Recipe Mushroom and Walnut Soup

[Morning Glory]

This recipe is based on a ‘remembered soup' mentioned by @Ken Natton in another thread (see here). Of course, I have no idea whether my creation resembles the original but it is a very good soup!

The flavour of mushrooms is helped by a splash of alcohol and I used brandy. But you could use sherry which also works well with mushrooms. Using dried ceps really intensifies the earthy woody mushroom taste.

This is a soup which you can adjust to your taste. You could add more walnuts, more garlic and/or more shallots. On reflection, I think that I should perhaps have used more walnuts as the nut flavour is quite subtle. I also think it would have been a good idea to add some walnut oil to the butter when cooking the mushrooms.

Photographed in natural light

Ingredients (makes enough for 2 x 250ml soup bowls).
200g chestnut mushrooms
10g dried ceps
35g shallots (1 banana shallot)
30g butter
3 medium sized cloves of garlic
3 tbsp brandy (optional)
25g walnut halves
200ml water
100ml whipping cream or double cream
100ml semi-skimmed milk
Salt to taste
White pepper
Fresh lemon juice
Walnut oil to drizzle
A few thyme leaves to sprinkle (optional)

Method

1. Place the ceps in a small bowl and pour in enough boiling water to just cover them. Leave them to soak a minimum of 30 mins.
2. Meanwhile, finely chop the shallot, melt the butter in a non-stick pan and cook the shallot gently until softened and translucent.
3. Add the garlic (crushed through a garlic crusher or finely chopped) and cook for a few more minutes.
4. Wipe the mushrooms clean (do not wash) and chop roughly. Add the mushrooms to the pan, mixing them into the shallot/garlic. Add the brandy if using and turn up the heat for minute to ‘burn off’ the raw alcohol taste.
5. Turn the heat low and put a lid or foil over the pan. Allow the mushrooms to cook gently until tender and reduced (approx. 15 mins). Add a splash of water if the pan becomes dry.
6. Drain the ceps reserving the soaking water.
7. Add the ceps to the mushrooms and then add the soaking water. It is best to pour this through a small sieve as there are sometimes tiny gritty particles from the ceps. I use a mesh tea strainer.
8. Turn up the heat until the mixture is simmering and then add 200ml of boiling water. Let the mixture simmer gently for 10 minutes whilst you prepare the walnuts.
9. Place the walnut halves flat side down in a dry frying pan and toast until they start to brown. Tip the walnuts into a spice grinder (or coffee mill) and grind to a fine powder.
10. Add the ground walnuts to the mushroom mixture and stir. Then stir in the cream. At this point, use your judgement to decide how much milk to add. You may not need it all.
11. Tip the contents into a liquidiser or as I did, use a stick blender.
12. Process the soup until smooth and creamy. Reheat the soup and taste! Add salt as required. I found I needed quite a lot of salt but that may be me! Now add a little white pepper and stir through. Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, to taste.
13. Serve with walnut oil drizzled over and sprinkled with thyme leaves

 

[Ken Natton]

Wow, Morning Glory. And I mean wow! And I'm not just talking about the soup - the photography is impressive too. Reading your entry on one of the new member introductions today, it would seem you might have some knowledge in that area, but nevertheless, great job!

Seriously, I'm not sure how important it is whether or not it is exactly the soup I recalled. This soup would seem to stand up on its own merit. Obviously I have not tried it, but from what you have said, there might be a case for a version that toned down the mushroom a little and toned up the walnut a little. But equally, there might well be a case to say that the version that is essentially a robust mushroom soup with walnut simply adding another dimension to it is a fine dish in its own right.

And really, the main gratitude I owe you is that, I came into the conversation about this soup without the first idea of how to go about trying to create it. Now I am full of ideas of various things I want to try. I'll warn you, I might be coming back to you on the Venison and Vegetable soup, but for now, I've got enough to keep me busy...

 

[Morning Glory]

Wow, Morning Glory. And I mean wow! And I'm not just talking about the soup - the photography is impressive too. Reading your entry on one of the new member introductions today, it would seem you might have some knowledge in that area, but nevertheless, great job!

Seriously, I'm not sure how important it is whether or not it is exactly the soup I recalled. This soup would seem to stand up on its own merit. Obviously I have not tried it, but from what you have said, there might be a case for a version that toned down the mushroom a little and toned up the walnut a little. But equally, there might well be a case to say that the version that is essentially a robust mushroom soup with walnut simply adding another dimension to it is a fine dish in its own right.

And really, the main gratitude I owe you is that, I came into the conversation about this soup without the first idea of how to go about trying to create it. Now I am full of ideas of various things I want to try. I'll warn you, I might be coming back to you on the Venison and Vegetable soup, but for now, I've got enough to keep me busy...

Oh thanks! I love taking food photos - its easy to get good results these days with digital cameras (with phone cameras or not). I keep meaning to post some tips.

But more important. I would REALLY like you to try out this recipe if you can. I love to get feedback and I'm fascinated to know how it might (distantly) relate to your memory of the Tasmanian soup. The instructions are quite detailed and perhaps make it sound fussy. But in reality its an easy thing to make.

I hope you give it a go.

 

[Morning Glory]

I might be coming back to you on the Venison and Vegetable soup

Bring it on!

 

[Ken Natton]

One of the things that is immediately striking in your recipe is that you haven't used either chicken or vegetable stock. And when you say that you don't like creamy soups, do you think a version of this soup without the cream might stand up as a dish worth having? I guarantee you that I will be having a go at this soup and very soon, but I have to suffer doubts about whether I can get it as good as it looks in those photos, and I am certain that I won't be able to photograph it so well. But I owe you the attempt at least.

 

[Ken Natton]

You have a lot to answer for Morning Glory. Despite the fact that it is Sunday, I have work related things I was supposed to be getting on with, and I haven’t got nearly as far as I should have done because I’ve been out buying a spice grinder and sourcing ingredients for mushroom and walnut soup. You see, the idea of that soup has been kicking around my mind for a lot of years. And then I had the bright idea of joining a cooking forum so that I could kick it around some more. What you have done is cooked it, photographed it, sent me the recipe and then said, “Right, get on with it.”

So I have cooked it, and I have to be honest, it is not an unqualified success. However, there are some reasons for that, and I have some thoughts about how to change it next time. Actually, there are several points worth discussing. First, here’s the photo:

My wife’s view was that it was too rich. “Butter, oil, cream” she said with a shrug of her shoulders and a slightly disdainful look. It is possible that I put too much cream in. Against my expectations, the teenagers agreed to try it, but the younger was unequivocal, he didn’t like it. The older didn’t finish his – and it was small portions, I divided it between the four of us. But he tried to search for a slightly more diplomatic way of saying that he wasn’t mad keen on it. I tried to prod them for thoughts about whether or not they got the walnut flavour. My wife and the older teenager both said that yes they did get the sense of nut. Of course, as the photograph shows, I did put some crumbled walnut in and I don’t think I will do that next time.

I mean, there is no doubt, I liked it. You were preaching to the converted with the idea of white pepper in this kind of thing and what I made had a peppery background, that actually, is what made it. But I couldn’t say that it was particularly mushroom-y or walnut-y.

But there is the first critical point. I went to Tesco, and ironically enough, after a bit of a struggle, I found the fennel seeds! But I didn’t find dried ceps. I did ask, and a young man took me initially to the section with canned vegetables. It was apparent that everything there was in cans not jars, so I told him that I had seen a photograph and they were in jars. So then he took me to a much more promising section where there were all kind of interesting unusual Italian ingredients. But neither of us could find ceps. He disappeared to go and ask a colleague, but when he came back he said that he couldn’t find anyone ‘out the back’. So, since I had found all the rest of the ingredients, and you had said that that your version was perhaps a bit bold on the mushroom flavour, I decided I would go ahead and try it without the ceps. So I used chestnut mushrooms as you suggested, but that is all.

Also, I made a decision that, on this first occasion, I wasn’t going to use any alcohol. Again, understand, I have no objection per se to alcohol. But I am a bit resistant to putting things in, just because the recipe says so, if I don’t understand what it adds. So I decided that this first time I would do it without, fully intending to try it with the alcohol on a future occasion to see if I could get it. And interestingly, during that first 15 minutes simmer of shallots, garlic and mushrooms, with just a splash of water to replace the splash of alcohol, the smells that came of it were quite wonderful, and I absolutely did get what an alcohol background would add to that smell. So I think I can get why you perceive the alcohol to support the mushroom flavour.

So, I think, next time, with ceps – I have to be able to get them somewhere – with alcohol, and, surprising as it maybe, no walnuts at all. Less cream, generally less rich, more fluid. See if I can get a mushroom soup that my family enjoy. Then revisit the idea of walnut flavour. I am not in any doubt that your fundamental technique is right. Toast the walnuts then blitz them in the spice grinder. And, of course, the powdered walnuts are acting like flour as a thickening agent in the soup. But I am not sure about the walnut oil.

Ultimately, it is clear, if I had this soup twenty years ago, I might well have enjoyed it, but I don’t think I would still be remembering it twenty years later. That is no reflection whatever on you Morning Glory. But, this was the first attempt. And my optimism that I may yet get somewhere much closer to that remembered soup is now greater than it was before I started this conversation.

 

[Morning Glory]

One of the things that is immediately striking in your recipe is that you haven't used either chicken or vegetable stock. And when you say that you don't like creamy soups, do you think a version of this soup without the cream might stand up as a dish worth having? I guarantee you that I will be having a go at this soup and very soon, but I have to suffer doubts about whether I can get it as good as it looks in those photos, and I am certain that I won't be able to photograph it so well. But I owe you the attempt at least.

I think it would work without the cream - just semi skimmed milk would be ok. Or for vegan version substitute better with veg oil and use almond milk instead of milk. I purposely wanted to make it without using stock to maximise the mushroom and walnut flavour. I had some stock to hand in case I needed it but my tastings satisfied me that it wasn't required..

But - I don't know how I forgot this I added a squeeze of fresh lemon juice at the very end. Its needed to 'freshen up' the taste and cut through the richness. I'll amend the recipe!

 

[Morning Glory]

You have a lot to answer for Morning Glory. Despite the fact that it is Sunday, I have work related things I was supposed to be getting on with, and I haven’t got nearly as far as I should have done because I’ve been out buying a spice grinder and sourcing ingredients for mushroom and walnut soup. You see, the idea of that soup has been kicking around my mind for a lot of years. And then I had the bright idea of joining a cooking forum so that I could kick it around some more. What you have done is cooked it, photographed it, sent me the recipe and then said, “Right, get on with it.”

So I have cooked it, and I have to be honest, it is not an unqualified success. However, there are some reasons for that, and I have some thoughts about how to change it next time. Actually, there are several points worth discussing. First, here’s the photo:

View attachment 5643

My wife’s view was that it was too rich. “Butter, oil, cream” she said with a shrug of her shoulders and a slightly disdainful look. It is possible that I put too much cream in. Against my expectations, the teenagers agreed to try it, but the younger was unequivocal, he didn’t like it. The older didn’t finish his – and it was small portions, I divided it between the four of us. But he tried to search for a slightly more diplomatic way of saying that he wasn’t mad keen on it. I tried to prod them for thoughts about whether or not they got the walnut flavour. My wife and the older teenager both said that yes they did get the sense of nut. Of course, as the photograph shows, I did put some crumbled walnut in and I don’t think I will do that next time.

I mean, there is no doubt, I liked it. You were preaching to the converted with the idea of white pepper in this kind of thing and what I made had a peppery background, that actually, is what made it. But I couldn’t say that it was particularly mushroom-y or walnut-y.

But there is the first critical point. I went to Tesco, and ironically enough, after a bit of a struggle, I found the fennel seeds! But I didn’t find dried ceps. I did ask, and a young man took me initially to the section with canned vegetables. It was apparent that everything there was in cans not jars, so I told him that I had seen a photograph and they were in jars. So then he took me to a much more promising section where there were all kind of interesting unusual Italian ingredients. But neither of us could find ceps. He disappeared to go and ask a colleague, but when he came back he said that he couldn’t find anyone ‘out the back’. So, since I had found all the rest of the ingredients, and you had said that that your version was perhaps a bit bold on the mushroom flavour, I decided I would go ahead and try it without the ceps. So I used chestnut mushrooms as you suggested, but that is all.

Also, I made a decision that, on this first occasion, I wasn’t going to use any alcohol. Again, understand, I have no objection per se to alcohol. But I am a bit resistant to putting things in, just because the recipe says so, if I don’t understand what it adds. So I decided that this first time I would do it without, fully intending to try it with the alcohol on a future occasion to see if I could get it. And interestingly, during that first 15 minutes simmer of shallots, garlic and mushrooms, with just a splash of water to replace the splash of alcohol, the smells that came of it were quite wonderful, and I absolutely did get what an alcohol background would add to that smell. So I think I can get why you perceive the alcohol to support the mushroom flavour.

So, I think, next time, with ceps – I have to be able to get them somewhere – with alcohol, and, surprising as it maybe, no walnuts at all. Less cream, generally less rich, more fluid. See if I can get a mushroom soup that my family enjoy. Then revisit the idea of walnut flavour. I am not in any doubt that your fundamental technique is right. Toast the walnuts then blitz them in the spice grinder. And, of course, the powdered walnuts are acting like flour as a thickening agent in the soup. But I am not sure about the walnut oil.

Ultimately, it is clear, if I had this soup twenty years ago, I might well have enjoyed it, but I don’t think I would still be remembering it twenty years later. That is no reflection whatever on you Morning Glory. But, this was the first attempt. And my optimism that I may yet get somewhere much closer to that remembered soup is now greater than it was before I started this conversation.

Firstly, I'm totally impressed that you made this and so quick off the mark! I shop Tesco's on-line. They deliver it to you. No pain and no wasted time in the aisles. My thoughts:

Leaving out the ceps is a big 'leaving out'! They add a great depth of flavour that can't be got from chestnut mushrooms alone. The ceps I used were from Waitrose. But I agree it is a very rich soup. I would prefer it with just semi-skimmed milk or even a mix of water and semi-skimmed milk. To me, the alcohol is essential and I'd use sherry next time. You may be surprised by the difference. The butter could be replaced with veg, oil plus walnut oil. Or just walnut oil. That alone may be enough to provide the walnut taste. Did you buy walnut oil?

But I'm over the moon you tried it! And I may well try again with the above comments in mind. Regarding pleasing the family - my experience here is that its rare for everyone to like something equally! Especially with teenagers.

 

[Ken Natton]

But - I don't know how I forgot this I added a squeeze of fresh lemon juice at the very end. Its needed to 'freshen up' the taste and cut through the richness. I'll amend the recipe!

You didn't forget it, it's in your original recipe, and I put it in. I was never in any doubt about the value of the lemon juice.

 

[Morning Glory]

You didn't forget it, it's in your original recipe, and I put it in. I was never in any doubt about the value of the lemon juice.

No it wasn't. I edited the recipe afterwards! To edit BTW, just click the edit button at the bottom of your post. Its invaluable if you make mistakes!!!

 

[Ken Natton]

Did you buy walnut oil?.

Yes I did, and I did drizzle a little oil on the served portions - part of why my wife was so aware of the presence of oil. She was there when I chopped the shallot and added it to the pan, so that is how she knew about the butter. And seriously, as I am sure you gather, my wife's thoughts are dispassionate and honest because she knows that's what I want. As I have said, she is an excellent cook and very discerning. The effort to please her is no small discipline on my cooking. She is just a little bit obsessive about the healthy element. What is life if you can;t just sometimes indulge...

 

[Morning Glory]

I'm beginning to think leave out cream and milk altogether. The walnuts act as a creamy thickener.

 

[Ken Natton]

Right, I’ve been thinking about yesterday’s effort at the mushroom and walnut soup, and what I’ve been thinking about is the realities of the differences between what goes on in a professional kitchen and what it is reasonable to expect to achieve as a home cook. I mean, I do get it, chef has skills and abilities, not to mention knowledge that I don’t have and don’t expect to acquire. But it is not even that. In a professional kitchen they can take on processes that take far more time than any home cook can reasonably expect to tackle. I’m pretty sure that the soup I remember was not of the consistency and texture of that soup I made yesterday. Perfectly valid to have a soup of that texture, but I was thinking about how the delicate but distinct walnut flavour was probably achieved. I reckon Morning Glory is not far from it, it is about toasting then grinding the walnuts, but having then added them to fluid – maybe not the actual soup at this stage, perhaps they were then strained to make a thinner walnut flavoured stock and then reduced, and that process perhaps repeated several times. And probably starting with an awful lot more walnuts, so that you finish with a reasonable amount of stock – if that is the right word – with a distinctive walnut flavour. From there, making the actual soup still draws heavily on chef’s skills and palette, but starting with materials that have themselves gone through several processes to get them to that stage.

That is not to suggest that we were wasting our time with what we tried. Morning Glory was content that the soup she made was a ‘good soup’. I think I was too heavy handed with the cream and I am going to return to the idea of trying to make a good mushroom soup first. I may yet get to a soup in which I can find tones of both mushroom and walnut and one that takes little enough effort to make for me to sometimes spontaneously think about making it.

 

[Morning Glory]

You are thinking wisely. It is very possible that the walnuts were toasted, ground and added to liquid (stock perhaps) and then strained. I too, think that cream should be left out. Adding a swirl into the bowls would suffice. So - back to basics. Lets cook mushroom soup first. But please do try some dried mushrooms included @Ken Natton!

 

[Ken Natton]

I found dried porcini mushrooms! In Sainsbury’s in the middle of Bolton. I had to ask, and when I was shown where they were, they were about 12 inches from where the preserved lemons that I had to be shown only a week or two earlier had been. In fairness though, I was expecting the mushrooms to be in a jar, they were actually in a clear packet.


Anyway, I made mushroom soup yesterday, and it was lovely. No walnuts, no oil, no cream. The initial fry was done in a little butter but not much, and that clearly is the best thing to use with shallots and mushrooms. And I did use a dry sherry. The interesting thing is, when I blitzed it at the end (I remove it from the pan into a bowl to blitz it) I got a much thicker, stodgier result than I was expecting. I mean it was good and fine and smooth, but just far too thick to be soup. So I had a conflab with my wife about whether to use a little milk to thin it, but she said she would prefer it if I used stock. So I made a little vegetable stock and thinned it to a good consistency. The end result made four decent sized bowls of soup, and there was a very clear and very lovely flavour of mushroom. It was not at all too bold. I could get the sherry background, and it again had a gentle peppery background from white pepper. I thought it was a lovely bowl of soup, and I will definitely make it a couple more times before I ponder returning to the idea of adding walnut flavour. But next time I’ll add the stock earlier and hope to get to the right consistency when I blitz it. No photograph I’m afraid, I was a bit too wrapped up in the success of it and getting everyone to try it. The key thing, I think, is that it was a much darker colour than the first attempt, but that, of course, was to be expected.