{Mushroom Soup}

There is nothing like a week long family sized dose of gastro to put you off food and food blogging, so to ease myself back in to cooking and eating I made a soup. I found the recipe over at Sunday Hotpants where it was touted as the best mushroom soup ever, I couldn't pass that one up, the only thing I changed was to add some cream at the end, I couldn't help myself, that's just the way I am, it was just a splash but you could make it without, it is a beautiful soup, a gorgeous colour and texture and was just what the doctor ordered, warming, comforting, delicate and easy to swallow! we are all on the mend now and its nice to be back.

...the soup
1 kg of chopped mushrooms (mixed button and portobello)

6 cups of good beef or vegetable stock (I used beef)

2 large shallots finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

50g butter

2 tbsp olive oil

2 sprigs of fresh thyme

15g dried porcini (soaked in a little boiling water for 20 minutes)

2 tbsp sweet sherry (I used Marsala)

150ml cream

s+p

Cook your shallots and garlic gently in the butter and olive oil over a medium heat until transparent. Add in the fresh mushrooms and cook them until they are wilted and have released their juices. Remove the porcini from their soaking liquid squeeze them out, chop them and add them and their soaking liquid to the soup along with the thyme, stock and sherry.

Cook gently for around half an hour, until the mushrooms are well cooked, then blend until the mushrooms are finely chopped and the soup is quite smooth, taste for seasoning and lastly if you like stir thru 150ml of cream, and warm it thru.