Canned soups are some of the best prepared foods out there. Home cooks use them for casseroles, sauces, meatloaf, Sloppy Joes, and cream sauces. But many canned soups are too salty and lack a distinctive flavor. Still, I keep several cans on the shelf.
My husband is retired and usually goes home for lunch. Unlike many wives, who complain about preparing lunch for their husbands, I welcome these opportunities to eat together. For us, midday is the time to catch up. We compare our “to do” lists and check items off one by one.
However, lunch stumped me the other day. I planned to eat the leftovers from the restaurant meal I enjoyed the night before. While there was enough food for one, he couldn’t stretch it out to feed two. What could I fix for my husband? On the pantry shelf I found a can of Golden Mushroom Soup and enhanced the flavor with additional ingredients.
I started by sautéing a box of fresh mushrooms rolled in butter and olive oil. Finely chopped onion, celery, and chicken broth made the soup even more flavorful. The touch of dry sherry was the finishing touch. My husband had the soup and so did I. You can make Fresh Mushroom Sherry Soup in 15 minutes and here is the recipe.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon extra light olive oil
8-ounce box fresh sliced mushrooms
1/4 red or yellow onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons celery, finely chopped
10 3/4-ounce cans browned mushroom soup
1 can low-salt chicken broth soup (beef broth may be substituted)
1/4 cup dry sherry
chopped parsley to decorate
method
Melt the butter in a soup pot. Add olive oil. Sauté mushrooms in butter and oil mixture until almost golden brown. Add the chopped onion and celery and cook for a minute. Add the condensed soup and 1 can of chicken broth soup. Reduce heat to lowest setting. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Add the sherry and cook for another minute. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately with French toast or crispy crackers. Makes 4 servings.
This basic recipe can also be used to make cheddar cheese soup. Use cream of celery, remove mushrooms, add finely chopped onion, 1/4 cup finely chopped green bell pepper, and 1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper. Add 1 cup shredded medium Cheddar cheese and 1 can of soup milk. Cook over low heat until cheese melts.
Additions like these can turn a can of soup into a gourmet soup. Happy sipping!
Copyright 2011 by Harriet Hodgson