Mushroom Soup with Kale and Potato (page 118)

When we were choosing the recipes to prepare last week we tried to pick a traditional menu with a soup starter, protein and veg. Since it is still so could outside the mushroom and kale soup sounded good to us. As usual we made the soup our own by changing the ingredients and adding things that weren’t in the original recipe.

In the original recipe the author calls for 4 or 5 ounces of kale. Needless to say the smallest bundles are larger than that at the grocery store. We bought a bundle that contained about 12 stems (approximately a pound) and used the entire thing. Additionally our store didn’t have lacinato kale so we used the standard kale we all have at the grocery store. We added dried mushrooms for a bigger mushroom flavor. White wine, marmite and red pepper flakes were also added for complexity of flavor.

As with most of the recipes in the book the author likes to cook things separately and combine them before serving. This does lead to not overcooking specific components but is not how I normally make soup.  Here is what we did.

Kale and Mushroom Soup
Make 8 servings

Garlic puree ingredients:

10 cloves garlic
½ cup water or white wine

Method:

Put 10 cloves of garlic in small amount of water and simmer until soft. If pressed for time, microwave garlic until soft. Finely mince cooked garlic.

Mushroom stock ingredients:

1 cup dried mixed mushrooms
2 cups water

Method:

Put ingredients in saucepan and simmer until rehydrated, about 30 minutes. Add water if too much evaporates during cooking.

Soup ingredients:

1 cup diced carrots (5 small carrots or 2 large carrots)
1 cup diced leeks
1 cup diced onion
1½ cup filtered water
1 small bunch kale (6 cups)
8 ounces chopped fresh mushrooms (we used button mushrooms but others such as cremini will work)
1 cup dry white wine (like pinot grigio)
3 cloves garlic finely minced
Water necessary to cover vegetables
1 bay leaf
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon marmite
pinch red pepper flakes, or to taste
extra virgin olive oil, for serving
red wine vinegar, for serving

Method:

Put carrots, leeks, onion and pinch of salt in stockpot over medium heat with small amount of water. Cook very slowly until vegetables are soft. While these vegetables are simmering, clean kale, chop mushrooms and garlic .Add kale, mushrooms to soup. Strain mushroom stock and add to soup. Chop re-hydrated mushrooms and add to soup. Add wine. Add enough additional filtered water to cover vegetables. Finely mince 3 cloves garlic and let stand for 10 minutes. Then add garlic to soup. Add marmite. Add additional finely minced cooked garlic (10 cloves from above).  Simmer to allow the flavors to marry.

Potato ingredients:

3 cups large diced Yukon potatoes (leave skin on if organic)
3-4 sprigs thyme
10 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
pinch salt

Method:

In separate saucepan, add diced potatoes and add seasonings. Cook until tender. Move to a wire strainer to cool completely.

To serve:

Place some cooked potatoes in bottom of each soup bowl. Add soup. Drizzle with olive oil and red wine vinegar.

Nutritional Information (doesn’t include olive oil and vinegar garnish):

Amount Per Serving
Calories -163.15
Calories From Fat (4%)- 5.91
Total Fat - 0.7g
Saturated Fat - 0.13g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 114.95mg
Potassium - 973.11mg
Total Carbohydrates - 31.99g
Fiber - 4.36g
Sugar - 2.85g
Protein - 5.65g

Comments:

If you like kale and mushrooms this is a nice soup. Not surprisingly the ladies enjoyed this soup more than the men. I think this had to do with the lightness of the soup. I would definitely make this soup again. It is a nice fall and winter soup. While I don’t normally cook the potatoes separately for soup I can see the logic to doing this. By cooking the potatoes separately they retained their individual character and didn’t turn to mush. This soup is very light without a little drizzle of oil on top for serving. Unless you have eliminated added fat from your diet I suggest the oil for serving.