Creamy Mushroom Soup

This soup is not for the mushroom faint-of-heart.

Save for some wine, herbs and broth, that’s mostly what this soup is:  mushrooms.

Somehow, this all makes for a concoction that is exquisitely earthy yet delicate at the same time.  You feel right slurping this from a crock or sipping it from a fancy spoon.

All this fawning idolatry is actually pretty ironic.  Once upon a time, I had a fierce aversion to mushrooms.  My mother, for some infinitely unfathomable reason, was a fan of boiling mushrooms.  Who does that?  And after knowing what it smells like the first time, why would you do it again?  Well she did.  There were many an afternoon when I would come home from school, welcomed by a humid wave of boiled mushroom stench all UP in my grill.

Totally killed my appetite for an afternoon snack.

Maybe I should consider some boiled mushrooms all UP in this house kindasorta regularly.  It sure beats the cost of meth.

Anyway,  somewhere in my adult life, I found my mushroom way and began to delight in their hearty squishiness.  When first initiating myself into the mushroom lovers club, I would find clever ways to sneak mushrooms in, like spaghetti sauces and casseroles.  Then I got braver and mushrooms because my pizza topping of choice.

Now, I like my mushrooms, BAM, right there – front and center – like this soup.

While a little bit of shallot wouldn’t hurt this soup, I prefer to keep it out, leaving the mushroom flavor bold and unmarred.  For me, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme are lyrics from a Simon and Garfunkel song hit on all the perfect flavor points in this soup, so I am endlessly lazy save myself some trouble of fiddling with a bunch of herbs and use poultry seasoning.

Best of all, this soup freezes beautifully.  It’s my go-to option when I don’t feel like cooking it’s soup and sandwich night, so I always have a jar of this on hand.  You should too.

Creamy Mushroom Soup

1 lb. mushrooms, sliced

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup sherry

1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning

3 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1/2 cup coconut milk

salt and pepper, as needed

In a large dutch oven over medium-high heat, heat the butter until it begins to bubble.  Add the mushrooms and saute, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms have released their juices and are a deep golden brown.

Add the sherry and stir, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.  Add the poultry seasoning and stock.  Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow the soup to cool 10 minutes.

Puree the cooled soup with an immersion blender, keeping the soup slightly chunky.  Stir in the coconut milk and heat through.  Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.