Wild Mushroom Soup

A friend of ours grows a number of things and sells them in a couple of Farmer's Markets in the area. We grow things for him like Bok Choy Asian Greens in the winter and also provide him with eggs. He has recently gotten into growing and harvesting mushrooms.  He dries them in a dehydrator and sells them at the market, and he gave us some to try last week.  I wish I could remember the name of the mushrooms, but I can't.  Needless to say, it is important to be able to differentiate the edible ones from the non-edible ones.

Dried Mushrooms

In order to rehydrate them, Tricia let them soak all day long in a bowl of water.

Soaking mushrooms

Using a slotted spoon, Tricia fished out the mushrooms, but don't throw away the 'mushroom broth,' that's the best part.  Once the mushrooms were out, Tricia cut them up, sauteed them in butter, added onions, garlic and celery and continued to saute them until they were all happy.

Sauteed mushrooms with onions, garlic, and celery

 Then add 1/4 cup of flour to the pot to thicken.

Thicken with some flour

Tricia lined a container with a coffee filter to strain out any sediment and poured the mushroom broth into the container.  Notice how rich and dark the mushroom broth is!  This is what makes the soup so flavorful.

Wild Mushroom Broth

Pour the mushroom broth into the pot of sauteed mushrooms & vegetables.

Adding the broth

Allow the soup to simmer for about 15 minutes then add some heavy cream that we skimmed off the top of the morning milk.

Wild Mushroom Soup is on!

A rich and flavorful wild mushroom soup made with nature's finest ingredients really hit the spot tonight!