(Fancy) cream of mushroom soup | dry + fresh mushrooms

***RECIPE, MAKES 4 DINNER-SIZE PORTIONS***

1 lb (454g) fresh mushrooms (cremini would be a safe bet)
1 oz (30g) dried mushroom (porcini would be a safe bet)
1 onion
1 cup (237mL) brandy (or whiskey, or white wine, or replace with water and give the soup of splash of vinegar to taste at the end)
4 cups (946mL) water
1 cup (237mL) cream (could use coconut cream instead
3-4 garlic cloves
1/4 cup (30g) flour
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (could use soy sauce or yeast extract instead)
salt
pepper
olive oil
butter (could use more oil instead)
fresh herbs for garnish (I like tarragon and/or thyme and/or parsley)

If you are bothered by the bits of sand sometimes found on dry mushrooms, start by bringing the four cups of water to a boil, take them off the heat, stir in the dry mushrooms and let them steep for half an hour. Pass the resulting mushroom stock through a sieve with a coffee filter in it to get the sand out. Briefly rinse the rehydrated mushroom chunks. If you don't care about the sand, never mind.

Peel and roughly chop the onion. Heat a film of olive oil in a deep pan/pot and sauté the onion 5-10 minutes until it's starting to go soft and brown. Melt in a couple tablespoons of butter (or more olive oil) and stir in the flour to make a roux. Fry the roux a few minutes until it's starting to go brown and smell nutty.

Deglaze the pan with 3/4 of the brandy (reserve the rest for later) — be sure to turn off the heat first if you're using a gas stove (learn from my mistakes in the video). Gradually stir in the water (which may already be mushroom stock, if you did the sand-removing procedure) until smooth. Stir in the dried mushrooms, the Worcestershire sauce, grind in some pepper, cover and let simmer for at least a half hour (an hour is better).

Meanwhile, wash your fresh mushrooms, trim off any woody bits of stem they have and slice them thin. Heat a thick film of olive oil and melted butter (or just use oil) in a wide pan, stir in the mushrooms and give them a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper.

Stir the mushrooms until they release a ton of water and start simmering. At that point, you have a few minutes in which you can peel and mince the garlic. Once the water boils out of the mushrooms, you'll need to stir constantly to keep them from burning. Fry them until they've shrunk a lot and are brown. Stir in the garlic and fry it for a few minutes. Deglaze with the remaining brandy (again, off the heat if you're using gas), take if off the heat and reserve until the soup base is done.

When the soup base is done simmering, puree it until smooth. If you want to be extra fancy, pass it through a sieve and discard the fibers. Stir in the fresh mushroom mixture and 3/4 of the cream (you might not want all of it). Gently boil the soup for a few minutes until the cream thickens a bit. Taste and adjust seasoning — it'll probably need more salt. If you didn't use any alcohol, remember to give it a splash of vinegar to taste now. Add more cream if it needs it, and/or reserve the remaining cream for garnish.

Serve the soup hot in bowls, maybe drizzle a little cream on top just for pretty, and maybe let everybody garnish with their choice of fresh herbs at the table.

[QuackingEldrich_]

this is one of those things that my mother would make in huge portions, serve with loads of pasta and reheat for 3 days. thats some nostalgia right there

[stewiegriffin]

Adam at the store when Lauren’s out of town: “I’m worried that what you just heard was, ‘give me a lot of mushrooms.’ What I said was, ‘give me all the mushrooms you have.’”

[mylesjefferson]

I have literally only made one of Adam's recipes, and yet I find myself watching all of his videos. Speaks volumes of his ability to inform and entertain.

[rvfharrier]

Other women: "I bet he's cheating on me."
Lauren: "I bet he's cooking mushrooms."

[sinowosa]

why do i feel like this is another one of those "Laurens out of the house" meals

[pmchamlee]

Adam, my man - you are always excellently organized, sufficiently scientific, and you emphasize your preferences with the reasoms they exist - - - Most informative and enjoyable! Many thanks.

[dripshameless]

From fellow mushroom lovers everywhere, thank you!

[hapasiuhengalu]

This mans really poured Henny in his soup
What a flex!

[mcfaddenhall]

The one time I was like "screw this I'm not washing my dried mushrooms" it was so sandy I got a crunch on every bite. Never again.

[reklama_cja]

In Poland, Cream Mushroom soup is one of the meals that is made for Christmas Eve (aside from Borsht with "Ears", and it's quite simple: Chicken Boulion Base a.k.a Rosół (Chicken, Soup Vegetables with Onion and spices), Dried Shrooms (Porcini, Bay Bolete) and as thickener - Cream or Sour Cream mixed with teaspoon of flour.

[andrewwood]

Adam please dont pour liquor straight from the bottle. I've seen too many horror stories of the bottle blowing up in peoples hands because the flame runs up the stream and into the bottle

[shan_alriel]

I just wanted to say, I've been making this almost every week for my family because it just tastes like a 5 star hotel soup. I've tried so many of your recipes and what I like from your recipes is that you're so tolerable for substituting a few ingredients, you give that assurance that it will taste good even if you swapped the ingredients.

[SianLondon]

I love Mushrooms and soup so much that I watched this video in the morning, went and bought the ingredients today and just finished eating it, it was delicious and I didn't need to sieve it.

[abigfatblob]

Made this mushroom soup. It tasted really good, like a canned soup (which i personally like) but way more creamier and having a strong mushroom flavor.

[xuburbia]

Woah that shot at 0:30, just absolute perfection. Great video Adam!

[AptusConsulting]

I made it today! It is very good. I will be making it again, but probably not for guests since so many people dislike shrooms. Be advised those dried mushrooms come in .5 oz packages, I doubled the recipe, and spend about of $25 for all the mushrooms and then another $7 or so for a pint of average Brandy. Not exactly cheap, but good ingredients aren't cheap.

[MixexiM]

I appreciate all the substitution suggestions to make this vegan. Thanks!

[susanfarley]

This mushroom soup is the epitome of mushroom soup. I love mushrooms and I think I would be amazed by this soup.

[sweet]

Maximum shroom is what they called me in college!

[gebuh]

I made this vegan - shrooms: dried shiitake, fresh crimini and oyster. I used soy sauce, extra oil and coconut milk. I used more onions and garlic than listed. I added onion and garlic powder because it was missing a little something something and a bit of some chili flakes for a bit of heat. It was delicious, I should have doubled it, cuz now it’s gone.
Will def make again.