Recipes of the Month (as seen in our Health E News)

Mushroom Soup with Thyme Chantilly

Compliments of Lori Nichols-Davies at the Holistic Cooking Academy of Canada

Serves 12

Chef Deborah Rankine at www.culinarycaravan.com inspired me with this idea for thyme. This is a lovely appetizing vegetarian creamed soup. The cream gives you Vitamin A and D needed to utilize animal proteins in the oncoming entree. Only animal fats provide Vitamin A and D3; vegetable sources are pro-vitamin A, as in thyme and cayenne, which are antioxidants. Cayenne supports arteries from collapsing. Cream is more potent than mushrooms for potassium, yet notice that the potassium is less than the sodium. Potassium can be greater, as needed, if you make side dishes of a cold salad and hot sweet potato. In Chinese medicine certain mushrooms are considered medicinal. Why? They build your immunity against cancer. So does Vitamin A in cream and pro-vitamin A in vegetables. Protect your family from metal toxicity and a bad flavor by using an enameled or anodized skillet or soup pot, never aluminum or raw stainless steel.

Preparation time: 15 – 20 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes

4 tbsp. (30 ml) unsalted butter
1 small onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
12 oz. (340 ml) assorted mushrooms (shiitake, cremini, oyster, etc) washed and coarsely chopped
½ cup (125 ml) flour of your choice
3 cups (750 ml) vegetable stock or water with a MSG-free vegetable bullion cube
1 cup (250 ml) half and half cream
1 tbsp. (15 ml) thyme, freshly cropped from the sprig
1 tsp. (5 ml) ocean salt with trace minerals
Dashes of cayenne pepper
1/3 cup (90 ml) 35% whipping cream
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ lemon freshly squeezed (1 tbsp.)

1. Make vegetable stock. Instead of throwing your organic vegetable water down the sink, reserve it for stock. During the week, use purified water to boil any vegetable but cabbage (for more delicate flavors) and accumulate in a jar labeled “vegetable stock” and date it.
2. Prepare the vegetables. Weigh your washed mushrooms and collect ingredients. Chop onion and place in a large anodized skillet over medium heat. Melt butter and sauté onion and mushrooms for ten minutes. Stir in flour to combine, and then gradually add stock and then the cream, stirring constantly to keep the creamed soup smooth. This also prevents the lemon juice from curdling the cream. Bring to a boil, then reduce temperatures to medium-low, cover and simmer for ten minutes.
3. Warm the bowls in the oven at 170 F. (77 C.) while the soup is simmering.
4. Final touches. Add salt, cayenne, thyme and whipping cream. Reheat gently. Add garlic and lemon juice just before serving with a teaspoon of thyme Chantilly on top with a small flower tip of thyme.

Thyme Chantilly
1/4 cup (60 ml) 35% whipping cream
1 tbsp. (15 ml) thyme leaves taken by running your finger and thumb nail down the sprig from top to bottom, opposite to the incline of the leaves, to drop into your measuring spoon
12 small pieces of fresh purple thyme flower tips

1. In a small bowl, whip cream to semi-stiff texture. Add thyme leaves and stir to blend thoroughly. Serve one ladles of soup into warmed bowls, and then top with a dollop of Chantilly cream.

What’s in it for me per 2/3 cup serving with rice flour?
Calories: 110 Protein: 1.5 g. (5%) Fat: 8 g. (66%) Carbohydrate: 8 g. (29%) Fiber: 0.2 g.
Vitamin A: 272 units Folic acid: 2 mcg. Vitamin C: 2.5 mg. Calcium: 42 mg. Magnesium: 10 mg
Phosphorus: 40 mg. Iron: 0.1 mg. Potassium: 70 mg. Sodium: 198 mg.