Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup

With the cooler weather here in Chicago I'm making wild rice and mushroom soup. If you were looking for my plain mushroom soup recipe you can find it here. This recipe has a little more heft, in that the rice adds not only flavor but makes it more filling. 

Julian's Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup

Excellent with a side salad and
 a loaf of warm French bread

Rice: While you can use all wild rice in the recipe, I prefer the RiceSelect, Royal Blend (below), which is actually a combination of texmati, white, brown, wild and red rice. I find using all wild rice provides a more rough texture, but use it if you prefer or already have that on your shelf. So long as you are using any standard rice (i.e., not a quick cooking, processed, instant or flavored rice) the recipe will yield excellent results. 

Mushrooms: White mushrooms can be substituted for the cremini (also called Baby Bella) mushrooms in this recipe, as can many other types of mushrooms. Today I'm using a couple small packages of "gourmet chef's sampler' mushrooms which include cremini, shiitake and oyster mushrooms along with a package of standard white button mushrooms. These white mushrooms are simply the immature version of the more brown and flavorful cremini. The cremini will eventually mature into the full sized portobello mushroom so if you have that, feel free to chop it into bite sized pieces and use it as well. But any good combination of mushrooms (in my case mostly left over from other recipes) will make an excellent soup. My only advice would be to avoid using only the white button mushrooms as they will not produce as nice a flavor on their own. Slice or chop all mushrooms into bite sized pieces or smaller. The dried shiitake mushrooms in the recipe add depth of flavor, so do use them. A spice grinder does the best job of processing these into a fine grind, but if you don't have one, a blender or good food processor will likely grind them fine enough. 

Today's Mushroom Selection

Ingredients

1/4 ounce (about 4-5) dried shiitake mushrooms

4 1/4 cups water

1 tablespoon dried thyme

     or 1 spring of fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1 garlic clove, peeled, plus 4 cloves, minced

Pinch salt and pepper

1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup Royal Blend rice or standard wild rice

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 pound cremini (Baby Bella) mushrooms

     bottom of stem ends trimmed and sliced about 1/4-inch thick

1 onion, chopped fine

1 teaspoon tomato paste

2/3 cup white wine or dry sherry

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup heavy cream

Chopped parsley or chives to garnish

Instructions

Grind shiitake mushrooms in spice grinder or blender until finely ground (you should have about 3 tablespoons).

Bring 4 cups water, thyme, bay leaf, garlic clove, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and baking soda to boil in medium saucepan over high heat. Add rice and return to boil. Cover saucepan and cook at a low boil until tender, about 25 to 50 minutes depending on the type of rice you used. (Taste for doneness.) Strain rice through fine-mesh strainer set in 4-cup liquid measuring cup; discard thyme, bay leaf, and garlic. Add enough water to reserved cooking liquid to measure 3 cups.

Melt butter in a medium sized Dutch oven over high heat. Add cremini mushrooms, onion, minced garlic, tomato paste, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are browned and dark fond develops on bottom of pot, about 15 minutes. Add wine/sherry, scraping up any browned bits, and cook until reduced and pot is almost dry, about 2 minutes. Add ground shiitake mushrooms, reserved rice cooking liquid, chicken/vegetable broth, and soy sauce and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until onion and mushrooms are tender, about 10-20 minutes.

Whisk cornstarch and remaining 1/4 cup water in small bowl. Stir cornstarch slurry into soup, return to simmer, and cook until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove pot from heat and stir in cooked rice and cream. Cover and let stand for 10-20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve with a sprinkle of chopped parsley or chives to garnish.