I know some of you have said the weather doesn't have to be cold for you to get in the mood for soup. But for me, there's just no better soup day than a cold, wet, dreary day -- kinda like today!
If the weather forecast on Weather.com is accurate, today won't get out of the 50s but tomorrow will be back up to near 70. So if you're looking for one last miserable, bone-chillin' day to whip up a pot of chili, soup or stew, now's your chance! Get cookin'!
Added bonus: With all this talk about biscuits, we're all craving a buttery biscuit. But I don't think anyone has mentioned how beautifully a hot, freshly baked biscuit pairs with a bowl of homemade soup.
For weeks, I've had a recipe for Anthony Bourdain's mushroom soup laying on my desk. This seems like a great opportunity to share it with you:

Anthony Bourdain's Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:

6 Tbsp. butter
1 small onion, thinly sliced
12 oz. button mushrooms
4 cups light chicken stock or broth
1 sprig of flat parsley
Salt and pepper
2 oz. high-quality sherry (don't use the cheap grocery-store variety; it's salty and unappetizing and will ruin your soup)

Equipment:

Medium saucepan
Wooden spoon
Blender

Method:

1. In the medium saucepan, melt 2 Tbsp. of the butter over medium heat and add the onion. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent, then add the mushrooms and the remaining butter. Let the mixture sweat for about 8 minutes, taking care that the onion doesn't take on any brown color. Stir in the chicken stock and the parsley and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat and simmer for about an hour.

2. After an hour, remove the parsley and discard. Let the soup cool for a few minutes, then transfer to the blender in stages and carefully blend at high speed until smooth. Do this with the blender's lid firmly held down, and with the entire weight of your body against the lid so it doesn't blow off and spray your kitchen with boiling hot soup.

3. When blended, return the mix to the pot, season with salt and pepper, and bring up to a simmer again. Add the sherry, mix well, and serve immediately.

Improvisation:

To astound your guests with a Wild Mushroom Soup, simply replace some of those button mushrooms with a few dried cèpes or morels, which have been soaked until soft, drained, and squeezed. Not too many; the dried mushrooms will have a much stronger taste, and you don't want to overwhelm the soup. Pan sear, on high heat, a single small, pretty, fresh chanterelle or morel for each portion, and then slice into a cute fan and float on top in each bowl.

And if you really want to ratchet your soup into pretentious (but delicious), drizzle a few tiny drops of truffle oil over the surface just before serving. Why the hell not? Everybody else is doing it.

Source: Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook

• Share this entry
  • Digg this entry
  • Mark in Ma.gnolia
  • Tag with del.icio.us
  • Seed Newsvine
  • Post to Google
  • Add to Yahoo!
  • Share on Facebook
  • Submit to Reddit
  • Related at Technorati
• Posted by Lindsey Nair in Recipes
• :: Comments (10)