In the Kitchen: Mushroom Veloute

You know that line in "You've Got Mail" about the fall?  "Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address."  That is exactly how I feel about fall with the cool spell we got last week.  I want to smell that newly sharpened pencil bouquet, eat pumpkin flavored food, and wear sweaters around a bonfire.  Except it's not quite cold out.

I want soup all the time no matter what the temperature.  But soup in the fall is extra comforting.  And with all this back-to-school nostalgia it's got me thinking about the fall, yet the thermometer still read 90 yesterday.  All of this is to say, I have the perfect soup for this weather: mushroom veloute. so here is a soup that tastes like fall, but has a summer weight to it. 

Mushroom Veloute
(recipes combined from Food and Wine and James Peterson via Food.com)

2 Tbsp butter
2 lbs mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup sherry or white wine
1 qt vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup cream (or anything from milk if you want to go low fat to crème fraîche if you are really indulging)
salt and pepper

On medium to medium-high heat melt butter in pot.  Add mushrooms once hot.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Saute´ until they are browned and the liquid mostly evaporated.  Remove about a cup from the pot and save for later.

Add onions and garlic.  Stir occasionally until onion is cooked, 5-10 minutes.  Add sherry or wine.  Stir 2-3 minutes as pan deglazes and alcohol burns off.

Add broth and once it starts to boil simmer for a few minutes, maybe around 5 depending how hungry and impatient you are.  I also end up adding about a tsp more salt and pepper, but I tend to add more salt than is probably healthy.

Pureé with immersion blender or by transferring small batches to a food processor or blender.  Always be very careful when blending hot things as steam needs to escape.

Stir cream into blended soup and add mushrooms reserved in the first step for serving.