Cream of shiitake mushroom soup
4 servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | quart | Milk; whole, low-fat or skim | 
| 1 | small | Onion; peeled and stuck with | 
| 2 | Cloves | |
| :Tie in cheesecloth, | ||
| 6 | Fresh parsley stems, | |
| 4 | tablespoons | Rice flour (or barley or oat flour) | 
| 6 | tablespoons | Heavy cream | 
| 2 | tablespoons | Madeira | 
| 6 | Whole peppercorns (or more) | |
| 1 | pinch | Salt | 
| ½ | teaspoon | Dried leaf thyme | 
| ½ | Bay leaf | |
| 4 | tablespoons | Cold milk (about) | 
| 8 | ounces | Shiitake mushrooms | 
| Reserved mushroom slices | ||
Directions
BOUQUET GARNI
SOUP, CON'T
OPTIONAL
This rich, earthy soup has but 100 calories per serving if made with non-fat milk.
PLACE THE MILK, ONION, peppercorns, salt and bouquet garni in a saucepan and bring slowly to a boil. Form a smooth paste of the rice flour and the cold milk. Put into the just-boiling milk and stir briskly until there are no lumps. Simmer over very low heat for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cut off the tough ends of the mushroom stems. 
Reserve a few mushroom slices for garnish and chop the remaining mushrooms coarsely, then place in a food processor with a steel blade and chop as finely as possible. Strain the milk mixture through a fine sieve back into the saucepan; add the chopped mushrooms and continue simmering 5 minutes. Add the cream and Madeira, if you wish, and serve in hot bowls, garnished with a slice of mushroom. 
PETER KUMP - PRODIGY GUEST CHEFS COOKBOOK