So… you’re all set to make a casserole of some sort. You’ve gathered the ingredients, preheated the oven, and are ready to go, but…
No mushroom soup in the friendly red and white can?
No problem!
Here’s how, with nothing fussier than ‘shrooms, milk, butter, and flour you can make your own, recipe ready soup.
And better!
Thanks to home-ec101.com for the basic recipe, which I adapted just a wee, tiny bit, and which will make about four cups of ‘shroom soup substitute – which may be more than you need for your casserole, but that’s ok – you’ll want to have some of this soup to enjoy on its own.
INGREDIENTS
‘Shroom Stock:
•16 oz sliced ‘shrooms
•2 cups water
•2 cups whole milk
•1/4 to 1/2 cup sweet vermouth (optional)
•Ground green pepper
•Sea salt
Soup:
•6 tbsp unsalted butter
•6 tbsp flour
•1/2 medium onion, diced
Place the ‘shrooms in a large pan and add enough milk and water to cover – two cups of each worked for me.
Note: you could use just water.
Stir in the vermouth, if using, then bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for about 30 minutes.
Voilà! ‘Shroom stock – and tasty! I added a bit of sea salt and a nice grind of green peppercorns to this before getting on with the rest of the process.
Strain the ‘shrooms from the stock and set both aside.
Melt the butter in the bottom of a large pan over medium high heat, add the diced onion, and sauté for about five minutes, until the onion is softened.
Whisk in the flour, stirring constantly, and cook until the color changes to a rich, deep gold.
Add the ‘shroom stock a cup at a time, whisking to incorporate each batch before adding the next.
Give it a taste and add a bit more sea salt and pepper, if you like. Add the reserved ‘shrooms, lower the heat and cook, stirring often, until the mixture is thickened.
Use as you would the friendly red and white can. As I noted above, this’ll make enough to replace three or four 10-3/4 oz cans – more than enough for most casseroles – but that’s fine, ’cause you are gonna want to enjoy some of this on it’s own.