R&R Cultivation's Cream of Mushroom Soup

This recipe is courtesy of our friend Olivia over at IG: @liv_3kurtz

Add a special touch to your festivities this year with R&R Cultivation's Cream of Mushroom Soup! This is a delicious way to enjoy our gourmet maitake and shiitake mushrooms. Skip the canned soup this year and try this delicious, homemade delight!

Ingredients

Makes 2.5 quarts 

• 1# shiitake mushrooms 
• 1# maitake mushrooms 
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter 
• 4 tbsp. olive oil, divided 
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves
• Thyme, 10 sprigs fresh or 1 tbsp. dried
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tbsp. rice flour (or all-purpose flour)
• 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth 
• 1/2 cup soft tofu
• 1 tbsp. fish sauce
• 2 1/2 tsp. salt
• Cracked black pepper to taste
• Olive oil, chili flakes, parsley and thyme for garnish (optional) 

Steps

1. Prep all of your ingredients before you start cooking to ensure a seamless process: 
1. Gently tear apart the maitake mushrooms into a variety of small, bite-size pieces. Remove stems from the shiitake mushrooms.
2. Chop your onion into a small dice and slice the garlic cloves.
3. Pull the leaves off of the thyme, chop the parsley.
4. Cube the tofu. 
2. Heat a large stock pot over medium high heat and a cast iron skillet over high heat.
3. Add the butter and 2 tbsp. olive oil to the pot and 2 tbsp. olive oil to your skillet. 
4. Add the onion and garlic to the pot and season with 1/2 tsp. salt and saute until softened, about 5 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, cook your maitake on high heat in the skillet. Leave them undisturbed for a few minutes until they’re charred to your liking, around 10-12 minutes. Set aside.
6. Once your onions and garlic have softened, add the thyme, parsley and bay leaf. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes until they bloom and become fragrant. 
7. Add all of the shiitake mushrooms, they can be left whole, and sauté for 5 minutes. Stir in the nutritional yeast and flour and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
8. Deglaze your pot with the white wine and let it reduce by half.
9. Pour in your broth, stirring up all of the browned bits at the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.
10. Let the soup come to a boil. Add your tofu and lower the heat to low and simmer with a lid left ajar for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom.
11. With an immersion blender (or in batches very carefully in a blender) blend the soup until completely smooth.
12. Add your seared maitake mushroom pieces to the blended soup mixture, stir and simmer for a few more minutes. Before serving add your fish sauce and give it a final stir. 
13. Top each portion of soup with the optional garnishes of thyme, parsley, chili flakes and a drizzle of good quality olive oil. Enjoy!