Porcini Consommé

Porcini may be hard to find. But if you can not get hold of them in the gourmet markets you can use white mushrooms and dried porcini (they are readily available).

INGREDIENTS:

Number of servings

Servings: 4

List of ingredients

6 cups (1 ½l) vegetable stock

1 pound (½kg) porcini, cleaned, trimmed, and cut into ½-inch slices, or 1 pound button mushrooms, trimmed, cleaned, and sliced, plus 2 ounces dried porcini

5 black peppercorns

2 to 3 bay leaves

½ cinnamon stick

Fine sea salt

¼ cup (½dl) heavy (whipping) cream, whipped to soft peaks

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

PREPARATION:

• In a medium pot, bring the stock to a boil. Add the mushrooms, peppercorns, bay leaves, and cinnamon stick, reduce the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes. Skim off any foam that forms on the surface.

• Line a colander or large metal sieve with cheesecloth and strain the consommé into another pot, pressing gently on the mushrooms with a spoon to release as much liquid as possible. Discard the mushrooms and spices.

• Reheat the consommé and season with salt. Pour into bowls. Add a couple tablespoons of cream to each portion, sprinkle with cinnamon, and serve.