Creamy Mushroom Soup

First, let me say that this photo doesn’t do this delicious soup justice; chalk it up to poor photography skills. For my birthday I decided to have some friends over for a lunch of little food (translated: food Andy doesn’t care for). The menu included Tomato-Goat Cheese Tarts, Chopped Apple Salad, this soup, and Cinnamon Apple Cake. We had so much fun! The soup was inspired by a recipe I saw on Tasty Kitchen. I made a few changes: cooking the mushrooms in a combo of butter and oil, adding in some chopped onion and dried tarragon, and using my immersion blender to puree the soup a bit. I'll definitely make this again. Enjoy!

Creamy Mushroom Soup
Olive oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper
2 lb. white mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. butter
1 cup white wine
1 cup tomato juice
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups whipping cream
1 to 2 tsp. dried tarragon
2 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 cup water

1. Cook onion and next 3 ingredients in hot oil in Dutch oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until vegetables soften. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, and add in mushrooms and butter. Cook until mushrooms turn brown and soften, about 10 more minutes. Stir in wine and next 2 ingredients; season with salt and pepper. Bring mixture to a boil; then reduce heat to a simmer. Use an immersion blender to puree mixture, leaving some chunks. Stir in cream and tarragon. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is thoroughly heated. Combine cornstarch and water; stir into soup mixture. Simmer for 15 minutes or until soup thickens. Season with salt and pepper to taste.