Cream of Mushroom Soup

ay, I'm finally here with a soup recipe (...drumroll...)! I know the soups have not been my strongest suite. Many of you have pointed out that too. Funny how that works as I make quite a few variations of it at home but never really got around to posting any - which is very well evident from that fact that there is not a single soup on my blog even after posting over 200 recipes :D Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I am not much of a soup person myself. 
Alright, enough excuses and introspection. Now about the dish itself. Of the very few soups I like, this is definitely one of them. My first encounter with soup here in the US was the canned version. To put it simply, that encounter did not go very well, it was practically non-edible - and that left a scar. Until last week (I guess the scar healed) when after taking into account the feedback from my dear readers I suddenly realized that I used to like mushroom soup. Well you guessed it, I decided to make it for myself.

For a light meal I always opt for a salad and or a light sandwich sometimes over soup. Hubs on the other hand is a big soup person, poor guy remains soup deprived because of my limited soup repertoire lol. Actually, this was another motivating factor as he has been dropping subtle hints about this soup for quite a while now, until I took pity and decided to make it for him :D
Avoiding all the cream and butter and of course adding some Indian masala to give it that desi touch.

Ingredients:
Olive oil ............................... 2 tbsp
Unsalted butter ....................... 1 tbsp
Mushrooms ............................ 8 oz diced small (I use white button mushrooms)
Onion .................................. 1 small chopped fine
Garlic .................................. 3 large clove minced
Dry Italian seasoning/herbs ......... 1 tsp
Whole wheat flour or atta .......... 1 1/2 tbsp
Milk .................................... 2-3 cups (I use 2%)
Vegetable stock cube ................ 1
Nutmeg ................................ a pinch
Cheddar cheese ...................... 2 tbsp, optional (I use light cheddar)
Garam masala ......................... 1/8 tsp (optional)
Salt and pepper ...................... to taste

Method:
1. Add olive oil and butter to a pan over medium-high heat add garlic and mushrooms and saute for 6-8 min till golden and roasted.
2. Turn heat down to medium-low and add onion, herbs salt and stock cube. Cook until onion is softened (about 5 minutes). 
3. Add the flour and cook for another minute while stirring. Add in milk, pepper and bring to a boil. Boil gently for 2 minutes stirring constantly.
4. Turn heat on medium-low and gently simmer 7-10 minutes. Sprinkle the cheese, garam masala and nutmeg. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired. Garnish with some sauteed mushrooms. Serve hot. ENJOY!

Notes:
1. I have used whole wheat flour here but feel free to use all purpose flour instead if you so choose.
2. For the flower shaped crakers/toasts as shown in the picture, take some regular whole wheat sliced bread, cut it out with a flower shaped cookie cutter, sprinkle with some EVOO, salt, pepper and grated cheddar cheese and broil in the oven till golden and crispy.

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