Cream of Mushroom Soup

The recipe for cream of mushroom soup has been reprinted from 8 Degrees of Ingredients with permission from the author, Melisa K. Priem.

When I read Melisa's book, I couldn't help but chuckle when I read the introduction to this cream of mushroom soup recipe because she references a beloved Minnesota institution - the hotdish. The reason she mentions hotdish (which is commonly called a casserole outside of Minnesota) is that they always call for a can or two of condensed cream soup. Being born and raised in Minnesota, one of the first things that I missed when we began avoiding dairy and wheat was the hotdish. I came up with my own fix but nothing quite as good as this recipe. It tastes great by the bowl and also works very well in recipes calling for condensed cream of mushroom soup (see the instructions at the bottom of the page for condensed soup). Once again, my family can have the ultimate in comfort food - hotdish!

Ingredients:

1 cup dried mushrooms (1 ounce)
1 cup hot water
6 cups beef stock
8 cups rice milk, divided
1-1/2 cups crushed rice noodles
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 medium shallots, chopped
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons dry sherry

Directions:

1) Place dried mushrooms in a bowl and add hot water. Let steep for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, drain the mushrooms and reserve all the mushroom stock. Strain the liquid through a paper towel to remove any dirt or particles and set aside.

2) heat beef stock and 4 cups of rice milk in a large soup pot and bring to a boil. Add crushed rice noodles and salt. Continue to boil over low heat, stirring occasionally to prevent noodles from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Continue to boil the soup until noodles disintegrate and liquid thickens, about 50 minutes.

3) Meanwhile, heat canola oil in a small saute pan. Add shallots, sliced mushrooms, and re-hydrated mushrooms. Saute for about 5 minutes. Add sherry and 1/2 of the reserved mushroom liquid. Continue to cook until liquid evaporates. remove pan from heat, add remaining mushroom liquid and set aside.

4) When soup is thick, using a hand held immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth. (Alternatively, allow contents to cool, transfer to a blender, and puree.) Add mushroom mixture.

5) Stir in 2 to 4 cups of rice milk to bring soup to desired consistency. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and white pepper. Serve warm.

Recipe Notes

• The creaminess of this soup is achieved by slowly boiling the crushed rice noodles. As the rice noodles cook, their starches are slowly released into the broth. Crushing the noodles results in more starch released per noodle in less time. Approximately 2 cups of dry rice noodles are needed to obtain 1-1/2 cups of crushed noodles. Crush the noodles to 1/8-inch pieces, being careful not to crush them all to a dust.
  
• For a lighter-colored soup, use chicken stock in lieu of the beef stock.
• Substitute an additional 8 ounces of fresh mushrooms and an additional 1 tablespoon of sherry for the dried mushrooms.
• For Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup. Skip step 5. Add the mushroom mixture in step 3 and puree with the other ingredients. Store in convenient 10-12 ounce portions so there is always a "can of condensed soup" ready when a recipe calls for it.
• Freeze soup for up to 3 months.

Serves: 6. Preparation Time is 30 minutes. Cooking Time is 1 hour.

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