Canned soups are some of the best prepared foods around. Home cooks use them for stews, sauces, meatloaf, Sloppy Joes, and cream sauces. But many canned soups have too much salt and lack a distinctive flavor. Still, I keep several cans on the shelf.

My husband is retired and often goes home for lunch. Unlike many wives, who complain about making lunch for their husbands, I welcome these opportunities to eat together. For us, noon is the time to catch up. We compare our “to do” lists and check items off one by one.

However, lunch had me stumped the other day. I planned to eat the leftovers from the restaurant meal that I enjoyed the night before. While there was enough food for one, I couldn’t stretch it 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 rolled mushrooms 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 final touch. My husband had the soup and so did I. You can make Fresh Mushroom Soup in Jerez in 15 minutes and here is the recipe.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon extra light olive oil
8-ounce box sliced ​​fresh mushrooms
1/4 red or yellow onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons celery, finely chopped
10 3/4-ounce cans golden mushroom soup
1 can of low-salt chicken broth soup (beef broth can be substituted)
1/4 cup dry sherry
chopped parsley to decorate

method

Melt the butter in a soup pot. Add olive oil. Sauté the mushrooms in the butter and oil mixture until almost golden. Add the chopped onion and celery and cook for one minute. Add the condensed soup and 1 soup can of chicken broth. Reduce heat to lowest setting. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the sherry and cook for another minute. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately with French bread or crisp 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

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