Mushroom Soup

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GilliAnne

Senior Cook
Joined
Jul 19, 2015
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158
Location
Antrim
Just wondering, is it necessary to fry the mushrooms when making mushroom soup?

Thank you.

Gilli
 
You would usually sauté the mushrooms (and other aromatics) in the soup pot before adding the stock and other ingredients.

I suppose you could make soup by adding raw mushrooms to the stock. Not sure it would taste as good.
 
Sautéing vegetables before using in a recipe does several things: it browns them, adding flavor; it causes them to release moisture, concentrating flavor; and it flavors the fat you're cooking them in, which adds flavor to the rest of the dish. Oh, one more: some flavors are fat-soluble, so cooking in fat releases those.

So doing that will make for a much better-tasting dish, whatever it is.
 
Sautéing vegetables before using in a recipe does several things: it browns them, adding flavor; it causes them to release moisture, concentrating flavor; and it flavors the fat you're cooking them in, which adds flavor to the rest of the dish. Oh, one more: some flavors are fat-soluble, so cooking in fat releases those.

So doing that will make for a much better-tasting dish, whatever it is.

GG, that's a fact I didn't know. Could you elaborate please?
 
GG, that's a fact I didn't know. Could you elaborate please?

Think about a marinade or salad dressing - including some kind of oil is necessary to carry some flavors. Indian cooking often starts with blooming spices in oil or butter (usually ghee) to release and intensify their flavors.

Here are a couple of resources:

https://books.google.com/books?id=m...nepage&q=fat soluble flavor compounds&f=false

http://foodreference.about.com/od/Fats-And-Oils/a/Functions-Of-Fat-In-Food.htm

If you're interested in learning more, use advanced Google search for "fat-soluble flavors" and restrict the results to Google Scholar. There are lots of textbooks that describe the chemistry.
 
What if you can't consume a lot of oil for health reasons? In view of what you say about the oil releasing the flavours, I suppose dry frying the mushrooms wouldn't work either.

Gillian
 
heres a link to a mushroom barley soup, that I have made in the past, that sautés the mushrooms. Recipe has step by step pics ( including the mushroom sautéing )
 
It doesn't require a lot of oil. As cin said, a tablespoon or two is plenty. If you use two tablespoons for six servings of soup, that's one teaspoon per serving.

There are also fat-soluble vitamins that cannot be absorbed by the body without some form of fat (vitamins A, D, E and K).
 
I love soup season too, Aunt Bea! The Tori Avery soup IS good. I've made a smaller amount, though, using only one 4-cup box. However, as a lover of mushrooms, I also used nearly a full pound of mushrooms. It wasn't safe to walk behind me the next day...:ohmy:

..I suppose dry frying the mushrooms wouldn't work either.

Gillian
I frequently "saute" mushrooms in dry sherry, especially if we are having them with grilled steak. I've also "sauteed" them with white wine. You have to pay attention to them, though, or they can go from moist to dry in the blink of an eye. The sherry gives them a rich, deep flavor that doesn't taste like alcohol.
 
What if you can't consume a lot of oil for health reasons? In view of what you say about the oil releasing the flavours, I suppose dry frying the mushrooms wouldn't work either.

Gillian


If you can't handle oil then skip frying. So it will not have the frying flavor, compensate by adding seasoning.


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I roast the mushrooms in the oven tossed with some salt and pepper, thyme and parsley, EVOO and some fresh lemon juice. I also use dried mushrooms and add the liquor to the stock.
 
I know this is a little late but here is a link to my mushroom soup recipe >> http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f56/cream-of-wild-mushroom-soup-58325.html#post829462

Cream Of Wild Mushroom Soup

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Wild Mushroom Soup (before cream added)

img_1447045_1_ded603976face909e395b4a541aba0be.jpg
 
We collect fresh chanterelles and lobster mushrooms and dehydrate them them put them in Ziplocks to use later.
I do make mushroom soup from fresh mushrooms.
Wild or store bought button mushroom contain about the same amount of moisture.
My tips: I use a large pan and don't overcrowd it with too many mushrooms at a time. Medium heat. NO oil/butter/salt. The mushrooms will give up any moisture they have causing some liquid in the pan so I tilt the pan slightly so all the moisture is collected on one side of the pan which I blot out with a paper towel. Now the mushrooms are really dry. When I have enough for the amount of soup I'm making I calculate the amount of clarified butter and APF I need to make a roux. I always use a 50/50 ratio.
Now I add say three Ts of the butter to the mushrooms. They immediately absorb the butter. Then I add the APF which I have already dextrinized.
Over low heat I let the flour coat the buttery mushrooms.
This next step is important. I now remove the mushrooms/roux and refrigerate them until cold.
While they are cooling I make a half and half whole milk and chicken stock broth.
Then I put the cold mushrooms into a large pot. The broth is close to boiling.
I pour all the broth over the mushrooms/roux at one time. I don't drizzle in the broth because I don't like the wallpaper paste that method results in.
Then I stir stir stir with a whisk.
Finally I adjust the taste with S&P and a pinch of fresh ground nutmeg.The soup is served with lots of crusty buttered rolls and a chilled glass of white wine....or three.
 
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