Mushroom soup

First of all, I did not plan on writing a post on mushroom soup; I simply wanted to use a box of mushrooms that my daughter had bought and thrown in the fridge. So while I was doing ten other things, I cooked the mushrooms and made a soup and quite by accident this soup ended up being one of the best and easiest soups I have ever made!

I am not a Williams-Sonoma shopper; I just happened to be there one day and saw this and grabbed it; I am so glad I did! It is wonderful! Add it to your soup or stews and save yourself hours of cooking veal bones and straining stock and messing with the whole operation!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 box of brown mushrooms (8 ounces)
• 1 large onion
• olive oil or clarified butter, as needed
• 1/4 cup of veal stock concentrate (or beef stock)
• 4 squares of Kiri cheese spread or any cream cheese spread of your choice OR a cup of whipping cream
• 1 cup of milk
• 2 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch
• lots of fresh ground black pepper, salt to taste
• 1 generous cup of white wine (I used Riesling)
• 2 cups of pita bread fried croutons (optional, but nice!)

METHOD:

1. Heat some clarified butter or olive oil; fry the sliced onions and  mushrooms till golden. Put in a large pot, add 5 cups of water, the veal stock concentrate and some salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or longer till the stock is fragrant with the mushroom flavor.
2. Add the wine to the soup and let is simmer for 15 minutes. Add the cream or Kiri cheese and let it melt slowly and simmer a bit longer.
3. Mix the cornstarch with the milk, add to the simmering soup and stir for a minute or so until the soup thickens a bit.
4. If you wish, use an immersion blender to cream the soup.
5. Taste and serve with fried pita bread croutons.

NOTE: Fried pita croutons will keep for days in a tight plastic container. Use on salads, soups and fatteh.