Cream of Mushroom Soup

This recipe showed up on our Thanksgiving table about 10 years ago. 

Dan and I were still living in Dallas, TX when we ate at a great restaurant on Greenville Avenue.  I think it was call "The Grape" or something like that.  I'm not sure what made me order it, but I ordered their Cream of Mushroom soup.  Once I had it, I couldn't believe that Campbell's soup had the audacity to call their condensed soup by the same name!  I had to search out a recipe and thankfully, my Joy of Cooking provided.

Here's the recipe with a few modifications:

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Heat over high heat until the butter is melted:
3 1/2 T. Olive Oil
1 T. butter

Add:
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1 1/2 pounds mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced
I prefer about 1/2 of them to be some type of wild mushrooms.  We've used dried before.  If you need to do that, just purchase a couple of ounces of dried and reconstitute them by putting them in hot water for about 30 minutes.  Save the water and use it as part of the stock for the soup.

Cook, stirring, until the mushrooms are wilted (about 5 minutes)
Add:
3 T. dry sherry
1 t. dried thyme or 1 T. fresh thyme

Reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, scraping the bottom of the pan.
Stir in:
6 cups chicken broth (or any vegetable broth - sub in the mushroom reconstituting water for some of it, if you have it)  If you like soup really thick, cut this down to 4 1/2 cups.
1/2 t. salt
3/4 t. pepper

Bring to a boil, reduce to medium to simmer for 20 minutes.  I usually make this very early in the day and let it sit after this step.  Soup almost always benefits from sitting a little.
Just before serving, heat the soup to a simmer and add:
1/2 c. heavy cream
maybe a little more salt

Serve in warmed bowls with a thyme or parsley garnish.

-Jennifer