Creamy Mushroom Soup

A mushroom lovers soup. As a first course, the servings can be smaller since this soup, with its delicious combination of tastes, is both rich and full-bodied.

Ingredients

Roux:

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

Soup:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup shallots, minced

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

1 1/2 pounds Portobello mushrooms, quartered and sliced

1/3 cup dry sherry

1/4 cup GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

4 cups canned chicken broth

1/2 cup half and half

1/4 cup heavy cream

Honey Tips

How Honey Is Created

Honey is created when bees mix plant nectar, a sweet substance secreted by flowers, with their own bee enzymes.

Directions

Roux:
Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add flour and whisk over a medium heat about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Soup:
In a large heavy saucepan heat butter and oil. Add shallots and saute about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sliced mushrooms. Cook about 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Add sherry. Cook until most of sherry has dissolved. Add honey , thyme, salt and pepper. Saute 10 minutes. Add broth, half and half and cream. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Remove from heat.
Pour soup into a blender and process until mushrooms are chopped into small pieces. Do this in two batches since all the soup will not fit into blender at once.
Return soup to pot and heat. Slowly add the cool roux and stir over medium heat until soup has thickened.
Serves: 4-6