Roasted wild mushroom soup

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Wild mushroom soup

Now I know it isn’t exactly a ‘quicker’ route to go foraging for mushrooms in the wild compared with picking them off the shelf but…..be careful if you do capture them wild. Make sure you verify that you have the edible sort or you may be dabbling with serious negative effects from champignon veneneux (Poisonous mushrooms). Mushrooms are funny in that they don’t have a ‘toxic look’ when they’re poisonous so before you consume any wild, hand-picked mushrooms in France, consult a pharmacy (or a trusted neighbour).

Mixed wild mushrooms

 All pharmacists are required to study mushroom taxonomy as part of their formal training, and will helpfully(and for free) identify your finds, often with the aid of an instructive, official chart picturing the poisonous species for the edification of the fungus-drunk public! Whatever you do, consult before you plan on doing any cooking with them….or else….it may be disastorous!

girolles

The mushrooms I speak of today are the fat-free, low calorie wild mushrooms, which are the crowning glory of a soup that graced our lips this past weekend.  I am getting more and more into cooking seasonal and few things are more autumnal than the girolles (Chanterelles) and the pieds de mouton (called anything from Hedgehog mushrooms to sheep’s/pig’s foot) out of France (at Sligro!). 

pieds de mouton

Now the French (and other aficionados) are famed for their love of wild mushrooms with hordes going on fungi hunts and forays. Now while I love Mushrooms, I wouldn’t be able to identify one from Adam. If my recall is good (and that it is), the closest I’ve come to seeing siblings of these fungi out in the ‘wild’ was in the summer when I stooped down low to see how well the ‘Macro setting’ on my camera worked!

Toadstool

When I saw a ‘very different mushroom soup’ recipe in ‘Superduper soups’, I knew it was only a matter of time. The original recipe uses shiitake mushrooms to my wild ones. The second thing I agreed (with myself) was that the mushrooms would have to be roasted becase I wanted to preserve their wholeness and perhaps enhance the flavours a bit with some ‘flash roasting’! i knew the mushrooms would hold up well especially the Pied de mouton: gnarly, funny-looking mushrooms with a great earthy and mildly nutty flavour. Because they have firm flesh they hold up well in slow cooking and roasting As for the girolles, they are wonderfully aromatic but also give a beautiful golden colour to dishes…and you see that in the soup. Their flavour is meaty and somewhat chewy texture.

Mixed wild mushrooms pack

The tiny modestes mushrooms also had the colour of the girolles and I could only hope they made it out of the oven – alive!

Wild mushrooms

I knew there would have to be some special French smoked garlic thrown in and my new favourite herb – lemon thyme! It was also lurking that a mild kick sponsored by slivers of yellow chilli peppers would be well within order. Once that was sorted, assembling the ingredients was a breeze.

Ingredients

300g wild mushrooms or shiitake/chestnut mushrooms
1 garlic clove (smoked or regular)
2 teaspoons butter (1 teaspoon for roasting mushrooms, 1 teaspoon for making sauce)
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Flour
500ml Vegetable stock
1/2 – 1 teaspoon lemon thyme
75g Mancheg0 cheese, grated or any other cheese like Gouda, Cheddar or a mild, light flavoured variety
100ml Creme Fraiche
Chilli pepper (optional)

How to

Brush mushrooms to clean and place on greased roasting tin. Pop in a whole clove of smoked garlic and dot mushrooms with butter. Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until just roasted at 180 degrees centigrade (no need to waste gas by pre-heating the oven!)

Mixed wild mushrooms

Remove from oven when ready. Set a few roasted mushrooms aside for garnishes if you want.

Heat the butter in a large saucepan and add chopped onions. Saute gently and add roasted mushrooms, stirring till the onions are soft and golden.

Sprinkle on flour, mix well and continue cooking. Stir well and let flour ‘cook’ so it loses its ‘floury/pasty’ taste.

Add stock and lemon thyme  in and let the mixture simmer for 20 minutes. If using chilli, add now.

Add cheese and creme fraiche and cook for another 2 minutes until the cheese is melted and the soup is thickened.

Mexican Manchego cheeseAlmost ready Grated Manchego cheese

Whizz in a food-processor or blender.

Serve up and enjoy with some bread.

Best enjoyed straight away!

If you have some left over, then Soup it! Sauce it! Bake it! (as seen here) on rice!

Mushroom sauce!

What do you think? Like it? Love it? or don’t? Have you been on a mushroom hunt, ever?

Chanterelle Mushrooms on Foodista

More reads: A guide to mushroom hunting
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20 Comments

  1. Oh my goodness! Made this for dinner tonight and it was SO good. Went chanterelle picking yesterday and ended up with 9+ pounds of mushrooms, so I was looking for a good soup and came across yours….I am going to make it again tomorrow. Thanks so much for the awesome recipe!! xo

  2. Our last trip into the forest here outside of Nantes and our dog found the poisonous mushrooms, so I’m settling for picking them up at the primeurs. This soup is outrageously gorgeous, thick and luscious, just like I like it. Wonderful! And thanks for Tastespotting I’ve discovered your wonderful blog, too.

  3. Glad it looks yum – we aim to please at KB :-)…though that’s not always the case but I’ll tell you about the disasters later – PROMISE!

    Penny, I love soups that I can convert to sauces or use in bakes…so I tried it on the rice. I’m sure it would have tasted better on Pasta but…thats one for another day

  4. On rice and eggs? That is the first that I have seen. I love wild mushrooms and it is quite expensive to get it here and the weather is getting warmer so may have to wait till next season. I have to remember eggs and rice!

  5. This looks so good! Love chanterelles, and actually used to gog mushroom picking when I was a little girl.

    This week I’m also cooking with mushrooms…just might have to make a version of your soup.

  6. Thanks for the compliments on the lovely looking soup. It tasted great as well!

    Spice & more; smoked garlic has its origins in France and is essentially garlic which has been smoked. One thing I can say is it smells DELICIOUS, has very juicy cloves and when I roast things like tomatoes/mushrooms, I put a couple of cloves in and then let it soften till all its goodness oozes out of the skin! Yum. You can see a photo here

  7. Oooh, Oz, what gorgeous photos! It’s not even 7am here and I’m wondering where I can buy gourmet mushrooms today. Honestly, your mushroom soup looks to die for..

    Celia

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