Mushroom Soup

Today I made fresh, homemade mushroom soup. 

The first thing I did was get a large sauce pan and melt half a stick of butter.  Then I added a large diced yellow onion and some chopped garlic. I cooked them on medium until tender (about 15 minutes).  Then I added 1 pound of diced, fresh mushrooms and an 8 oz. can of canned mushrooms along with their liquid and cooked them until tender as well.

After the  mushrooms, onions and garlic were tender, I added about 3 tablespoons of cornstarch to the soup to thicken it up slightly (you can use flour if you prefer a thicker soup but cornstarch does a decent job without all the carbs).

After all the cornstarch was mixed in, I added 2 1/2 cups of broth. I used vegetable but you can use chicken or any other kind if you want.

After adding the broth, I added 2/3 cup of half and half. I used half and half because it's healthier than heavy cream (lower in fat) and lower in carbs than milk but, of course, cream works as well if you prefer.

When the half and half was in the soup, I let it come to a rolling boil, stirring occasionally.  Then I brought it down to low and let it simmer.  Be sure to taste it occasionally and add salt and pepper as needed.  I added a few dashes but found that I really didn't need much.

While the soup simmered, I cooked a couple strips of vegetarian bacon.  Feel free to use the real thing if you are a meat eater.  :) 

Mmmm... buttery!

When the bacon's done and cooled a bit, break it into crumbles.  Mix your soup well (the butter may have risen to the top) and serve with a dollop of sour cream, crumbled bacon and some of the warm Parmesan crisps that I wrote about in an earlier post.

Enjoy! :)