Hello there, and welcome to my little fungi-focused corner of the internet. Today, I'm honored to share with you a recipe that I've beenloving for over 10 years! Thismouth-watering Creamy Chanterelle Soup recipe is very adaptable, can easily be madevegan, or youcould eventurn it into a mushroom-potato chowder if you're a little light on Chanterelles. 🙂 (tips at bottom for adaptation) Other wild or cultivated mushrooms can also easily be incorporated, just sauté them to your liking and add them to the pot when you add the Chanterelles.
This recipe is ever-evolving, and would likely benefit from your own personal preferred touch of seasoning. This is an excellent time to take advantage of any mushroom salts or powders you have lying around, to giveyour soup ablast of umami flavor!
The amount of mushrooms used can vary wildly depending on how mushroom-y you want your soup, and how many mushrooms you managed to find, so don't feel constrained by the actual numbers: this soup is an excellent way to get rid of a few extra pounds of chanterelles, just by doubling the number of mushrooms. It's also flavorful enough that it doesn't suffer much if you only have a pound.
Your mushrooms need to be thoroughly cleaned before starting the cooking process, as chanterelles are often quite dirty from both the store and the forest.😉 If you're looking for tips on how to clean your chanterelles (or other Wild Mushrooms), make sure to check out my blog onHow to Clean 10 Foraged Mushrooms!
Overcrowding the pan can prevent a good sear and lead to soggy mushrooms, so we cook the Chanterelles in multiple batches, generally aboutone poundat a time is plenty for a large sauté pan.
Without further ado, let's jump right into how to make my favorite mushroom soup!
Creamy Chanterelle Soup:
2pounds fresh (cleaned) chanterelles
1 medium onion
1 medium shallot
6garlic cloves
12tablespoonsbutter, divided
1/2 cup white wine
4 Tablespoons Flour
48oz vegetable broth
24oz heavy cream (or half and half)
1 Bay leaf
2 Tablespoons Thyme (fresh, picked leaves if possible)
1 Tablespoon Oregano
1Tablespoon Marjoram
Vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste
~
Optional:
Rosemary
Dill
Parsley
Nutmeg (just a touch)
Step 1. Slice chanterelles to 1/8"-1/4" thickness, or give them a medium chop. You can even tear them top to bottom with your fingers, if you like. Dice onion, mince the shallots and garlic, and set them aside.
Step 2. Heat a large sauté pan to medium-high heat. Add1 tablespoon of Vegetable oilto prevent sticking, then add about one pound of Chanterelles, and a healthy pinch of salt. Stir, watching for mushrooms that try to stick to the hot pan.
Within a couple minutes, the mushrooms will quickly release the liquid they have inside. You canreserve this liquid andadd it back to the soup later, or just let it simmer away. Once that liquid is gone and your mushrooms start to sear: add 4 tablespoons of butter, 1 tablespoon of thyme, and stir.
Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are nicely seared to your liking (5-7 mins). Turn heat to high, wait 30-45 seconds, then deglaze with white wine, making sure to scrape off any bits that may be stuck to the pan.
Set the cooked mushrooms aside, and repeat the process as many times as necessary to cook all the mushrooms that you want to use for your soup.
Step 3. Heat a large soup pot to medium, add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil.Add onion and shallot. Cook, stirring often, for 4-6 minutes until onion is translucent. Add garlic and fresh thyme.
Cook2minutes more, until garlic is fragrant but not browning.
Add reserved mushrooms (hold a few back for garnish, if you want), and stir to combine.
Add vegetable broth, bay leaf, oregano, marjoram, and pepper.
Bring to a simmer, then lower heat to med-low.
Simmer for 20 minutes, add cream,bring back to simmer.
Taste for salt, add more as needed.
Step 4. Make a roux: heat 4tablespoons of butter in a small pan on medium heat. Once it is melted, add 4 tablespoons of flour. Cook, stirring, for about 4-5 minutes.
Step 5. Whisk the roux into your simmering soup, to your desired thickness. Start with about half, whisk well, give it about 30 seconds before adding more.
Step 6. Serve hot! If you kept some of those mushrooms aside for garnish, now's the time to pile them in the center of a piping hot bowl of this soup! Place a sprig of thyme on top if you like, or garnish with parsley.
This soup is *perfect* for dipping bread into, and my go-to bread recipe is super-simple, fast and hasn't failed me yet: I use Modern Honey's Homemade Bakery French Bread recipe, and highly recommend it.
Note: to get a truly creamy soup like the one in the cover photo, just thoroughly blend your soup and strain it through a fine strainer/chinois.
To make this recipe vegan: use a bit more oil instead of butter to sautéthe mushrooms, and use coconut milk instead of heavy cream! The coconut milk adds a lovely creaminess and mouth-feel to this already decadent soup. 🥰
To turn it into heartier, potato-chowder type soup, just chop a few potatoes and add them to the pot after you bring it to a simmer for the first time, and let them cook until they're the texture you like.
Feel free to add other mushrooms, if you like! Porcini makes a wonderful addition to this soup, cut into chunks and heavily seared. (There is no need to cook the liquid off, with Porcini)
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