Chicken Soup with Forest Mushrooms

<strong>Chicken Soup with Forest Mushrooms</strong>

(from "Dairy Hollow House Soup & Bread Cookbook"
by Crescent Dragonwagon)

4 cups Chicken Stock or Vegetable Stock

1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms

1/4 to 1/2 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, tough stems removed, caps and tender parts of stems diced, 1 1/2 ounces dried

2 cups dry white wine

3/4 cup wild rice, rinsed

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons mild vegetable oil, such as corn or peanut

1 large onion, diced

1/4 pound domestic white mushrooms, coarsely diced

1/4 pound any other exotic seasonal edible mushrooms, such as morels, tree ears, or oyster mushrooms, cleaned, tough stems removed, caps sliced

1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup heavy (whipping) cream (or evaporated skim milk, if you must save calories and fat grams, and/or watch cholesterol)

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Several gratings of fresh nutmeg

Salt and lots of freshly ground white pepper

2 tablespoons dry sherry or brandy

1 teaspoon, approximately, Garlic Oil (optional)

Minced fresh parsley or sprigs of fresh thyme, for garnish
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1. In a soup pot, bring the chicken stock to a boil.

2. In a small bowl, put the dried porcini and the dried shiitakes, if using. Pour 1 cup of the boiling chicken stock over them to cover, weighing the mushrooms down with a plate so they remain submerged.

3. Add the white wine to the stock remaining in the pot and bring to a boil. Stir in the wild rice. Turn down the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until the rice is tender and split open, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

4. Meanwhile, in an 8- or 9-inch skillet, heat the butter and oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the fresh mushrooms of all types, including the fresh shiitakes, if using, and sauté, stirring often, until the mushrooms soften, are fragrant, and on the edge of browning, 5 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the sauté mixture, and gradually add the cream, stirring and cooking until the flour is smoothed in, the cream thickens, and all delicious mushroom and onion bits are scraped up. Season with the thyme, nutmeg, and salt and pepper. When the wild rice is done, add this mushroom-cream mixture to the barely simmering stock.

5. Remove the reconstituted mushrooms from their broth. Wash them very well if they are at all dirty, cut them up fairly fine, and add them to the soup. Strain the mushroom soaking liquid through a paper coffee filter to remove any dirt or grit, and add it to the soup. Add the sherry or brandy. Let the soup simmer over the lowest possible heat about 20 minutes to blend the flavors. Taste, and if it's not quite there, sneak in a little garlic oil. Do not boil; stir often. Taste for seasoning. You got it? Oh! Divine! Garnish with the minced parsley or sprigs of thyme.

<em>Serves 4 to 6 as a starter (smallish portions; this is quite rich)</em>