GOURMET MEALS FOR $5 OR UNDER: MEAL 15 OF 25

CREAM OF CHANTERELLE MUSHROOM

Total Cost: $2.94/serving

Total Preparation Time:  40 min

The name of this series reads gourmet and tonight, I made a special effort to justify my choice of words. I made a very special cream of mushroom soup with the local organic Cremini and Chanterelle. 

A rather expensive purchase- my Chanterelle were priced at a whooping $14.50 per pound- these golden beauties still managed to aid in production of a very affordable gourmet meal. 

Not to mention, these mushrooms are one of very few foods that contain ergosterol- a precursor to vitamin D generated with exposure to ultraviolet light. Among other nutrients present are vitamins B and C, copper, iron, manganese, potassium and zinc. Understandably, I could not pass up the opportunity to cook with this mushroom.

In a usual fashion, I improvised. Since I rarely cook following a recipe or precisely measure ingredients, I thoroughly scanned my fridge for foods destined to work well together. Shallots, carrots, butternut squash and half an orange mini pepper- all were laid out on the kitchen counter, to be chopped and sliced at a later time. At first, I had to get started on the chicken broth as the base for my soup. Having discovered a few frozen chicken thighs, I spent good five minutes chipping one of them off, then quartered and put it in the pot with two cups of filtered water. 

As my bouillon was cooking on low, I chopped up shallots, carrots, sweet orange pepper and Cremini mushrooms and cooked them in butter until brown in a separate pot. Shallots, by the way, are another never-before-seen ingredient in my kitchen. Some say that its taste is less aggressive than that of, say, white onions and it easily incorporates into many dishes. Noticeably more expensive than yellow onions I normally use, this vegetable is still affordable and will add a new dimension to any boring meal.

Soon after, butternut squash followed in small neat cubes, only to be superseded by Chanterelle mushrooms- all but one, to be used later as garnish. For spices, I used saffron, tarragon, black pepper and unrefined sea salt. Once the vegetables were evenly browned and the house was full of smoothly intertwining aromas, the chicken broth was ready, and it was now time to blend all ingredients together. Processed by Vitamix, cubes, slices and shapeless chunks quickly turned into a smooth puree. 

MEASURE	WEIGHT (g)	INGREDIENT	COST PER PACKAGE ($)	TOTAL COST ($)	COST PER SERVING ($)*
½	98	Carrot, large	3.98/5lb	0.17
1	39	Shallot	1.62/lb	0.14
3	48	Cremini mshrms	3.48/lb	0.37
½	15	Mini pepper	6.48/1.5lb	0.14
N/A	100	Butternut squash	1.46/kg	0.15
N/A	38	butter	5.99/pack (454g)	0.50
3	118	Chanterelle mshrms	14.50/lb	3.80
1	91	Chicken thigh	6.57/kg	0.60
TOTAL				5.87*	2.94

*Makes 2 servings

As I tasted it, I decided to add some lime juice, a little bit of cayenne pepper and a quarter of a cup of light cream. Mmm... Now it tasted like heaven! I browned the remaining Chanterelle and arranged it in the middle of a soup bowl with a pinch of alfalfa spouts. Voila!