FENNEL MUSHROOM SOUP RECIPES

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Stir in the onions and mushrooms; season with salt and pepper and cook until soft and tender, about 5 minutes.

• Add the chicken broth to the pot, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. While soup simmers, whisk together the sour cream and seasoning mix in a medium bowl.

• Remove soup from heat and puree until completely smooth using a handheld or regular blender. Whisk in half of the Ranch sour cream until creamy and well-blended.

• Ladle the hot soup into bowls and garnish with generous dollops of the remaining Ranch sour cream.

Steps:

• . Refrigerate onions before thinly slicing them. Also thinly slice the fennel, mushrooms and bacon. . In a large saucepan, melt together the butter and oil on MEDIUM-HIGH heat. Add the bacon and cook for a few minutes. . Add the onions and fennel to the pot. Sauté, while stirring them for no more than 10 minutes. Now, add and stir in the mushrooms and Dijon mustard. . Lower the heat to MEDIUM and continue stirring them once and a while for another 15 minutes. Pour in the White wine and stir to deglaze the bottom browning bits. Again, lower the heat to MEDIUM-LOW so that the onions can cook down to a deep caramelized stage. . Place a cover over the saucepan with it slightly ajar to have moisture escape slowly. This will take another 20 minutes or until the onions have reduced into a deeply rich jam-like consistency. . Towards the end, increase the heat back to MEDIUM-HIGH heat. Add the apple juice, water, vegetable stock and salt. Once it has reached a boiling point, reduce the heat back again to MEDIUM-LOW and simmer for the final cooking of about 20 minutes or so. Taste to see if more (optional) salt is needed. . > ASSEMBLY: Meanwhile, if the bread croutons were not made ahead of time, the bread can now be cubed and lightly toasted. Set aside. Same goes for preparing the slices of selected cheese. . Prepare a baking sheet to soon place the oven-proof bowls. Pre-heat oven to 350F/180C/Gas4 and position oven rack in the center. Once the onion soup is ready, ladle it into the bowls, 3/4 of the way. Add a bit of cheese, followed by a few toasted croutons and finally topped with more cheese. . Bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted with its anticipated golden edges. They are ready to serve. . Enjoy Claudia's flavourful wishes at FOODESSA.com