We've started a soup club at work, and this was my contribution. I've tried to recall the weights of some of the ingredients after the fact, so you might need to tailor the measurements to your own tastes.8 onions, finely diced
4 tbs olive oil
800 g button mushrooms, sliced
800 g portobello mushrooms, sliced
70 g dried porcini mushrooms
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
125 g butter
6 tbs plain flour
500 mL white wine
3 L chicken stock (recipe below)
2 L whole milk
2 tsp nutmeg
500 mL cream
Soak the porcini mushrooms in about 250 mL of boiling water for at least half an hour. When cool, reserve the liquor and finely slice the porcini. Cook the onions in the oil in a large pot, then add the button and portobello mushrooms and cook them down well, adding the garlic near the end. Meanwhile make a roux by melting the butter in a small saucepan and stirring in the flour off the heat, then cook the flour for about 1 minute. Deglaze the mushrooms in the large pot by adding the wine, and then add the roux to the mushrooms, followed by the stock, milk, porcini (the sliced mushrooms and the liquor) and nutmeg. Bring it to the boil and it will thicken after a couple of minutes. Blend the soup well with a hand-held blending wand and then add the cream. Reheat carefully without boiling or the soup may split. Season to taste.
Chicken stock
1 chicken
2 onions
1 stick celery
2 carrots
2 bay leaves
8 whole peppercorns
salt for seasoning
Put the chicken in a large (6 L) pot with hot water, bring to boil, then discard the water and refill with cold water and the remaining ingredients. Bring to the boil again and simmer for a few hours. Remove the chicken and reserve for another dish, discard the veggies and skim the fat off the top, then boil down the stock to reduce it by about one third. Season.
