1 qt Milk; whole, low-fat or skim
1 sm Onion; peeled and stuck with
2 Cloves
6 Whole peppercorns (or more)
1 pn Salt
——————————-BOUQUET GARNI——————————- :Tie in cheesecloth, 6 Fresh parsley stems,
1/2 ts Dried leaf thyme
1/2 Bay leaf
——————————–SOUP, CON’T——————————– 4 tb Rice flour
-(or barley or oat flour) 4 tb Cold milk (about)
8 oz Shiitake mushrooms
———————————-OPTIONAL———————————- 6 tb Heavy cream
2 tb Madeira
Reserved mushroom slices This rich, earthy soup has but 100 calories per serving if made with non-fat milk. PLACE THE MILK, ONION, peppercorns, salt and bouquet garni in a saucepan and bring slowly to a boil. Form a smooth paste of the rice flour and the cold milk. Put into the just-boiling milk and stir briskly until there are no lumps. Simmer over very low heat for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cut off the tough ends of the mushroom stems. Reserve a few mushroom slices for garnish and chop the remaining mushrooms coarsely, then place in a food processor with a steel blade and chop as finely as possible. Strain the milk mixture through a fine sieve back into the saucepan; add the chopped mushrooms and continue simmering 5 minutes. Add the cream and Madeira, if you wish, and serve in hot bowls, garnished with a slice of mushroom.