Creamy Mushroom Slurry

Ingredients:

 
2 cups of dried gourmet mushrooms (Porcini, Yellow Boletes, Oyster, Portobello)
3 kg fresh white mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, peeled, whole
8 cups chicken stock
4 cups hot water
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 cup of cream (or sour cream)
kosher salt
finely ground pepper (almost like a powder)
 

Directions:

 
Be warned! This recipe looks deceptively simple, but has a long cooking time. Definitely worth it, so make lots and freeze for later consumption.

Rinse the dried gourmet mushrooms with cold water to remove any grit. Then place in a bowl of hot water (4 cups) and let stand for several hours. The longer the dried mushrooms soak in the hot water the better. So if you can afford to wait, let it soak overnight. After the gourmet mushrooms have soften, remove from bowl and squeeze out the water. Do not discard the bowl of water as it will be used in the soup. Chop up the gourmet mushrooms into tiny pieces. In a large deep skillet, sauté the gourmet mushrooms in butter under medium low heat until they are slightly browned. Remove the mushrooms from the skillet. They will be added back near the very end. Try to leave as much of the butter in the skillet as you'll need to sauté the other ingredients.

Toss the fresh white mushrooms into the skillet and sauté at medium low heat. Cooking the mushrooms will release their moisture and consequently they will shrink in size. It will take around 30 minutes or more for the moisture to evaporate. More if you rinsed the mushrooms with water. It is better to wipe any grit off with a dry paper towel. Remove mushrooms from the skillet and place in a bowl once they have turned golden brown.

Lastly, sauté the onions and garlic for approximately 5-10 minutes until onions are translucent. Toss the white mushrooms in with the onions and cook for another 5-10 minutes.

Add flour to the white mushroom onion mixture and stir. The flour will fuse with the butter and become a roux to thicken up the soup.

Add chicken stock and the water used to soak the dried gourmet mushrooms into the skillet. Bring the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 30-45 minutes. Afterwards, use a blender to liquefy the mushroom onion mixture into a slurry. Do this in small batches. Put the slurry back into skillet.

Add the gourmet mushrooms into the skillet with the slurry and reheat on medium. Stir in the cream and add salt and pepper to taste. Salt is a key ingredient here as it enhances the flavour of the mushrooms. Without it, the soup will be lacking so do not be afraid to add more salt if necessary.

Don't forget the croutons or crackers as they give an added texture to the soup.