the best cream of mushroom soup --- please

[foxy fairy]

Your favorites, please. I will be making this for a special friend to bring to work for lunches or to heat up for dinners, in an ultra-busy week for her. Thanks! This past week I made her a stunning roasted butternut squash soup... so I'd like it to be equally special.

[shivani]

i usually make this one, from ruth reichl's comfort me with apples.

http://www.slashfood.com/2007/09/11/r...

[clamscasino]

This thread brought on a serious craving for the Hungarian mushroom soup in Molly Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook....so I made it the other night (hadn't done so in many, many years) and it was as stunningly delicious as I remembered.

[gmm]

Just wanted to add my vote for the Ina Garten recipe on the Food Network site. It's very rich and delicious.

[Diane in Bexley]

My "secret ingredient" for mushroom soup is nutmeg. Just a little nutmeg will bring out the "je ne sais quoi" that everyone will be asking for. Also, garnish with fresh snipped chives.

[chowess]

Would you mind sharing your recipe for the stunning roasted butternut squash soup? I am always looking out for different variations of this to keep my family happy. Many thanks

[SSqwerty]

My favorite mushroom soup is the
/CREAMY-ROASTED-MUSHROOM-SOUP on Epicurious.
Easy to do because you can roast the mushrooms the day before and finish the soup the day you serve it. I use chicken stock instead of vegetable stock.

[soultender]

It's really awesome of yo to make soup for a friend for lunches, etc. Kudos!

[mlukan]

This is by far the best ive ever made. My fave mushroom soup. You can read reviews to confirm how good it is.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/in...

[greenstate]

Lordy, that ought to be the best tasting cream of mushroom soup. With all that butter and cream I'll bet it's delicious!

[gordeaux]

Not a recipe, but a suggestion.
If you own Marjoram, throw some in whatever recipe you choose.

[smartie]

I love chervil or tarragon in mine.

I make a mushroom sauce having fried mushrooms in butter until soft then making a roux, then adding enough milk and cream till I get the consistency I want. Lots of salt and black pepper and then either chervil or tarragon, a pinch of thyme and some nutmeg.

[WendyBinCT]

This version achieves creaminess without cream, thanks to the addition of potato.

Wendy’s Mushroom Soup

1/2 cup dried mushrooms (about 1/2 ounce)
2 cups boiling water
1 Tbsp. oil
1 Tbsp. butter
1 1/2 cups sliced cremini mushrooms (about 12 ounces)
1/2 cup chopped shallots or onion
2 garlic cloves, grated or minced
1 cup diced peeled baking potato or leftover mashed potato
3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons sherry

Optional garnish:
Minced parsley or sliced chives or sliced scallion
A few drops of truffle oil

Combine the dried mushrooms and boiling water in a bowl; cover and let stand 30 minutes. Lift rehydrated mushrooms from the liquid; rinse, chop and set aside. Strain soaking liquid through cheesecloth or a coffee filter to remove any grit; set aside.
Heat oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add cremini mushrooms and shallots; sauté 6 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and sauté, stirring, 30 seconds. Stir in the rehydrated mushrooms, reserved liquid, and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until potato is tender.
In a blender, puree soup in batches.
Return soup to the saucepan. Stir in sherry.
Garnish as desired and serve.

Yield: 4 servings

[MMRuth]

This was wonderful:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/4572...

[steinpilz]

In addition to using sherry and thyme, one thing I've been successful with is grinding a mix of dried mushrooms (chanterelles and boletes for instance) to a powder and adding this to boost flavour and thicken the soup.