This is a beautiful soup! I changed it up a little, but I got the basic recipe from a very generous and talented Venezulan woman who has a blog called "Mommy's Home Cooking." Oriana is amazing! Check her out!
As you know, recipes are a passion for me. I am always experimenting, looking for new things, changing them up, comparing them with other recipes, looking at healthy ingredients, and having something of a mad scientist in the kitchen approach! But also, for me, taste is paramount! My willing husband is my most favorite test subject. Some nights, he really deserves a medal. But, honestly, it is so much fun to study his expressions as he dives into my new concoctions!
I have made this soup twice now, my own way both times. And had so much fun learning about new things, like bone marrow!
But please prepare yourself. This, although not difficult, takes a few stages to make.
Ready, Set, Go!
Ingedients:
-3 cloves roasted garlic
-1-3 carrots, peeled slightly
-2 medium/large red potatoes, skins on
-1 lb. beef marrow bones
-3-4 T. unsalted butter
-3 packages mushrooms, thinly sliced (about six cups or more when sliced) (about six small mushrooms thinly sliced should be reserved raw for garnish)
-3 large zucchinis thinly sliced
-4 cups chicken "broth" (I go with the regular as unsalted leaves me wanting for flavor)
-1 cup whole milk
-1 cup heavy cream
-1 T. Worcestershire sauce
-1/4-1/2 t. dried thyme
-salt and pepper to taste
-fresh parsley for garnish
-fresh cracked pepper for garnish
-bread to accompany if you choose (I didn't - doesn't need it)
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Directions:
Preheat oven to 425
Place marrow bones (this was–and still is–new to me, using marrow bones!) set on end (up) on parchment paper on a baking rack, drizzle with a little oil (I use grapeseed oil, which I love because it is so HEALTHY, and also so light, and can take the heat, but olive oil is fine) and pepper, rub it in a bit.
On a separate, smaller oven tray or pan, place your carrots, drizzle with grapeseed or olive oil and salt and pepper and toss to coat.
Put them both in the oven for 25 minutes. Check the carrots, if they're bigger, they could take another ten minutes, and may need to be turned. You want them to slightly caramelize.
After 25 minutes take the marrow bones out, set on stove top and let cool. When carrots are ready, take them out and set aside as well.
Put a slice through each of the red potatoes, set in a little water in a (glass) bowl and pop in the microwave for 10-12 minutes.
Time to chop chop chop and thinly slice your mushrooms and zucchini, into separate piles. Remember to separate out the ones for garnish use later.
Regarding garlic: my take is to buy it pre-roasted. It doesn't last that long (never keep too long, look at the sell by dates), but it is less intense in the house for me this way and works beautifully.
Heat about 1 T. unsalted butter in a large Dutch Oven to medium and add in your 3 cloves of garlic (even the pre-roasted type). Depending on whether or not they are getting roasted for the first time or having a second round (about 3 minutes or so), roast until slightly browned and sizzling. Remove and set aside to later put through your garlic press.
Add another T. of unsalted butter to your pan, saute the mushrooms until browned. Remove to a plate or bowl, separating out about 2 cups.
Add the sliced zucchini into the pan, saute until soft and thoroughly cooked.
If you have enough unsalted butter, you don't have to use more, but I go with the 2 T. (above) for the garlic and the mushrooms and then add–in small increments– up to 2 more T. unsalted butter if the mushrooms or zucchinis require more.
When the zucchinis are cooked nicely, set aside about about 1/2 cup in a separate bowl for later, and put the rest on a plate.
Cut up your cooked red potatoes and toss them in the pan to give them a little brown in the remaining butter. Remove.
Okay, now you have to wait (or mess with putting your extra large portions of vegetables in ice water) for the vegetables to cool because it is DANGEROUS to put hot stuff in your food processor.
In the meantime, scoop out the marrow from the cooled bones into a bowl and set the bones aside separately. I know, lots of plates and bowls. But wait til you get to the results. (I do the dishes as they become free and it's all good.)
Chop one of the carrots into itty bitty pieces. Set aside.
Have a glass of wine now. Give your husband one of the other carrots as an appetizer and you have one too. You guys are getting hungry! But it won't spoil your appetite. Just a little tease.
When the vegetables (the larger portions only) are cool, add them together: the potato pieces (with the skin on), the mushrooms, and the zucchinis and mix with 1 or 2 cups of the chicken broth and then run (in batches if necessary) through the food processor until smooth (or relatively smooth), then put back into the Dutch oven.
Once that's all done, add the rest (4 cups total) of the chicken broth into the Dutch oven. Add 1 cup of whole milk, press the garlic in, stir in the bone marrow, add in 1/4 t. (or a tad more) dried thyme, and salt and pepper. Stir, then, when combined, add in the marrow bones.
Bring to a low boil, (while waiting, stir occasionally and I take this time to also load the rest of the empty dishes into the dishwasher), then turn down and simmer uncovered for 20-35 minutes to combine, while you go back out and finish that glass of wine or whatever beverage you might be relaxing with.
When the timer goes off (and it's okay to let it keep simmering a little longer if you want so long as you keep your eye on it...about ten more minutes), stirring occasionally, then remove the marrow bones, add in the set aside 2 cups of sauteed mushrooms, the set aside 1/2 cup sauteed zucchini, 1 cup of heavy cream, 1 T Worcestershire sauce, the caramelized carrot bits, (for a bit of natural sweet!), and more salt and pepper to taste. Stir and then let it simmer another 3 or 5 minutes.
Serve in generous bowls, adding a few pieces of the raw mushroom slices and fresh parsley and cracked black pepper over the top of each serving.
You will NOT regret all this effort. Like I said: This is a beautiful soup!
It is thickened with vegetables, not flour, so it is gluten-free, and full of such flavor that culinary dreams are made of.
By the way, in case you don't have a LOT of people to feed, the reason I had you make the whole big batch of this is because you want your efforts to pay back. I separate my leftover soup, when it's cooled into three freezer bags, labeled and dated, for future soup that's already ready and waiting for when you desire it next! And you can always saute a few mushrooms and add them into the defrosted portions, in case you ate all the separated sliced ones because they were so good you couldn't help yourself!
It's very rich soup, but oh so healthy and oh so delicious!
Bon Appetit!
bbffair
