It’s another entry from my dead mom’s recipe box. Turns out there are divider labels in the box, the labels are just very difficult to read. This is a very plain recipe for mushroom soup that is a “speciality of The Breakers.” (What are The Breakers?) Since this is from an area of the box that is mostly soups recipe, I imagine the divider label once said “soups.”
MUSHROOM SOUP (Specialty of The Breakers)
Full of flavor and so easy to make.
Makes 8 servings at 28¢ each.
¾ pound mushrooms
¼ cup (½ stick) butter
3 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon salt
3 cans (13¾ ounces each) chicken broth (5 cups)
1 cup heavy cream
- Wash mushrooms; trim ends of stems. Save one to slice as garnish; chop remainder coarsely.
- Heat butter in 3-quart saucepan. Sauté mushrooms about 5 minutes. Sprinkle flour and salt over to coat. Add chicken broth gradually, stirring constantly. Bring to boiling. Remove from heat. Stir in cream.
- Whirl in container of electric blender. Reheat but do not boil.
Instead of store-bought mushrooms, I used a Sparassis Eric found at the Breitenbush Mushroom Gathering. Also called a cauliflower mushroom, Sparassis radicata is delicately floral in odor. As usual, I used homemade vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. Unfortunately, I only had half-and-half rather than heavy cream, which left the soup somewhat watery. Still, I blame the simplicity of the recipe for the lackluster soup. Why no onions? What kind of monster cooks mushrooms without sage or thyme or some lovely herb? I added Herbs de Provence, smoked chipotle pepper, and black pepper. Much improved. That’s a better way to honor a Sparassis.