Shitakei Mushroom Soup

Lately i've been craving for mushroom soup but i didn't wanna go out there , order and have it. I want something homemade, something without the typical generic mushroom soup taste that most restaurants offer. Also I didn't wanna get the cream of mushroom from the can as well so that leave me no choice but to figure out how to make something creamy minus the sour cream/ cream on my own. This is also my first time making so i was a lil clueless on what should i include it in.

I definitely need some fresh mushrooms, the dried ones will only add more flavour to it. i don't have any button or straw mushrooms therefore , i've no choice but to use up all the shitakei mushrooms, the remains from the pasta i made a couple of days back.

INGREDIENTS

* 280g fresh shitakei mushrooms

* 1large yellow onions

* 4 cloves garlic

* 2 sprigs fresh thyme

* 1/2 tbsp butter or more

* Black pepper

* Salt to taste

* 500ml chicken broth

* 200ml low-fat milk

* 3/8 tsp vanilla (optional)

* A dash of nutmeg (optional)

Method:

1) Heat your sauce pan and add in butter and olive oil.

2) Saute the garlic and onions.

3) Add in your fresh thyme and stiry then add in the sliced shitakei mushrooms.

4) Season with pepper and give it a stir before adding in salt.

5) Give it another stir then pick out your thyme leaves.

6) Add half of the chicken broth into your sauce pan, leave another half to be added into the blender/food processor.

7) Pour the mushrooms and the chicken broth into the blender/food processor, pulse it once or twice before adding the remaining chicken broth and puree until its smooth.

8) Once you're done, pour the mushroom soup back into your pot and heat it up.

9) Season your soup further with salt or pepper or even nutmeg powder, but thats entirely optional.

10) Add in your low-fat milk and let it simmer before adding in your vanilla extract.

Note:

Most mushroom soups have got some white wine/sherry in it, so instead of using sherry, i substituted it with some vanilla extract, at least that's what i learnt about substitution for sherry.

You can serve the soup with some toasted garlic bread or like me , spread a thin layer of marjerin on a slice of bread and toast it!

I like the texture of the soup but somehow the aroma of thyme was a lil too strong for me , also it has a somewhat bitter end note to it, i'm yet to figure out why though. Perhaps its the type of mushrooms i used. I should have opt for some combination ( portobello, oysters, button, straws) but oh well, its not that bad for a make to do with what's available in my fridge :) Or maybe i've added a bit too much of nutmeg or was it the vanilla extract? Hmm.. i think the next time when i do this, i'll just add some white wine to it instead.