Creamy mushroom bisque. Even my gf who hates mushrooms said this was delicious.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. Assorted mushrooms, sliced thin, divided. You can do any kind you like - I did portabella, cremini and some button.

• 1 large shallot, minced. Yield is roughly 1/4 C

• 5-6 good sized cloves of garlic, minced

• 1 C white wine

• a bunch of thyme

• 1 bay leaf

• 1.5 quarts of stock - really any stock will work here

• 2 C of heavy cream

• couple splashes of worsheshire sauce

• either 2 Tbsp of cornstarch + 1 C of water or 2 Tbsp each of flour and butter

Method

1. Reserve 8 oz of the mushrooms for later. Preheat a dutch oven or large pot. Add oil and 1.5 lbs of your mushrooms. Mix them as they start to shrink from cooking, getting them in an even layer. Add a pinch of salt - you do this now to help pull moisture out of the mushrooms. Cook until all the water evaporates and the mushrooms start to get crispy on the edges.

2. Add your shallots and garlic. Cook until they are softened and a bit of fond starts to form on the bottom.

3. Deglaze with your white wine, scraping the bottom as you go. Add 4-5 springs of thyme. Reduce until au sec (meaning "almost dry").

4. Take this mixture and add it to your food processor, processing into a paste. Use about 1/4 C of your stock to help loosen things up.

5. Add your stock to the pot. Mix in your mushroom mixture and bring to a boil. Add your bay leaf and some more thyme. Add the heavy cream and let reduce for around 15 minutes.

6. For the cornstarch slurry method, simply add the cornstarch and water mixture to your soup and bring to a boil.

For the burre manie method, dice the butter into very small pieces and toss in flour. Knead them together until a very thick paste forms. Place in a bowl. Add some of your soup to this paste and whisk thoroughly so no clumps are visible, then add to the soup. Cook for an additional 15-20 minutes to cook the flour.

If you want it thicker, add more slurry or buerre manie. If it gets too thick, add more stock.

7. Get a separate sautee pan very hot. Add oil and heat until it is smoking. Add your mushrooms, in several batches depending on the size of the pan. Cook until nicely browned. Season with salt and pepper and add to the soup.

8. Season the soup with salt, pepper, and worsheshire and taste. If it is a little flat, add a splash of vinegar (white wine, red wine or balsamic would be good).

9. I serve this with a sprinkle of cotija cheese, croutons and chopped chives on top. For an even more indulgent soup, spoon into oven safe bowls, top with provolone or gruyere, and bake until

bon appetit