Hearty Mushroom Soup

They say we eat with our eyes first.  Sometimes that is not a good thing.

Take this recipe, for example:  first, I roasted the mushrooms for a deep, rich flavor and color.  Then I added the tofu and vegetable broth and got….putty. Nothing more appetizing than a spoonful of thick, brownish sludge. People were lining up to try it.  Not.  Anytime you have to start with: “Don’t look at this, just taste.  What do you think of the flavor?” You know you are probably not creating a new family favorite.

It would have been easier giving a spoonful of castor oil to a toddler when I tried to use Tim as my test taster.

“Come on,” I wheedled, “ just try a tiny taste.  I’ll give you some candy if you just try it.”

Tim’s response:” I don’t like mushrooms”

Me: “You LOVE mushrooms!!!!”

Tim:” Not when they look like that.”

Determined not to be defeated by mere mushrooms, or a scardy cat afraid to try new things,  I covered them before roasting, puréed with tofu and water this time, and got….thick, brownish sludge.  Only lighter in color. And with less taste.  Sigh.

It was starting to feel like America’s Test  Kitchen here, only without the team of experts, and the great looking results.   I tried putting on a pair of glasses to see if it would make me look smarter, but turns out all it did was make me realize how much my soup looked like “The Blob”.  Run for your lives!!!  It’s coming for you!!!

As I was running out of test subjects ( I did have one who was brave enough to choke some down), I decided on one more change, well, two more changes.  I added mushroom broth, puréed the tofu and broth first and then pulsed in the mushroom mixture.  Success!!!

So whatever you do, no matter how tempted you are, DO NOT purée the whole mixture.  Or else get someone who has maybe just had their eyes dilated by the eye doctor and can’t see anything to try it, ‘cause pretty much no one else will want to.

Ingredients:

• 2 packages of white button mushrooms
• 1 large leek, white and light green parts only
•  1 head of garlic
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1  1/2 cups mushroom broth
• 1 cup silken tofu

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Clean mushrooms and leeks, dry, then slice into rough slices.  Separate the garlic cloves and remove the paper from them.
3. In a large bowl, toss the leeks and garlic with the olive oil, then add the mushrooms and toss (the mushrooms will suck up all the oil if you don’t do it this way.  Put on a sheet pan and roast for 25 – 30 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.
4. While the mushrooms are roasting, purée the tofu and mushroom broth until smooth and foamy.  Add the cooled mushroom mixture to your high speed blender and PULSE to the desired consistency.  DO NOT purée unless you want something icky looking. ( you can remove the garlic cloves from the mixture and purée with the tofu and broth or just cook the garlic separately from the mushrooms and leeks then purée with the broth if the idea of biting into a small piece of roasted garlic does not make you happy)
5. Add salt and pepper to taste, and reheat on the stove. ( hot things in a high speed blender with a top sealing in the heat is not a good thing if you don’t want to be cleaning off your ceiling)

Enjoy!