If you are a fan of fresh (or even dried) morel mushrooms, this is the soup for you. Everyone who eats morels knows that they go best sauteed with onions, garlic and butter. This incorporates all of those ingredients to create a magnificently creamy soup, strong with morel flavour, but not too overpowering. Serve with crusty bread or garlic croutons.
I did a couple of things differently with this recipe that made this a whole lot easier, didn't affect the taste and just made more sense to me. Rather than use water and chicken soup base I just used chicken broth. I used fresh thyme rather than dried and didn't bother adding the flour - it wasn't necessary. Since my market didn't have morels, I used regular ol' mushrooms and they worked out just fine. I used twice the amount of mushrooms called for and I'm glad I did. Given the extra amount of mushrooms, and the fact there are not a lot of competing seasoning ingredients, this is a pure, robustly mushroom flavored soup. Easy to put together, ready in minutes, and can be made ahead of time. A beautiful first course for an elegant meal. - 31 Jan 2010 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)
I joined just so I could rate this recipe!! It is fantastic. I was just looking for a way to use up some dried morels a friend gave me. They are avid morel hunters and brought me back a pound of them dried. I had no idea what really to do with them and this recipe was my answer, especially since I froze some of this bisque and I can eat it later! The flour is used in making a "roux" to thicken the soup some. It's not really a necessary step, unless you want it thicker. I agree with the poster of the recipe, please people, don't try to make this healthy, it's not meant to be. You could, in theory, but I wouldn't. If you love mushrooms, you will love this recipe. Make sure you salt it to taste though, too much and you'll ruin it, too little and it's bland. But everyone's tastes are different. What I found perfect for saltiness, wasn't salty enough for my dinner guests. - 23 Jul 2009 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)
This is insanely, incredibly, ridiculously good. I've also made it other mushrooms once my morels were gone, and it tastes heavenly every time. I can't stop at just one bowl... - 17 Aug 2009 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)