3cupschicken broth(I use Pacific natural, 550 mg sodium per cup)
¼teaspoonblack pepper(or white pepper)
⅛teaspoondried thyme
½cupheavy cream(remove it from the fridge when you start cooking)
2tablespoonscornstarch(optional, but helps to thicken the soup)**
Instructions
Heat the butter in a large, heavy stockpot over medium-high heat. When the butter starts to foam, add the mushrooms, garlic, and salt. Cook, stirring often, for 5-7 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender and dark.
Add the chicken broth, black pepper, and thyme. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the soup, partially covered, for 10 minutes, to allow the flavors to meld.
Turn the heat off. Puree the soup using an immersion blender. Prior to blending the soup, you can reserve a few mushrooms to use for decoration, as shown in the photos.
Stir the heavy cream into the pureed soup. Taste and decide if you'd like to add more salt - this would depend on how salty your chicken broth is.
Turn the heat back on to medium and bring the soup to a low simmer. If you'd like to further thicken the soup, mix the cornstarch with two tablespoons of cold water until smooth and stir the slurry into the soup.
Continue heating the soup (but don't bring it to a boil - lower the heat if needed), stirring, until heated through and thickened, 1-2 minutes. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
*You can use 1 lb. of frozen mushrooms. I like these mixed mushrooms from Whole Foods. They will release quite a bit of liquid, more so than fresh mushrooms. But they are very flavorful, and you can use them frozen.**If you'd rather not use cornstarch, you can make a thicker and creamier soup by pureeing it completely in a stand blender rather than using an immersion blender, which isn't as efficient. There are two ways to puree a soup. For a very creamy texture, working in at least two batches, carefully transfer the hot soup to your stand blender. Blend each batch until completely smooth and transfer it to a bowl. When all batches are done, return the pureed soup to the pot and proceed with the recipe. You can see the results of this method in the photos on this page - very smooth and creamy.When using a stand blender, never fill your blender past the maximum fill line. It's best to fill it no more than half full. If the lid of your blender wasn't designed to allow steam to escape, you’ll need to remove the center piece and drape a clean towel on top of the lid. You can hold down the lid when blending to prevent it from being pushed off, but do so without actually placing your hand - or your face - over the hot steam.The second method is to use an immersion blender and blend the soup right inside the pot. I used this method when filming the video, and as you can see, the soup is not as creamy. However, it's just as tasty, and using an immersion blender is easier.Which of these methods you choose is up to you. Both work and both yield great results, just different textures.