Cream of Mushroom Soup

 When I say to you that I have mushrooms growing in my house, I am neither exaggerating nor joking. I legitimately have enough of a leakage problem that some rather ambitious agaricus bisporus have sprouted up near my balcony door.

I am horrified by this. HORRIFIED. What does it say about someone to have mushrooms growing INSIDE their home? Please don’t judge me. I keep a very clean home, really. I know you must have visions now of me living like someone out of Hoarders, just pleading with the counsellors to let me keep just my favourite 27 cats, but it isn’t like that.

I am now waiting for my homebuilder to come and deal with this under the warranty, but in the meantime, being someone who doesn’t let a little fungi get her down, I decided to make a beautiful wild mushroom soup.

(NB: This soup was not crafted from the very mushrooms invading my home. Do not eat wild mushrooms, ever. Especially ones hearty enough to take root in a cement floor. Unless you enjoy visits to the emergency room with potentially lethal consequences.)

Start with some chopped mushrooms, I used cremini. One package of them should be fine. In a big pot, add some finely chopped leeks and sauté in butter until soft. Add a few cloves of sliced garlic and let that get soft. Then deglaze your pan with about a cup of sherry and reduce by half.

Now add your chopped mushrooms, some fresh thyme with the leaves picked, and enough chicken stock to cover the mushrooms. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 20 minutes, until everything is soft.

Puree the mixture with your hand held blender, and then add a cup of cream. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring up just to the boil again and serve nice and hot. Preferably in a home without poisonous spores filling the air.