Oyster Mushroom Chowder with Saffron

The portions this makes are fairly small ones, as this soup is both rich and fancy enough to be part of a special meal. You could lighten it a bit, I suppose, by cutting back on the butter and using 2% milk but it was so good as it was.

I don't know that oyster mushrooms taste like oysters, particularly, but in a soup like this there is some resemblance of texture. The soup was a sweet and succulent as any seafood version of chowder I have had, but if you use vegetable stock it could be vegetarian.

And now another year is coming to an end... see you next year, and let's hope it's a better one all around!

4 servings
45 minutes prep time

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/8 teaspoon saffron
1 medium carrot
2 medium potatoes
125 grams (1/4 pound) oyster mushrooms
125 grams (1/4 pound button mushrooms
1 clove of garlic
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon rubbed thyme
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 cups unsalted chicken or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon corn starch or arrowroot

Measure the milk and rub the saffron between your fingers, breaking it up into it. Set it aside to soak.

Peel and grate or very finely dice the carrot. Peel and trim the potatoes, and cut them into small dice. Trim and chop both the mushrooms. Peel and mince the garlic and put it in a small bowl with the salt, pepper, and thyme.

Heat the butter in a heavy bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Add the potatoes and carrot when melted, and cook slowly for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the potatoes are showing slight signs of browning. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, for another 5 minutes. Add the garlic and seasoning and mix in and cook for another minute.

Mix the cornstarch into the (cold) chicken stock well and add it to the soup pot. Mix  it well into the vegetables and let the soup simmer for 10 minutes until the potatoes are cooked. Stir occasionally.

Add the milk and saffron, and let the soup sit for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve the soup when it is steaming hot, but do not let it boil once the milk has been added.




Last year at this time I made Stewed Chicken with Chorizo, Beans, & Leeks.

Posted in: Ontario Food