Mushroom Bisque

Today, I made up a pot of mushroom bisque from the Moosewood Cookbook.  I took some liberties with the recipe (as always!).  Instead of dry sherry I used Japanese mirin and added some worchestershire sauce as well as the soy sauce.  I also used a cup of yogurt instead of the milk in the recipe as well.  The addition of beef broth or homemade stock makes this soup even richer.

The recipe as written--

Mushroom Bisque

2 medium potatoes, (each the size of a person's fist)
1 1/2 cups of water  to cook the potatoes
2 cups chopped onions
1 1/2 TBSP butter
1 small stalk celery (I used 2 stalks, we like celery)
1 1/2 lbs. mushrooms, sliced (I found some chanterelles in our grocery store at a "reasonable" price so bought 1/2 lb. of them along with 1 lb. crimini mushrooms)
1 - 2 tsp. salt
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. dry thyme
3 TBSP dry sherry
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 cup milk
 4 cups beef broth(my addition)
ground black pepper to taste

1) Chop potatoes into small pieces and place in a small saucepan with the water.  Cover, bring to a boil and simmer until the potatoes are tender.
2) Meanwhile, melt butter  in a heavy bottomed Dutch oven or soup pot.  Add onion and celery and saute over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Stir in the mushrooms and salt, cover and cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  At some time during the 10 minutes of cooking, add thyme and garlic.  Remove from heat, stir in sherry, soy sauce and pepper.
3) using a blender, food processor or stick blender, puree the potatoes in their cooking liquid.  Blend the mushrooms in their own liquid.  Combine the two purees and add milk and/or beef broth to thin the soup to the desired consistency.
4) Sitr and heat gently.  Taste to adjust seasonings.  Serve hot, with croutons and minced green scallions or chives.  Enjoy!