Wild mushroom soup recipe … with a gin twist

Wild mushroom soup recipe … with a gin twist

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A very happy experiment –

I have just made my favourite mushroom soup, from a fabulous recipe book Spectacular Soups, which states that it should contain either Madeira or dry sherry.  Having neither, and not wishing to go out in the rain, hubby came to the rescue by suggesting we omitted any alcohol during cooking to avoid potential ruination, and then experiment with a splash of gin in a small sample of the soup once cooked.  Wow, fabulous!  So here’s the recipe for you to try:

Wild Mushroom Soup – serves 6-8

  • 25g/1oz dried wild mushrooms, such as porcini or morels (I don’t bother if using all field mushrooms)
  • 900g/2lb button/chestnut/field mushrooms, coarsely sliced
  • 1.5 litres/2.5 pints chicken or vegetable stock
  • 25g/1oz/2 tbsp butter
  • 2 onions, coarsely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 2-3 tbsp plain flour
  • 120ml/4 fl oz Madeira or dry sherry – GIN
  • salt and ground black pepper to taste
  • optional garnishes: chives, soured cream or creme fraiche

To Cook

  1. Rinse the dried mushrooms and bring to the boil in 250ml of the stock; put aside.  Then cook the onions in the butter, before adding the fresh mushrooms and garlic and cooking for around 5 minutes or until softened.
  2. Bung in the flour, thyme, nutmeg and seasoning.  Stir for about 3 minutes until well blended.
  3. Add the dried mushrooms, alcohol and remaining stock.  Cook covered for 30-40 minutes until the mushrooms are very tender.  (We left the alcohol out at this stage, as already explained).
  4. Process the soup in a blender or food processor.
  5. Add the optional garnishes before serving.

We added around one pub measure (25ml) of Daffy’s Gin per small bowl of soup, choosing this gin because we felt its spiciness would compliment the earthiness of the mushrooms and warmth of the nutmeg.

“this is the most delicious soup and gin recipe I have ever tried”

The result was a really tasty winter soup, the gin absolutely complimented the field mushrooms (I didn’t have any dried, so used these throughout) and was just as we expected and hoped for.  It will warm the coldest of hearts and toes in an instant, while your tastebuds will go into supersonic, sensory overload such as you’ve never experienced before in your life – and that’s a promise.

 

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