Categories : Soups
8 ounces mushrooms
2 pints water
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
2 heaped teaspoons dried tarragon
2 heaped teaspoons Knorr stock granules
1/4 pint double cream
salt & pepper to taste
Chop the onion into small pieces and soften it in a saucepan with just a little vegetable oil. If you want to use Olive Oil do not use Virgin or Extra Virgin but use the standard grade. Add the finely chopped cloves of garlic in the last few minutes of the softening process. Adding too soon could brown the garlic to give a bitter taste.
Slice the mushrooms into fine slices and include the stalks as well. Wipe these only before slicing and please don’t wash them. They contain enough water in their own right. Add the water and the stock granules. And bring up to a simmer.
Simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes adding the dried Tarragon at the start of the heating process. If you wish to use fresh tarragon then you will need about ˝ a teacup full of chopped herb, which should be added in the last five minutes of cooking.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow to cool for several minutes. Pass the soup through a liquidiser and return to the saucepan. Bring back to the simmer and add the double cream and adjust the seasoning. Stir and serve or allow to cool and freeze. A few finely chopped mushrooms can be added after liquidising just from a presentation point of view if required.
NOTES : Consideration Notes: The mushrooms I used for this soup were “Flats”. This meant that the finished soup wasn’t a pale grey to white colour but was rather darker. The reason I used “flats” was that they have more flavour than the white “button” mushrooms. If the final colour is going to influence you then the mushrooms content can be made up of both “flats” and button, or even partially open mushrooms. . The colour can also be made paler in the finished soup by the addition of milk to dilute the soup but this will obviously affect the taste as well. As far as the stock granules are concerned I used Knorr Chicken Stock Granules but there is no reason why the vegetable stock variety cannot be used as an alternative. Please note that the chicken stock granules do contain some Mono Sodium Glutamate (Flavour Enhancer) so if this bothers you home made stock may be used to good effect.
Recipe By : Ted
