May's Winter Warmer

Folks, today I fulfilled my lifelong fantasy.

Do I hear a collective gasp?

No, no, it's not what you think it is (or maybe...)

I've always loved mushroom soup. Especially the ones that come in this massive round-ish bread. It's delish. It's delightful because it's a meal on it's own; you have your yummy soup and you have the bread, all soaked in the soup to gobble up at the end of it.

Lately I've been craving mushroom soup. And bread. So I got my act together, dug up two mushroom soup recipies to study (one of which was Noelbynature's Better than Campbell's (TM) Mushroom Soup!) and came up with my lactose-free, low-fat version.

Vat you need:

A nice round bread that's strong enough to hold soup in
3-4 different types of mushrooms
Some skim milk
About 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
Chicken stock (liquid)
Onions and garlic, chopped finely
Potatoes, peeled and chopped into cubes
1 bay leaf
Parsley
Mix herbs to sprinkle
Salt and pepper to taste

How now, brown cow?

1. Peel potatoes and boil them in salt water. Put the bay leaf into the mixture.
2. Chop up all the mushrooms, onions and garlic. Fry over medium heat.
3. Season to taste mushrooms with some salt. Remove potatoes from heat (by now potatoes should be nice and soft) and pour entire mixture into the mushroom mix.
4. Turn fire down to low and allow to simmer. Add parsley and butter. Season to taste.
5. Remove from fire. Remove bay leaf and pour the mixture into a blender. Blend until smooth.
6. Pour the smooth mushroom mixture into a pan/saucepan again and over a low fire add chicken stock and skim milk. Season to taste again and sprinkle some mix herbs. Set aside.
7. Using a bread knife carfully cut the top of the bread. Empty out bread of its contents (I haven't thought of what to do with the filling yet) and pour your yummy soup into it. Perfect for a cold winter's day.

Enjoy!

Tags: bread bowl mushroom soup budget recipe