Mushrooms are one of my favorite vegetables. Should we even call them vegetables? I mean they are fungi……. Anyway, I love them.
Where my family is from in western Kenya, they are delicacy and we actually harvest them when they are in season and preserve them by drying them out in the sun. Drying is one of the ways we use to preserve food in my community.
One way I like to have my mushrooms is as a soup and for added texture and intense flavor, I like to use both fresh and dry mushroom. I use a mix of cremini (brown) mushroom which I am convinced have more flavor than plain white button mushrooms and dry mushroom which are actually wild mushrooms.
Serves 4
1 punnet cremini mushroom (you can also use button mushroom)
1 cup rehydrated mushroom
1/2 cup mala or sour cream ( you can also use cooking cream)
2 cups chicken stock
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tbs fresh thyme
1 medium white onion finely chopped
4 tbs cooking oil
Salt and pepper for seasoning
This recipe requires a bit of time owing to rehydrating the mushroom that takes a few hours.
The first thing is to place your dried mushrooms into a bowl and pour boiling water to submerge them completely. After an hour or so gently scrub your mushroom between the fingertips of your thumb and forefinger (this is to loosen up the dirt on the mushrooms. Remember these are wild mushroom that were harvested and immediately dried)
After scrubbing them, let them rest in the water for a few minutes so that the dirt settles at the bottom of the bowl, then use a slotted spoon to take out the mushroom and rinse them in cold water. Repeat this process at least twice to ensure the mushrooms are properly rehydrated and that they are clean.
Tedious, I know, but well worth it.
In a pan heat up some oil and add your onion and garlic. Cook on a low heat until soft and translucent then add the dry and fresh mushroom to the mix. Season with salt and pepper and thyme then add one cup of chicken stock and let it simmer on a low heat for about 20 minutes or until the stock has reduced by less than half.
Set the mushroom mix aside to cool. Once cooled, add it to a plunder and blend it untI’ll its almost smooth. At this point the mix may be rather heavy. Not to worry.
Pour your mushroom mix back into the pan. At this point you can decide how thick or thin you want your soup to be. Add the mala and half a cup of the remaining chicken stock. Warm it through and taste in case you need to add more seasoning.
Serve with a topping of croutons and some cooked fresh mushroom.