Taos Mushroom Soup

Here's the recipe that may or may not be for everyone, I learned this soup recipe from Carlo Gislimberti working in the kitchen for him at Villa Fontana 8 years ago. Carlo also took me to a couple of his favorite mushroom hunting areas, I've been to these a couple of times and have encountered bears each time, so now I leave my mushroom hunting to purchasing them at the Taos Farmer's Market. Although he adds cream to his soup I add potatoes for the thickening agent instead, you may substitute cream if you prefer a little will go a long way so use around 1/3 cup cream or less if you desire. This serves 2 and you'll want seconds, even if you aren't all that crazy about mushrooms

Ingredients are fresh 3 medium sized Bolito or Porcini Mushrooms, or about 1/2 cup of dried, a small palmful of Chanterelle Mushrooms

1 can of Chicken broth or Vegetable broth, 1 small onion, 2 medium Yukon Gold Potatoes, a small Green Chile Hatch style or Poblano mild Pepper, Rosemary, Bayleaf, Sage, Salt & Pepper, Tblsp Olive Oil & Tblsp Butter.

Slice the onion thinly and add to a saute/soup pot with less than a tablespoon of Olive Oil, cook this until translucent, add your diced pepper (not very much if it's hot, or add at the very end), add the large diced fresh or dried Bolitos and small diced Potatoes, saute a bit and add the stock with the Bayleaf, pinch of Sage, and sprig of Rosemary, add an extra 1 1/2 cups of water. When the potatoes are done in 30-40 minutes, with the back of a spoon smush them against the side of the pot, the starch from these will thicken the soup, don't worry about smushing the mushrooms they will maintain their integrity. If you prefer to add cream rather than potatoes do that when the soup is almost done. My trick with soup is to add a potato to it, when the tater is cooked the soup is ready. I add the chopped up Chanterelles and a Tablespoon of Butter to the soup and serve it once this has melted and been stirred in. If you are using dried mushrooms the cooking time will be about 45-60 minutes, otherwise the soup should be done in about 45 minutes. Remove the Bayleaf and Rosemary sprig. Serve in big soup bowls grind some pepper on top, along with a plate of nice fresh crusty bread to dip into this wonderful meal, try to stay away from putting butter on that bread or dipping it into olive oil, this is already a mighty tasty soup.

Here's the paw print of that pesky bear guarding those delicious Taos Mountain Bolito Mushrooms!

As a youngster my Mom's Aunties would take all the women out mushroom picking on Cape Cod, they'd come back with bags full, chop them all up and throw them into a big soup pot sauteed with olive oil, garlic and broth. As a child I had no idea the treat they were enjoying, ooh yuck mushrooms from the woods, what a fool I was, well I was just a kid, now I know better, so please give this recipe a try, even those of you who still react with, ooh yuck, I think you'll be converted, otherwise I'll eat your share!