Garlic Parsley Soup with Cripsy Chanterelles

Last week I had the opportunity to do a live cooking segment on KTEH-PBS. It was part of a live special, KTEH Cooks with Garlic, that was in conjunction with a fund drive.PBS is the place where most of us were first introduced to TV Chefs and on air cooking demos. Julia, Jacques, Martin, Rick and Emeril all got their start on PBS. Before the Food Network and even before cable, PBS was beamed into our homes with images of slow cooked meats, old world appetizers, soups, salads and decadent desserts.My experience while working with the staff at PBS was nothing short of amazing. The folks who work there are all considerate, humble and professional. But the one thing that really blew me away was the amount of people who give their time to help run the individual stations and raise the operating dollars. I guess I never realized the role that volunteers play in keeping public television on the air.With no blazing beer ads, baby’s floating on toilette paper clouds, and people jumping up and down proclaiming their love for a car, PBS is truly a commercial free non-profit network. So if you have some spare time or money I encourage you to support your local affiliate.I used to cringe when I saw a fund drive, but now I know that 75 percent of the staff are volunteers and I have new found awe for the maverick of TV. So let’s all pitch in the help keep great programming on air. The alternative is another reality show!? Bah!Below is the recipe for the soup I made during the KTEH Fund Drive. It’s a delicious winter soup. The earthy mushrooms and sprightly parsley make for a good combo.A toast to the holidays!Chef Stephen, Hands On Gourmet

Garlic Parsley Soup with Crispy Chanterelles
Serves 4-6 people

Ingredients
For the Soup Base
1 medium yellow onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, rough chopped
½ cup leeks, cleaned and diced
2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock
1 parsnip, peeled and large diced
1 russet potato, peeled and large diced
1 bunch parsley, washed and chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Fresh nutmeg, pinch
Heavy cream to finish

For the Mushrooms
1 pound chanterelles, cleaned and sliced
½ pound hedge hog mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
1 teaspoon thyme, chopped

Special Equipment
Blender
Large heavy bottom stock pot
12 inch heavy bottom sauté pan

Instructions

Soup Base
Add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil to a large pot and place on a medium low burner. Add the onions and leeks and cook until the vegetables become soft (roughly 10 minutes). Add the garlic and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add the stock, parsnips and potatoes. Turn up the heat to medium high and bring to a simmer, a smile! Cook until the potatoes are al dente. With a slotted spoon remove the vegetables from the stock and put in blender. Put ¾ of the cooking liquid in with the vegetables. Add the parsley, put the top on and blend. Blend for a 30 seconds to one minute. Reserve ¼ of the soup and add to the blender to desired thickness. Into the remaining liquid, add lemon nutmeg, cream, salt and pepper.

The Mushrooms
Place a sauté pan on a medium high burner. Let the pan get super hot. Add 3 tablespoon of vegetable oil. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the shallots, mushrooms and thyme. Let it sit in pan for a few seconds before you stir. This allows it to get nice and crispy. Turn the pan a few times and take off the heat.

To Serve
Place the mushrooms in the center of a bowl and ladle soup around mushrooms. Serve with fresh herbs, crème Fraiche and grilled olive oil bread.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 12:37 pm and is filed under Food Experiences, Soups & Salads , mushrooms, soup, soup base, soup recipe, winter soup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.