Begin Elegant Dinners With Mushroom Soup

Capture the rich, intense flavor of wild mushrooms in a luscious soup that makes an elegant opener for a holiday dinner.

From the kitchen of Sally Darr, chef of La Tulipe restaurant in New York, comes this sensational recipe for a soup based on boletes, those meaty mushrooms called cepes in France and porcini in Italy, which make seasonal appearances in Europe’s restaurants.

Here, however, they are found sliced and dried to brittle slivers enclosed in cellophane envelopes. You may have seen them in gourmet shops, arranged on racks in supermarket produce sections or even offered in department store food boutiques. Italian porcini may be easier to find than cepes since porcini are more commonly imported. As a rule, the bigger the slices, the better (and more costly) the mushrooms.

Flavor Released

The flavor of dried mushrooms is released by boiling water, which partially reconstitutes the slices. The soaking liquid should be saved since it contains a great deal of flavor but it must be strained to trap gritty sand that clings to the mushroom pieces. Liquid may be passed through cheesecloth, a paper towel-lined strainer or a coffee filter.

Whereas dried mushrooms give backbone to the soup, fresh sliced cultivated mushrooms add their delicate flavor and act as a thickener. The food processor whirs each batch of cooked mushroom mixture into a thick puree in less than a minute by continuous processing.

After all soup vegetables are pureed, the metal blade can be easily cleaned by pulsing several times. This pulsing off technique virtually eliminates the need to clean the blade with a spatula.

ESSENCE OF WILD MUSHROOM

2 ounces imported dried cepe or porcini mushrooms

3 cups boiling water

6 tablespoons butter

1 medium clove garlic, peeled

4 medium onions, peeled and cubed

2 large leeks, trimmed and cubed

3/4 pound mushrooms, rinsed

3 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 1/2 cups half and half

1 cup creme fraiche or whipping cream

Salt, pepper

Soak dried mushrooms in boiling water 1 hour. Strain liquid through cheesecloth-lined sieve into saucepan. Simmer until liquid reduces to 1 cup. Rinse and pat dry mushrooms.

Melt butter in 12-inch skillet and set aside away from heat.

Insert metal blade in dry food processor. Mince garlic by adding to machine with motor on. Add half of onions and chop finely with half-second pulses. Empty container into skillet.

Repeat to chop remaining onions and leeks, emptying container into skillet as necessary. Change to medium slicing disc. Slice mushrooms with gentle push and set aside.

Stir onion mixture over low heat until softened. Add mushrooms and stir until completely softened. Add dried mushrooms with reduced liquid. Heat to boiling, then simmer 10 minutes.

With metal knife inserted in processor, puree mushroom mixture in 2-cup batches until mushrooms are finely minced.

Transfer mixture to large saucepan. Add chicken stock. Heat to boiling, then simmer 30 minutes. Add half and half and creme fraiche. Heat to boiling. Add salt and pepper to taste. (Amount of salt will depend on saltiness of stock.) Serve immediately. Makes 6 servings.