(Fancy) cream of mushroom soup | dry + fresh mushrooms

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**RECIPE, MAKES 4 DINNER-SIZE PORTIONS**

1 lb (454g) fresh mushrooms (cremini would be a safe bet)
1 oz (30g) dried mushroom (porcini would be a safe bet)
1 onion
1 cup (237mL) brandy (or whiskey, or white wine, or replace with water and give the soup of splash of vinegar to taste at the end)
4 cups (946mL) water
1 cup (237mL) cream (could use coconut cream instead
3-4 garlic cloves
1/4 cup (30g) flour
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (could use soy sauce or yeast extract instead)
salt
pepper
olive oil
butter (could use more oil instead)
fresh herbs for garnish (I like tarragon and/or thyme and/or parsley)

If you are bothered by the bits of sand sometimes found on dry mushrooms, start by bringing the four cups of water to a boil, take them off the heat, stir in the dry mushrooms and let them steep for half an hour. Pass the resulting mushroom stock through a sieve with a coffee filter in it to get the sand out. Briefly rinse the rehydrated mushroom chunks. If you don't care about the sand, never mind.

Peel and roughly chop the onion. Heat a film of olive oil in a deep pan/pot and sauté the onion 5-10 minutes until it's starting to go soft and brown. Melt in a couple tablespoons of butter (or more olive oil) and stir in the flour to make a roux. Fry the roux a few minutes until it's starting to go brown and smell nutty.

Deglaze the pan with 3/4 of the brandy (reserve the rest for later) — be sure to turn off the heat first if you're using a gas stove (learn from my mistakes in the video). Gradually stir in the water (which may already be mushroom stock, if you did the sand-removing procedure) until smooth. Stir in the dried mushrooms, the Worcestershire sauce, grind in some pepper, cover and let simmer for at least a half hour (an hour is better).

Meanwhile, wash your fresh mushrooms, trim off any woody bits of stem they have and slice them thin. Heat a thick film of olive oil and melted butter (or just use oil) in a wide pan, stir in the mushrooms and give them a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper.

Stir the mushrooms until they release a ton of water and start simmering. At that point, you have a few minutes in which you can peel and mince the garlic. Once the water boils out of the mushrooms, you'll need to stir constantly to keep them from burning. Fry them until they've shrunk a lot and are brown. Stir in the garlic and fry it for a few minutes. Deglaze with the remaining brandy (again, off the heat if you're using gas), take if off the heat and reserve until the soup base is done.

When the soup base is done simmering, puree it until smooth. If you want to be extra fancy, pass it through a sieve and discard the fibers. Stir in the fresh mushroom mixture and 3/4 of the cream (you might not want all of it). Gently boil the soup for a few minutes until the cream thickens a bit. Taste and adjust seasoning — it'll probably need more salt. If you didn't use any alcohol, remember to give it a splash of vinegar to taste now. Add more cream if it needs it, and/or reserve the remaining cream for garnish.

Serve the soup hot in bowls, maybe drizzle a little cream on top just for pretty, and maybe let everybody garnish with their choice of fresh herbs at the table.