Humans have been consuming mushrooms for a very long time and for many reasons.
Greek warriors were fed mushrooms to make them stronger.
Mushrooms were used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years–many times for the purpose of enhancing the immune system.
In the Americas, the Aztecs incorporated huitlacoche (a parasitic fungus that grows on corn during the rainy season) into their diets, savoring the smoky umami flavor it imparted to food. Today, the sought-after fungus is often called “Mexican caviar.”
During Napoleonic times. Parisians fell in love with the delicate color and flavor of white mushrooms, growing them in quarry tunnels near Paris.
Today, Americans consume about three pounds of mushrooms each year per person. Once hard to find, the modern American consumer has only to look to her local farmer’s market to find the likes of creminis, oysters , or even lion’s manes. And like those who have treasured the exquisite flavor of the fungus for hundreds if not thousands of years, many modern consumers continue to consume mushrooms for their purported health benefits. Here’s a piece from the well-respected Cleveland Clinic on the health benefits of mushrooms if you need a nudge to add more mushrooms to your diet.
Here is a Cream of Three Mushrooms Soup recipe that you are sure to love.
Cream of Three Mushroom Soup
Ingredients
- 6-8 T. butter or extra virgin olive oil (or a mixture)
- 1 large yellow onion (chopped)
- 2 stalks celery (chopped)
- 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of assorted mushrooms (I used cremini, shiitake and king's trumpet)
- 1 t. thyme
- 6 T. all-purpose flour
- 1/2 C. dry white wine
- 5 C. vegetable broth
- 1 C. heavy cream
- Salt
- Pepper
- Extra cream to garnish
Directions
- Step 1 Melt butter (or mixture of butter and extra virgin olive oil). Sauté chopped onion and chopped celery in the melted butter until the vegetables are soft and are just beginning to color.
- Step 2 Add the chopped mushrooms and thyme to the pot. Stir and cook until the mushrooms have softened.
- Step 3 Stir in the flour and continue stirring for a couple of minutes to cook the flour. Stir in the white wine to deglaze the pot.
- Step 4 Add the broth and simmer the soup for about 20 minutes. You want the flavors in the ingredients to mix and you want the liquids in the soup to reduce.
- Step 5 Add the cream and continue to cook (on low) for about 5 minutes.
- Step 6 Puree. I enjoyed this soup with some texture. I also thought it was pretty with some of the flecks of brown mushroom in the soup. You can puree your soup to the texture you like.
- Step 7 Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Step 8 The soup will be very thick–like a soup concentrate. You can serve it like this and savor the rich creamy soup or you can thin it with water or milk. I thinned my soup with water and decorated the top of the soup with cream at the time of serving.
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