Cream of Mushroom Soup

Hubby and I love cream of mushroom, but usually being lazy, we usually just have it from a can.  However, since it's the weekend I decided to make it from scratch.

Ingredients:

10-15 white mushrooms - sliced

half onion - diced (optional)

1/2 stick of butter (1/4 cup)

few dried wild mushroom (optional)

about 4-5 Tbsp of flour (can be more or less depending on how thick you want the soup)

1 Tsp of chicken stock bouillon

4 cups milk

pinch of dried basil

1/4-1/2 cup of sherry

salt and pepper to taste

Take a bit of the butter and melt it in a pot.  Saute the onion and about 3/4 of the mushroom and set aside in a bowl once onion has softened or become translucent.  In the same pot, melt the rest of the butter and add flour to create a roue.   Slowly add 3 cups of milk while whisking to prevent any clumps.  Add chicken stock and let it simmer on low heat.  In a blender, add 1 cup of milk and the mushroom onion mixture - puree until smooth.  Mix the puree with the cream soup base and add the remaining mushroom as well as the dried wild mushroom.  Add wine and basil.  Let the soup simmer for about 10-15 min on low-med heat.  Just before serving, add salt and pepper.