Mushroom Soup 2.17 Dead Uncles and Vegetables

“I’m sorry. The mushroom is a great choice. It’s super popular, and it’s my Jackson’s favorite.” “Whose?” “Jackson, my fiancé.” “Oh, you’re getting married?” “To the best man in the world.”

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• ½ white onion, diced

• 1 lb mushrooms (use a variety for the most robust flavor. I used shiitake, oyster, and baby bella.), cleaned and finely sliced.

• ¼ cup all-purpose flour

• ¼ cup cooking sherry

• 4 cups of beef broth

• ½ tsp dried thyme

• 1 tsp salt

• ½ tsp pepper

• 1 cup of heavy cream

Directions:

1. In a large stock pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add in the onion and sauté for about 5 minutes or until soft and translucent.

2. Carefully, add in the mushrooms and sauté for an additional 8-10 minutes or until the mushrooms become soft and emitted a liquid.

3. Add the flour and stir to fully coat the mushrooms. Pour in the cooking sherry and cook for another minute.

4. Add the broth, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Remove 1 ½ cups of the soup to set aside. Use an immersion blender or pour the remaining soup into a blender and blend until smooth. Return the blended up and the served soup back to the pot. This helps to create a creamy soup while still keeping some texture.

6. Pour in the heavy cream and stir to combine. Recommended serving with warm, crusty bread.

Using a variety of mushrooms will give you a more robust flavor in your soup.

Mushrooms are a very heated topic amongst foodies. Either you like them or you hate them; there doesn’t seem to really be a middle ground when it comes to mushrooms. I personally really love mushrooms. I will eat them in just about any food, and I love them on pizza. If I order mushroom pizza, it’s usually just on half because most people I know don’t like mushrooms. I love that this is Jackson’s favorite of Sookie’s soups. He gets to enjoy some of the greatest soups whenever he wants. I shared when I made butternut squash soup for the Bracebridge Dinner how comforting I find soups. I make multiple types of soups a week during the winter months, and though winter is long gone here in Texas, I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to make one of Sookie’s soups.

This is a really sweet episode with Luke and Lorelai. We get to see their friendship in such a good light as she supports him through taking care of his uncle’s affairs. She steps in to help out at the diner, she goes with him to help with the coffin, and she’s the only other person to attend Louie’s funeral until the reenactors show up. Even though I live for the moments where their friendship dips into lovers' territory, I love that at their core, Luke and Lorelai are friends, good friends. Luke is worried in this episode that he’s going to end up grumpy and alone like his Uncle Louie, but the town comes together for him to show him that he’s not. Any time Luke is a big softie, it makes my heart melt.

I hate waiting for my soups to simmer, but it really does elevate the flavor of the soup!

Luke struggles to fit all of his uncle’s possessions into the coffin. I asked my Instagram followers what they thought different Gilmore Girls characters would be buried with. Here are some of my favorite submissions: Taylor would be buried with his town meeting gavel and his candyman outfit, Luke would be buried with Lorelai’s horoscope, his many flannels, a baseball hat, and a spatula, Rory would be buried with her Oxford English dictionary, and my favorite, Kirk would be buried in the suit his father was buried in.

This episode gives us the battle of the cart, kiosk, cart-kiosk! Even though Taylor is an integral part of this show and Stars Hollow would not be what it is without him, he really annoys me sometimes. When he’s planning town events, he makes sure that run successfully, but when he’s a stickler to pointless town rules, it just becomes too much, especially when he’s only doing it as a way to benefit himself. I do like how Sy just pops up randomly throughout the show. In the last episode of season one, he plays the competing troubadour and towards the end of season four, he plays the minister for Liz and TJ’s wedding.

Mushroom soup might not be the most glamorous soup, but it's so full of flavor!

The dish I made for this episode made was obviously inspired by the conversation between Emily and Sookie at the Dragonfly. This leads to Emily taking over the planning for Sookie’s wedding, and in normal Emily fashion, she goes way over the top. Even though Sookie eventually comes to her senses and tells Emily she doesn’t need her help, Sookie’s wedding still ends up being pretty fancy in the season two finale. It’s definitely not Emily level fancy, but I think you can still see touches of Emily in her actual wedding.

Happy Cooking!

Even if you don't like mushrooms, I dare you to try this!

If you missed what I made last episode, catch up here!