Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

Chef Pharrell’s Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

Wash 8 oz each portabella and shitake mushrooms separately in lukewarm water in a deep bowl with a strainer in the bowl.. Mix the mushrooms well by hand to loosen the dirt. Remove them from the water, leaving the dirt behind. Wash 1 lb of button mushrooms in the same manner

Remove the stems from the all the mushrooms and set aside separately.

Dry all of the mushrooms on paper towels. Keep the button mushrooms separate from the others.

For Mushroom stock: Place 2 quarts water and 2 Tbl beef-stock base in a 4 quart covered pot and simmer until beef-stock base has dissolved. Remove stock from the heat and pour into another vessel.

In the same pan, heat 3 Tbl butter and ¼ cup minced onion on low heat. Stir frequently to prevent browning, cook until tender, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and add 3 Tbl of flour. Mix this on med/low heat for 3 minutes; again be sure not to brown.

Remove pot from heat.

Very slowly and patiently begin to drizzle the stock into the pan, stirring constantly after each addition to prevent clumping of the flour. Keep slowly adding the stock, patiently unitl it is all back in the pot.

Return to stove, add the mushroom stems, 3 sprigs of parsley, ½ a bay leaf and ¼ tsp thyme.
Cover, bring to boil, and then lower to simmer and simmer for 20 minutes.

While the stock is cooking, slice the portabella and shitake mushrooms into very thin slices. Place in a large bowl. Slice the button mushrooms very thin and place them in a separate bowl.
Cover the bowls with wrap and place in refrigerator.

When stocks is ready, use the same strainer set up and separate the stems and vegetables from the stock. Pour the liquid into a plastic bowl or large measuring cup to cool. Mash the stems into the strainer to release their juice. Discard the meats and add the juice to the stock. Cool the stock to room temp and cover with wrap and place in refrigerator.

(Here’s a helpful tip I learned of, to rapidly cool liquids. Place a large bottle of frozen water into the pot or bowl and stir occasionally for 5 or 10 minutes. This will reduce the cooling time tremendously and allow you to safely store your item in the refrigerator so nasty bacteria has less time to grow in your food. I keep 2 in the freezer at all times for this purpose)

For soup:

Heat a 6-8 quart pot add 1 cup of butter and cook on med heat until soft. Add and ¾ cup of diced yellow onions into butter and cook until soft, add the sliced button mushrooms and cook until they are soft.

Add the remaining mushrooms and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add ½ cup of dark beer and cook for an additional 3 minutes.

Reduce the heat and add 1 cup of flour. Using a cooking spoon, mix well and cook for 2 minutes or until butter and flour (roux) start cooking away from the sides of the saucepan.

Add half of the cold beef stock and stir until liquid thickens. Add the remainder of the stock and pinch of cayenne pepper or ¼ tsp hot sauce and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the 1 ¼ cups of heavy cream and allow soup to simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Adjust salt seasoning with fresh ground sea salt to taste.

Cooks note: This soup needs a smooth texture. Since the flour flavor must be completely cooked out, your cooking time may vary. Make sure stock is cool before adding it to the hot roux, (approximately 40° cool in the refrigerator). If roux and stock are both hot, your soup will be lumpy.