The kid isn't eating dinner with us tonight, so I'm making one of his un-favorites: mushroom soup. It's not a favorite of mine, either, but I'm going to make it creamy and unctuous and convince myself that I love it because my dinner buddy really does. :-)
BTW, "unctuous" doesn't have a flattering dictionary definition. However, I prefer to think that unctuousness will enhance our mushroom soup experience.
Alors, revenons à nos moutons, as my French friends say.
According to Produce Pete, portabellas may taste "richer and more intensely mushroomy" as they mature. So, it sounds like it's an asset that I'm using portabellas somewhere on the senior side of things. (Take note, whippersnappers.)
I cut out anything that looked suspect on the mushrooms, put them in a pan with some olive oil and started to sweat them over medium heat. (The pot belonged to my Norwegian-American grandma, a wonderful and generous cook.)
After checking out a recipe from Anthony Bourdain on Epicurious (just for the basics), I added some butter and the elderly onion, cut into slices.
Speaking of butter: Do you save the wrappers in the freezer to butter pans for baking?
Mais, revenons à nos champignons.
When the mushrooms and onions were damp and not browned, I zapped a jar of frozen homemade vegetable broth (from hand-me-down veggies) in the microwave and added the broth to the pot. It's all simmering now.
OK, I'm back. After simmering the soup for at least 30 minutes, I spun it in the blender in batches. Seriously, DO blend hot liquid in batches if you're blending a big saucepan full of it, and HOLD DOWN THE BLENDER LID, for Pete's sake.
The soup tasted pretty intensely mushroomy, indeed, when I tested it. I added a splash of red wine (having no sherry, as suggested by Anthony Bourdain), a little milk and a tsp. or so of salt, heated it gently, and served it garnished with snippets of chives from our garden, which has been waking up for the past couple of weeks.
I warmed the sourdough loaf in the oven and sliced it to go with.
I shall call this dish "Mushroom Soup on the Fly."
As a non sequitur - and this is a little embarrassing to admit - our two rescued cats are starting a diet, effective today. Our vet called them "chubby." She said they are likely motivated by food, "as chubby cats are." Prescription cat food and a measuring cup are sitting on the kitchen counter. O.P. and Dubh have been weighed and found to be too. . . er. . . portly. One came to us that way, but the other was a scrawny little guy when our daughter found him. Four years later, his stomach swings from side to side as he walks. We're hoping the diet helps do away with cystitis for one and sore hips for both.
Also by way of a non sequitur, don't use Oven Cleaner to take the grease off the painted surface of your stove vent. . .
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