CREAM OF SHIITAKE MUSHROOM SOUP

Servings: 4
Ingredients:

1 qt Milk; whole, low-fat or skim
1 sm Onion; peeled and stuck with
2    Cloves
6    Whole peppercorns (or more)
1 pn Salt

——————————-BOUQUET GARNI——————————-
:Tie in cheesecloth,
6 Fresh parsley stems,
1/2 ts Dried leaf thyme
1/2 Bay leaf

——————————–SOUP, CON’T——————————–
4 tb Rice flour
-(or barley or oat flour)
4 tb Cold milk (about)
8 oz Shiitake mushrooms

———————————-OPTIONAL———————————-
6 tb Heavy cream
2 tb Madeira
Reserved mushroom slices

This rich, earthy soup has but 100 calories per serving if made with
non-fat milk.

PLACE THE MILK, ONION, peppercorns, salt and bouquet garni in a saucepan
and bring slowly to a boil. Form a smooth paste of the rice flour and the
cold milk. Put into the just-boiling milk and stir briskly until there are
no lumps. Simmer over very low heat for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cut off the
tough ends of the mushroom stems. Reserve a few mushroom slices for garnish
and chop the remaining mushrooms coarsely, then place in a food processor
with a steel blade and chop as finely as possible. Strain the milk mixture
through a fine sieve back into the saucepan; add the chopped mushrooms and
continue simmering 5 minutes. Add the cream and Madeira, if you wish, and
serve in hot bowls, garnished with a slice of mushroom.

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