Mushroom soup color

fel bautista · Post by **fel bautista** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 10:53 pm

I just made some mushroom soup; 20 oz of crimini mushrooms, some chopped onion, about a quart of organic in the box chicken stock and a little bit of half and half. Came out tasting great, but the color- kind of a brownish grey is a put off. I carmelized the onions and the mushrooms, thinking it would be a lot browner, but it didn't

Anyone got suggestions?

Lambchop · Post by **Lambchop** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 11:52 pm

That's why the color "mushroom" is a brownish gray.

One website I saw said you need to scrape the gills off the mushrooms before using, or they'll give it a nasty color. Did you notice any gills? (Ick)

You could just not look at it, I suppose? Sprinkle a lot of croutons on top so it's disguised?

Use some Bovril?

Here's a recipe from Lauren Groveman's Kitchen that has a picture of really nice, yummy-looking, toasty-brown mushroom soup using beef stock.

fel bautista · Post by **fel bautista** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 11:58 pm

Gills are the dark stuff underneath the mushroom cap itself. Hmmm.... I used chicken stock which "neutral" in color. Didn't have any beef stock to try. Maybe next time. I'd assume it would be more brown like the picture.

Redwolf · Post by **Redwolf** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 12:43 am

Lambchop wrote:That's why the color "mushroom" is a brownish gray.

One website I saw said you need to scrape the gills off the mushrooms before using, or they'll give it a nasty color. Did you notice any gills? (Ick)

You could just not look at it, I suppose? Sprinkle a lot of croutons on top so it's disguised?

Use some Bovril?

Here's a recipe from Laurel's Kitchen that has a picture of really nice, yummy-looking, toasty-brown mushroom soup using beef stock.

That's not from "Laurel's Kitchen." LK is a vegetarian cookbook! The chef for this one is "Lauren."

Redwolf

Lambchop · Post by **Lambchop** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 12:57 am

Redwolf wrote:
Lambchop wrote:That's why the color "mushroom" is a brownish gray.

One website I saw said you need to scrape the gills off the mushrooms before using, or they'll give it a nasty color. Did you notice any gills? (Ick)

You could just not look at it, I suppose? Sprinkle a lot of croutons on top so it's disguised?

Use some Bovril?

Here's a recipe from Laurel's Kitchen that has a picture of really nice, yummy-looking, toasty-brown mushroom soup using beef stock.

That's not from "Laurel's Kitchen." LK is a vegetarian cookbook! The chef for this one is "Lauren."

Redwolf

Caught me red-handed! I apologize for any upset this has caused you, Red. Lord forbid I should cast a shadow on vegetarianism!

I corrected the original post. Since you copied it into your's, I can't change it there. That's ok, though. It's perhaps best that people realize I have flaws.

Innocent Bystander · Post by **Innocent Bystander** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 5:14 am

A little paprika would make it a richer colour.

chas · Post by **chas** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 9:42 am

One reason your soup came out lighter than you wanted is the cream. I have an old cookbook called "Mushroom cookery" from the 40's that I picked up in a used bookstore. I tried the cream of mushroom soup and found I liked it better before I put the cream in. Now I add a little corn starch instead of cream, and I like it much better. It's a nice rich brown color, too.

It's possible to darken it up by blackening the onions, but they'll overwhelm the mushroom flavor and completely change the character of the soup if you blacken them. I do a kind of pancakes stuffed with a mushroom sauce made with blackened onions. It's very tasty but I wouldn't want to make it into soup.

dwest · Post by **dwest** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 10:29 am

mutepointe · Post by **mutepointe** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 11:21 am

I made fettucini alfredo with portobella mushrooms once. What an ugly shade of gray that was.

fel bautista · Post by **fel bautista** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 11:52 am

i realized that when I rehydrate Shiitake mushrooms, the water is a nice brown. I shall try that. Maybe tonight since my son's coming over for dinner.

Looks like I need to go find dried porcinis as well.

chas · Post by **chas** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 1:25 pm

fel bautista wrote:i realized that when I rehydrate sh*t mushrooms, the water is a nice brown. I shall try that. Maybe tonight since my son's coming over for dinner.

I'm not gonna comment on the brown water, but I suspect this is the curse filter striking again, in a very humorous way.

Probably want to spell them with two i's.

BTW, fresh shiitakes are entirely different from dried ones. They have a faint horseradish taste. They'd probably make awesome soup.

Lambchop · Post by **Lambchop** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 1:30 pm

I suppose we shouldn't discount the possibilities afforded by . . . food coloring.

Innocent Bystander · Post by **Innocent Bystander** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 1:50 pm

Lambchop wrote:I suppose we shouldn't discount the possibilities afforded by . . . food coloring.

Mild Paprika. Same-same.

fel bautista · Post by **fel bautista** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 6:06 pm

OOPS- fixed Shiitake- who knew???

sbfluter · Post by **sbfluter** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:17 pm

I don't care what color it is. It sounds delicious!