I came up with this soup because I wanted to use up holiday leftovers, but in a different way. Normally I make a split pea soup, or a soup that has larger pieces of ham in it. For this particular soup I decided to puree the ham and mushrooms then make it a thicker bisque soup. To garnish the soup I decided to make horseradish cheddar gougeres. Gougeres are balls of dough, , made from pate au choux, that you can bake or fry and are very airy on the inside. They are very versatile and aren't that hard to make, though there are a couple steps in them that might put one off. The dough can break fairly easily when making it, as this batch almost did, but I was able to incorporate a fair amount of cheese into the base prior to having to start from scratch.
I also broke this soup into two steps as I figured it would blend better that way. First I made a based with potatoes, stock, and dried mushrooms that I pureed. And secondly I made the bisque portion that was ham mushrooms and stock. I pureed them separately then incorporated them together. The end result was a thickened soup that had a rich ham flavor and earthy mushroom finish.
Enjoy.
Ingredients
Base
Onion, sliced, lg 2 ea
Garlic, sliced 4 cloves
Dried Mushrooms 1 cup
Chicken Stock 2 qt
Water 4 qt (2 for base, 2 for soup)
Butter 2 oz
Crushed Red Pepper 1 T
Soup
Ham, diced 2 lbs
Ham Bone 1 ea
Crimini Mushroom, sliced 14 oz
Chicken Stock 1 qt
Pepper to taste
Avenue Spice 1 T
Umami Spice* 1 tsp
Butter 2 oz
Mustard powder 2 tsp
Sherry vinegar 2 T
*This is a Trader Joe's mushroom spice blend. It is a versatile blend that adds a fair amount of flavor and mouthfeel to dishes. You can omit if you don't have or feel like purchasing and this soup will still turn our amazing.
Garnish
Gougeres, Chives
Method of Procedure
Begin by sauteing your onions, garlic, crushed red pepper, and dried mushrooms in butter until clear.
Add your water, stock and potatoes and bring to a simmer. Cook until the potatoes are fall apart done, about 1 hour. If you have the temperature higher, they will cook more quickly and not hurt the end product.
Once the potatoes are done, run your blend through a blender.
While your base is cooking, dice up your ham.
Saute your ham and mushrooms in the remaining butter until browned.
Add your spices, ham bone, and stock and simmer for at least 1 hour.
Remove the bone and puree the mushrooms and ham with a stick blender or through a blender.
Pour the pureed base into the mushroom and ham puree then bring to a simmer.
Add your vinegar and season to taste.
Pour into a bowl and garnish.
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