Mushroom Cappuccino Soup

Ingredients

300 g champignons

100 g porcini mushrooms

100 g dried porcini mushrooms

1 shallot

50 ml olive oil

550 ml milk

100 ml 20% cream

70 ml cognac

salt

ground black pepper

Cut the mushrooms as desired; the shape isn't important, but don't cut them too small. Defrost the porcini mushrooms first on the top shelf of the refrigerator.

Cut the onion into rings or cubes, as you prefer.

Pour just 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a saucepan and sauté the onion until it's golden brown and soft, so that the onion flavor disappears. Add the champignons and porcini mushrooms to the saucepan. The mushrooms need to be salted immediately because adding salt immediately draws moisture from the mushrooms, and this will become the broth in which our mushrooms will simmer! Let's simmer the mushrooms for a bit.

And now comes the most interesting part of the cooking process. We need to flambé our mushrooms. Pour (not to be confused with "drink") the cognac over the mushrooms.

Step back a bit and set it on fire.

Ah, how beautifully it burns! :) The alcohol evaporates, and all the flavor and aroma remains in the mushrooms.

As soon as the heat goes out, add milk and a small amount of cream to the pan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Oh, and don't forget to season the soup to your liking by adding a little freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste.

 Turn off the heat, use a blender, and puree the soup. If the soup seems too thick, add a little more milk. The soup is ready, now we need to whip up the foam—this will be the highlight of our soup! Take the milk, pour it into a small saucepan, add a small amount of olive oil, and bring to a boil. Take the blender and, at an angle (!), begin whipping the foam. If you use plain milk, the foam won't be stable; the olive oil tightens it, making it stable.

We're making a cappuccino soup, so we'll need a topping. We'll use dried mushrooms ground in a coffee grinder. This creates mushroom powder.

Pour the creamy soup into a cup, spoon the foam over it, and sprinkle with mushroom powder.

Enjoy!