Mushrooms are one of my all-time favorite ingredients because they're so versatile: they can act as a meat, a vegetable, or just an extender. For this recipe, the main event is mushroom.

Speaking of main events, my little boy is about to 'graduate' from kindergarten! Can you believe he's entering grade school next school year? I can't!

Cream of Mushroom soup is a tried and tested appetizer staple. You don't believe me? Ask Mrs Campbell! It goes well with salad, steak, or even just croutons.

Here, I used two types of mushrooms - button mushrooms and (reconstituted) dried shiitake mushrooms. I guess the main secret for this recipe is not so much the ingredients, but the way it can be cooked faster. Just the thought of using a blender or a food processor is enough to discourage me from making soup from scratch. But, alas! I had this Braun stick blender sitting in the cupboard - time to put it to good use!

Mine looked something like this (this one is their latest model)

Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup

Prep time: 5 min | Cook time: 10 min | Total time: 25 min

Ingredients:
Shiitake mushrooms (dried ones must soaked in water for at least an hour), chopped
button mushrooms, chopped
large red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
all purpose cream
2 tbsp butter
thyme
ground pepper
salt
flour (optional)

Instructions:

1. Melt butter in low heat.
2. Saute butter and onions until well-caramelized.
3. Add in mushrooms and about 1 cup water.
4. Let the chunky soup simmer for about 4 minutes then add all purpose cream while stirring continuously.
5. Season with thyme, salt and pepper.
6. Turn off the heat. Using a stick blender, blend the soup right in the saucepan.
7. Turn on the heat and simmer for 2 more minutes before serving. Add in a teaspoon of flour for a thicker soup.