Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

This is about the best mushroom soup I've ever tasted. I'm sure you'll all like it, except all you mushroom haters.

Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

½ t. coarse salt, plus more for seasoning
½ c. wild rice
3 t. olive oil
1-1/4 lbs assorted mushrooms, such as button, cremini, shitake (stems removed), and chanterelle, sliced into bite-size pieces
1 T. unsalted butter
3 leeks (white and pale green parts only), quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 T. Porcini powder (in a spice mill or coffer grinder, pulse 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms to a fine powder)
½ c. sherry or Madeira
3 T. soy sauce
6 c. chicken stock
2 T. heavy cream
1 T. finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup water to a boil. Add salt and wild rice. Cover; reduce heat to medium-low. Cook until tender, 45 – 50 minutes. Drain; set aside.
   
2. In a large saucepan, heat half the oil over medium-high heat. Add half the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper. Cook until browned and tender, about 7 minutes, transfer to bowl. Repeat with remaining oil and mushrooms.
   
3. Reduce heat to medium-low. Melt butter; add leeks. Cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in mushroom power; cook 1 minute. Add sherry and soy sauce; cook 1 minute more.
   
4. Add stock to pot; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook 20 minutes. Stir in wild rice, cream, and parsley; adjust seasoning, and serve.
   
   My modifications –
   Regular salt in wild rice and I don’t use extra salt on the mushrooms. I use regular salted butter.
   I use twice as much oil to cook the mushrooms and use more like 1-1/2 lbs of mushrooms.

Enjoy!

Susan Lalor