“French” Mushroom Soup
April is such a fickle month, isn’t it? I mean sheesh! A couple of weeks ago, temps were soaring into the 90’sF/30’sC, and this week we are back to cool and windy. I was all set to buy a pool for the kids to hang out in on the weekends, and now, we’re back to soup and jackets. I don’t mind the soup part (being a self professed soup junkie and all), but jackets? I want summer dangit! Since summer has taken another run for the hills, at least for now, I must console us with soups to warm the heart and soul. That’s the part I like! lol One of my best friends in the whole world, (and bratty girl) Lizzie shared her recipe for Drunken Mushroom Soup a few years ago. It is such a great soup….and of course has my main pre-req’s for most of the recipes prepared in this house…quick, easy, and out of this world delicious. All of Lizzie’s recipes are so elegant, and generally are light on the workload, but heavy on taste and heavy on ”wow” factor. This recipe is exactly that…quick, easy, elegant, and WOW! that’s good! Perfect for company or for everyday (you know I don’t save special foods for special occasions), this little bowl of goodness can be made ahead and simply reheated when needed. Which for me is right now. lol Since making this for the first time, I have gradually altered the ingredients and technique just a bit, which is why I’ve changed the name…I prepare this almost as if it were a French Onion Soup, with the addition of a couple of extras and a substitution or two for others.
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups onion, minced
1 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 pound (400 grams) mushrooms, slice some and chop the rest
salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
1 cup white wine
1/4 cup flour
3 cups beef broth
1 teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet or Maggi
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
6-8 slices baguette
6-8 slices Dutch Gouda
garlic powder, sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste
chopped parsley to garnish
Preparation:
Melt butter in a 3 quart soup pot (or similar).
Lightly brown garlic, then add onions, sugar, thyme and bay and reduce heat to a simmer.
Simmer this mixture about a half an hour, or until beginning to turn golden.
Add mushrooms and season with salt and pepper.
Up the heat a bit, and saute mushrooms with onion mixture about 5 minutes or so.
Add wine and stir around, and let reduce just a bit.
This should take about 3-5 minutes.
Add flour and whisk to combine.
Add remaining ingredients up to baguettes.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes, uncovered.
Meanwhile, prepare the baguettes.
Top each slice of bread with a slice of cheese, and season with garlic powder, salt and pepper.
Broil until bubbly, about 4-6 minutes.
Serve baguettes with soup.
Nice one! Whoever said that only onions deserve to be Frenchified?!
Ah, Maggi– the cornerstone of a good broth, heh heh 
It was very hot on Sunday here, Nikki, and today is cold – the weather is pretty crazy!
That soup would be a great dinner for me tonight.
Wow that looks great. Too bad it’s just starting to get warm here or I’d be making that soup tonight. I’m sure we’ll have another cold spell soon, and I’ll have to try and remember to make this.
ok, i got a deal for you. i’ll trade you a pic in the baseball pants for a bowl of this. wow that looks delicious.
A must try soup Nikki:D
Mark, that is totally the line I could have used while writing this post!! May I borrow it for the title?
And yes! Maggi is a must have—it’s one of those little powerhouses that make everything better…like Bovril, too. 
Patricia, it must be something in the air all this goof-ball weather! The soup is totally satisfying on a chilly day or evening.
Hi Hallie! I was thinking hot soup weather was over, too, but nope! lol Let me know if you do decide to try it!
Van, now that’s an offer I can’t refuse. I wonder how you ship soup? LOL
Valli, thank you! Lizzie’s recipes never dissapoint, that’s for sure…and even though I’ve made some changes, I’m pretty sure she’d approve.
I am not looking forward to summer (here they are miserably hot and humid) I am a winter kind of guy. Does that make me a “soupy” kind of guy too? Haha, your soup looks delicious!
Nikki–that looks so damn good! And the cheesy bread? mmmm, that is the icing on the cake!
I’ve been meaning to make both French Onion Soup and Mushroom Soup…This may be a perfect marriage of the two.
Mushrooms are one of my favorite foods and that mushroom soup sounds really good. The cheesy bread would be perfect with a mushroom soup.
looks great, and seriously that cheesy bread… perfection!
“Oh Nikki, you’re so fine, you make me wanna blow my mind, HEY NIKKI…HEY NIKKI”!
Where do you come up with this stuff? This soup is French onion and mushroom…briliant! This soup could be a dipping sauce with a hot roast beef sandwich too!
Ooooo you made it look so good. And cute soup bowl
Thanks! and LOL Ben, yep, you’re a soupy kinda guy.
It gets pretty hot and humid ’round these parts, too, but I prefer it to freezing my butt off (well, actually, if my butt would actually freeze off? That might not be such a bad thing. lol)
Elle, have you made Lizzie’s recipe before? It’s awesome the way she posted it, too.
Oh! And thank you! XOXO
Psychgrad, you hit the nail on the head–it’s the perfect marriage of the two.
Kevin, the cheesey bread was my nod to french onion soup…it would be good to actually put the bread and cheese into the bowl and broil it whole, too.
Thank you, Ashley!
Peter! Heeee! Now I’m going to be singing that song all afternoon. I don’t know if I can find my pom-poms though…hmmm…LOL And WHAT is that you say? Dip a hot beef into this soup? Oh. My. Gawd. WTH didn’t I think of that??? SO doing that next time. Seriously.
Thank you, RecipeGirl!
I actually screwed this up (used chicken broth instead of beef) still tasted great!
Used for entiretaining and was not afraid to serve it!
Hello guys!
Really I love to eat mushrooms because of hi-genic food to have and soups are awesome to drink because of energetic….