Cream of Mushroom Soup

I want to do a really quick post today, because I'm trying to get a lot of prep done before Sunday/Christmas. We go to my husbands parents house for actual Christmas, so we are doing a "friends-mas" on Sunday. I meant to post this around Thanksgiving, but as I said in a previous post, I didn't have enough time, pictures, or left overs (which is kind of a good thing!).

This is loosely adapted from The Joy of Cooking. I use it for green bean casserole, so I will have that recipe after Sunday, or Tuesday. Not sure exactly when, but later in the week.

Cream of Mushroom soup

Ingredients

• Olive oil to coat the pan, generously
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 white or yellow onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 10 oz. baby bella mushrooms (or whatever mushrooms you prefer-white button are perfectly acceptable if that's what you like), chopped
• ½ lb. carrots, chopped
• 10 oz. rutabaga, chopped
• Note: you can use any root vegetables you prefer for this. If you would rather use some type of squash, or the milder and more common onion/celery/carrot trinity that also will work really well. This is what I used, because it's what I had on hand.
• 3 cups chicken/vegetable stock
• ¼ cup white wine, or liquor of you preference, to de-glaze the pan
• 5-6 tbsp. dried parsley
• ½ lb. silken tofu
• salt & pepper

Method

1. Start off by slowly sauteing onion, garlic, carrots, and rutabaga in oil and butter over medium/medium-low heat. Salt and pepper to season. Stirring often, cook until onions are clear, rutabaga and carrots are soft. Add parsley.
2. Add chopped mushrooms and salt and pepper generously to draw the liquid out. cook until mushrooms have given up most of their water, and cooked down considerably.
3. Add white wine, and de-glaze the pan stirring to get browned bits off the bottom. 
1. Note: I did not have any white wine on hand, and wound up using bourbon. It became very fragrant and nutty, but also made it darker. The taste was still wonderful, but the wine will be milder and lighter in color.
4. Add chicken/vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Cook for 5 or 10 minutes, just so everything marries and becomes a little more tender. Take off heat
5. Working in batches (or using an immersion blender), puree soup in a blender. Add silken tofu in a batch and return pureed soup to the pan. It is not necessary to cook anymore at this point, but I usually do just to make sure it doesn't seize or congeal. If you use silken tofu, it should do neither, but sometimes with extra soft it can, and you'll need to quickly blend it again.

That's it! Enjoy!