moist and flavorful? Having grown up as a second generation Canadian, I had no idea what went into making mushroom soup.

The story behind my recipe for mushroom soup comes from my days in Ireland. We were visiting an artist friend who lives in the countryside outside Galway. As an artist, she offered to give us a tour of her studio and the surrounding buildings. In that time, her two cats had managed to scavenge our roast chicken dinner off the table. Having nothing to eat when we returned, she offered to whip up a mushroom soup. I am forever grateful to those cats without whom I may not have had this recipe.

Never one to say no to food, I was amazed at the speed in which the soup was prepared. The original soup we ate was prepared via the microwave.

I have since converted the recipe to a stove top version that I regularly make for my starving kids at the last moment before they explode. I give 6–8 mushrooms to my 4 year old to murder with his savvy knife skills. I then chop and saute a shallot or small onion with some butter. The ill fated mushrooms are dropped into the pan which then cooks into a sexy grey mess of what I can only describe as sweaty mushrooms.

To this, I add bone broth stock that I have pre-prepared or two soup stock cubes and water.

Then comes out the hand blender. French-style we puree the pot and serve.

I often leave out the milk altogether but occasionally replace half a cup of water with milk. Even more occasionally I’ll just add a quarter cup of cream sans milk.

I have long since moved to eye balling quantities and adjusting based on taste and texture.

The soup is a tad on the ‘rich’ side being ultra flavorful so I serve it in small portions letting the kids grab seconds if they like.

I have had a league of die-hard anti-mushroom kids and a few adults try my soup and be converted.

So give it a go and see if you can replace the cans. I bet you will never go back.