Creamy-Mushroom Soup

Creamy-Mushroom-Soup

Mushrooms are easy and fast to cook, healthy and absolutely tasty. My love for mushrooms is well known in my family. Mushrooms in salad, caramelized mushrooms, stuffed mushrooms, grilled mushrooms or mushroom soup, in any meal. is just lapped up by me. In mushroom soups my favorite are cream of mushroom soup and Coconutty mushroom soup having that sweet, sour and fragrance of lemon grass mingling with mushrooms. My version of creamy  mushroom soup is cooked in just ten minutes, has very low fat content, and is as yummy as it can get. With rich creamy texture of mushrooms, sweetness of mushrooms and milk balanced by salt and hint of pepper. I find it a perfectly balanced mushroom soup where mushroom dominated the flavor and basil adds that wonderful fragrance to the whole soup. This soup is rich in Vitamin B, D and in many other micro nutrients. Milk adds to the calcium, protein, Vitamin A and other micronutrients thus making the soup very healthy for all, specially fro pregnant ladies and growing children.

Nutritional Value of Cream- Mushrooms Made from 200 gm. Button Mushrooms/ Table Mushrooms and 500 ml. Low fat milk: (Approx)
Calories: 250
Proteins: 20.9-21..98gm.
Carbs: 25.7-25.8 gm.
Fat : 5.4-5.5gm (Taking low fat milk with 5 gm/500 ml fat content)
Fibers: 1.2 gm.
Sugar: 27.01gm.
Micro nutrients from Mushrooms: ( Source link given below)
B2: 0..3mg; Niacin equivalent: 3.7mg;  Biotin: 8.9mcg; Folate: 18mcg; Vitamin D: 10-15 gm in sunexposed mushrooms; Vitamin A; 21%( from milk)
Copper: 342 mcg; Selinium: 15.4 mcg; Phosphorous: 110mg; Potassium: 310 mg; Chromium:13.4 mg; Calcium 62%(from milk )

The values are not exact but approximate estimation, as taken from different source from internet. The nutritional value will change slightly with the type of mushrooms taken and type of low fat milk taken to make the soup.

Preparation Time: 15 min.

Cooking Time: 10 min

Servings: 500 ml. soup (Approx.)

Ingredients Required For Making Creamy-Mushroom Soup:

• 200 gm, Button Mushrooms.
• 500 ml Milk (I used low fat milk)
• 3-4 Fresh Basil Leafs
• 1/2Teaspoon White Pepper Powder
• 1/2Teaspoon Salt or to taste

Direction For Making Creamy-Mushroom Soup:

• Wash mushrooms under flowing water.

Washed and Wiped Button Mushrooms

• Chop Mushrooms to pieces.

Chopped Button Mushrooms

• Divide the chopped Mushrooms to 2 parts. Pulse one part of chopped Mushrooms to fine paste.
• Keep aside for further use. No water is required to pulse mushrooms.
• Pulse the rest half of the mushrooms to a near coarse paste without adding water.

Coarse paste of Mushrooms

• Boil milk in a thick bottom pan and when the milk comes to boil bring the heat to low, add the paste of mushrooms and cook with continuous stirring.
• After cooking for a minute or so add the coarse paste of mushrooms and again cook on low heat with continuous stirring for just one minute. This is sufficient time for the coarsely pulsed mushroom pieces to cook.

Fine and Coarse Mushroom paste cooking in Milk

• Shred basil leafs with hands and add to the milk mushroom mixture.
• Switch off the heat and add white pepper powder. In case white pepper powder is not available black pepper powder also can be used.
• Mix and add salt to taste and mix.
• Cover and let it stand for a minute or so for the flavor of pepper and basil to mingle with mushroom.
• Serve it piping hot. You can warm it up again before serving.

Creamy-Mushroom-Soup

Tips:

• As mushrooms start getting discolored if kept for long time after pulsing, pulse the mushrooms while the milk is kept for boiling so that the discoloration of mushrooms does not take place.
• Though white pepper powder can be replaced by black pepper powder, it will cause slight change in color of the soup.
• Do not overcook the soup as not only the nutrients but the delicate texture and flavor of mushrooms will be lost.

Suggested Variations:

• Portbello  and oyester mushrooms acn be taken but Portbello mushrooms will change the consistency as well as color of the soup.
• Any other variety of mushrooms can be taken. But the cooking time will change due to different degree of moisture and delicacy of the different type of mushrooms.
• For coarse grinding of mushrooms only caps of button mushrooms can be kept aside. All stalks and rest of the caps of mushrooms can be made to smooth paste.
• Basil can be replaced by celery / Parsley. I prefer basil over other herbs in any preparation of mushrooms.
• In the absence of frfesh herbs dried herbs can be used, But the dried herbs will have to be boiled along with milk to get maximum flavor.