Smoked Mushroom Soup with Gruyere Grilled Cheese
Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users
Food:
Vegetables
Serves:
2 to 4 people
Prep Time:
15 min
Cook Time:
1 hour 3 min
Seasons change but how you use your outdoor cooking space doesn’t need to - soup season and BBQ season can be one and the same. A hearty cream of mushroom soup with a smokey profile and a crunchy grilled cheese for dipping could (should) be on your radar today. This simple but memorable dish utilizes the Alchemy smoker unit to tenderly cook the cremini mushrooms with butter and garlic, the Alchemy elevated rack allows you to build your soup flavours and simmer your stock and the Alchemy flattop is perfect for that crispy, crunchy Gruyère grilled cheese sandwich and perfectly grilled shiitake mushrooms. A completely vegetarian dish, this mushroom soup will be a crowd pleaser for everyone, meat eaters alike.
Chef Matt Basile
Ingredients
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4 x 227g package cremini mushrooms
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1 x 227g package shitake mushrooms
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Juice from 2 lemons
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3 cloves garlic
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1 cup butter, divided
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1 carrot
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1 onion
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3 celery stalks
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3 bay leaves
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500ml cream
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½ L chicken stock
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Black pepper
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1-2 tbsp grated Parmesan
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1 baguette
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40g grated gruyere per sandwich
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1 tbsp finely chopped chives, per serving
Instructions
Set smoker to 300F.
Cut the stems off the cremini mushrooms and cut them into quarters. Place them in a cast iron pan with ½ cup butter, cut into cubes, two peeled cloves of garlic and the juice from two lemons. Place in the smoker for 1 hour.
At about the 30 minute mark of smoking the mushrooms, dice the carrot, onion and celery. In a stock pot on the elevated grill rack, add ½ cup butter and let it melt. Add 3 bay leaves and mix, let cook 1-2 minutes. Add the carrot, onion and celery to the pot and mix. Let the vegetables soften, stirring occasionally, about 3-5 minutes. Grate in the fresh parm and mix. Season with black pepper and allow to cook another 2-3 minutes. Pour in the cream and chicken stock and mix. Allow to cook and simmer about 20-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, grate the grueye for the grilled cheese and thinly slice the baguette on a bias.
Cut the stems from the shitake mushrooms and cut them in half. Place them on the flattop with a bit of oil and cook until crisped up, flipping occasionally. Move to the edge of the grill to stay warm until it’s time to plate. Season with salt before removing from the grill.
Remove the mushrooms from the smoker after the one hour has passed. Transfer them with the liquid, to a pitcher, bowl or container that is easy to pour. Remove the pot of soup from the grill and ladle about 2 cups of it in with the mushrooms, then blend it together with a hand immersion blender.
Place a fine strainer/sieve over the pot of soup, transfer the blended mushrooms to the strainer and using a rubber spatula, press down and mix to strain the liquid into the pot. Once this is done, season the soup with black pepper, mix, and place back on the elevated grill rack and let cook another 10-15 minutes.
While the soup cooks, place the first piece of sliced baguette down on the flattop with a bit of oil. Add about 40g of the grated cheese on top. Place the top piece of sliced baguette on top and allow to cook, letting the cheese slowly melt. Flip the grilled cheese and press down with the metal spatula to toast the other side and continue to melt the cheese. Flip one more time and allow the cheese to melt completely.
Chop the chives and then remove the soup from the heat. Ladle into a bowl and top with the grilled shitake mushrooms on one side of the bowl. Season with black pepper and garnish with chopped chives. Serve with the grilled cheese.