Cream of Mushroom Soup with homemade chicken stock

👨‍🍳 Method

For the homemade chicken stock ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 1
   Put the chicken, the onion, carrot, celery, parsley, bay leaves and peppercorns and the water in a pot and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam that rises during the first 15 minutes with a spoon.

   StovePot
2. 2
   Turn down and simmer gently 2.5–3 hours.

   Stove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
3. 3
   Strain the stock.

   Colander

For the Fried onion

1. 4
   Heat the butter and oil in a pot over medium heat.

   StovePot
2. 5
   Add the onion and fry for 8–10 minutes, stirring, until the onion is soft and deep golden.

   Stove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 6
   Add the garlic and fry about 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.

   Stove

   💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.

To assemble

1. 7
   Add the vegetables and fry 8 minutes, stirring, until it is golden.

   Stove

   💡Whatever is fried before the liquids browns at the edges, and its flavor concentrates.
2. 8
   Sprinkle in the flour and stir for a minute.

   Stove
3. 9
   Gradually pour in, whisking, the stock and thyme and bring to a boil.

   Stove
4. 10
   Turn down the heat and simmer 15 minutes, until the vegetables is completely tender.

   Stove
5. 11
   Partly blend with an immersion blender, leaving some chunks.

   Stick blender
6. 12
   Add the cream, nutmeg and white pepper, season with salt and heat another 5 minutes.

   Stove

   💡The cream or cheese goes in after blending, over low heat: a hard boil after adding them can make the soup separate.