I hate mushrooms. Absolutely detest them. My parents love them, so of course they were put into whatever meal they could be. I would pretend to chew them, and then spit them into my napkin as I pretended to wipe my mouth. Yes, I was that kid.
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There was only one exception to my mushroom hatred. It was a chicken recipe that called for a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup (you know, the good ol’ red-and-white can kind). The soup was mixed with white wine, poured over the chicken, baked all together, and then the resulting liquid was mixed with sour cream. I could drink that sauce straight, and usually did when no one was looking. Yes, I was that kid.
This recipe is my rendition of that dreamy, creamy, non-yucky sauce in soup form. I think my biggest objection to mushrooms comes more from texture than taste, though the flavor of straight-up mushrooms still turns me off. But take that weird mushroom taste, and marry it with rosemary, sherry, and sour cream, and it gets transformed into something that even a mushroom hater like me just can’t get enough of.
Cream of Mushroom Soup Recipe
Ingredients
-
- 1 1/2 lbs. fresh mushrooms (any variety), cut up into chunks
- 1 small onion, about 1/3 lbs.
- 1 generous Tbsp. butter
- 1 generous Tbsp. olive oil
- 3 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 6 cups chicken broth (low sodium if using pre-made)
- 2/3 cup sherry (I prefer cream sherry)
- 1 cup sour cream
- Salt, to taste
Directions
Melt butter with olive oil in a large soup pot. Add onion and sauté until onion is translucent. Add mushrooms and stir until heated through.
Pour in chicken broth and add rosemary. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for about 40-45 minutes, or until mushrooms are very tender.
Remove from heat and carefully strain out the solids from the broth. Using either a blender or an immersion blender, puree the solids until the desired texture is reached, adding liquid as needed to help. I don’t really like chewing on mushrooms, so I blend it until it is nearly smooth. If you want it to be more chunky, because you are weird like that, then you can blend it a little less, or leave some of the solids unblended to add to the soup.
Return the pureed solids and broth to the pot. Add the sherry, and bring almost to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook about 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat.
Put the sour cream into a medium bowl. Add a little of the soup to the sour cream and whisk together. Repeat this process until the sour cream mixture is warmed through and very liquidy. Pour this mixture back into the pot and whisk in thoroughly. Doing this prevents the sour cream from curdling from the heat in the soup.
This soup, like many others, benefits from being allowed to have time to let the flavors blend. If you can be patient and wait to eat this a day later, you will be happy you did. Serve it hot and with a chunk of hearty bread. Perfect for a cold evening, or even a mid-day meal.
Mostly Greek 
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