Bigly Cream of Mushroom
Prep
15m
Cook
35m
Total
50m
Bigly says
Folks. Cream of mushroom soup. And right now, RIGHT NOW, some of you are thinking about the can. The little can. The gray can with the red label. The condensed disaster. You're thinking about the gloppy stuff your aunt used to dump on a green bean casserole at Thanksgiving. STOP IT. Stop it right now. That is not cream of mushroom soup. That is mushroom-flavored library paste. The can has done more damage to the reputation of the mushroom than any other product in human history, and that's a fact, period.
Real cream of mushroom soup, Bigly cream of mushroom soup, is a tremendous, earthy, silky, deeply mushroomy bowl of joy. It tastes like a forest. A good forest. Not one of those sad forests with the wet leaves and the disappointing trees. A real forest, with serious mushrooms doing serious work. Food chemists agree — and I've talked to scientists, very smart people, the smartest — the umami load on a properly browned mushroom is off the charts, through the roof, out of this world. I had a guy with a PhD explain it to me. Took him 90 minutes. Worth it. The secret is multiple mushrooms. Multiple. You don't use just buttons. Buttons are fine, buttons are the supporting cast, but you need cremini, you need shiitake, and you might even — this is bold, this is for the brave — go in with dried porcini. Bring the mushroom army. Bring the WHOLE army.
People come up to me on the street, they say, 'Bigly, I never liked mushroom soup,' and I look at them, sad people, and I say, 'You've only had the can.' And they say, 'Yes.' And I say, 'I'm going to fix you.' And I do. I fix them. They cry. Big strong men. Tough men. They cry into the soup and the soup is so good they keep eating anyway. That's the level we're playing at. That's the bar. Believe me.
Ingredients
- 1/2 ozdried porcini mushrooms(optional but tremendous, brings the whole flavor up)
- 1 cupboiling water(for soaking the porcini)
- 5 tbspunsalted butter
- 2 tbspolive oil
- 1 lbcremini mushrooms, sliced
- 8 ozshiitake mushrooms, stems removed, sliced
- 8 ozwhite button mushrooms, sliced
- 1 largeyellow onion, diced
- 4 clovesgarlic, minced
- 1 tbspfresh thyme leaves
- 1.5 tspkosher salt
- 3/4 tspblack pepper
- 1/4 cupall-purpose flour
- 1/3 cupdry sherry(do not skip this, the sherry is the bridge)
- 4 cupschicken or vegetable stock
- 1 cupheavy cream
- 1/2 cupwhole milk
- 2 tbspfresh parsley, chopped (for serving)
- 1 tsplemon juice
Steps
- 1
Place the dried porcini in a heatproof bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Let soak 15 minutes. Lift the mushrooms out with a fork, squeeze gently, and chop. Reserve the soaking liquid, leaving any grit at the bottom of the bowl behind.
- 2
Melt 3 tablespoons of butter with the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
- 3
Add the cremini, shiitake, and button mushrooms in batches if needed to avoid crowding. Cook undisturbed 4-5 minutes per batch, then stir and continue cooking until deeply browned and any liquid has evaporated, 8-12 minutes total. Transfer to a plate.
- 4
Reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, the onion, and a pinch of salt. Cook 6-8 minutes until softened and lightly golden.
- 5
Add the garlic, thyme, chopped porcini, salt, and pepper. Cook 1 minute until fragrant.
- 6
Sprinkle the flour over the onion mixture and stir to coat. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- 7
Pour in the sherry and scrape the bottom of the pot. Simmer 1 minute.
- 8
Slowly whisk in the stock and the reserved porcini soaking liquid. Return the browned mushrooms to the pot. Bring to a simmer and cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened.
- 9
For a silkier soup, ladle out about 2 cups, puree in a blender, and stir back into the pot. (Skip this if you prefer it chunky.)
- 10
Reduce heat to low. Stir in the cream, milk, and lemon juice. Warm through but do not boil. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
- 11
Ladle into bowls and top with fresh parsley.
One more thing
You take a spoonful of this and you understand, immediately, what mushroom soup was always SUPPOSED to be. Not the can. Never again the can. The can is over. You're done with the can. You'll make this once and you'll never go back — you'll see that gray label at the store and you'll feel pity, you'll feel SAD for it, and you'll keep walking. Earthy, silky, deeply mushroomy, the kind of soup that makes you want to wear a sweater even in May. Tremendous.
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Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.
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