Condensed Cream Soups

Ah, cream of mushroom soup.  That tasty little can of magic that can instantly transform everything from turkey noodle casserole and chicken ala king to scalloped potatoes to skillet chicken and rice to gravy into a masterpiece of deliciousness (and bring smiles to your family as they ooh and aah over your gourmet cooking abilities).  And the holidays just wouldn't be the same without all those lovely vegetable casseroles that sometimes call for not just one, but two cans (cream of celery, cream of chicken, cream of insert-anything-you-want) to make it extra creamy, rich, and delectable.

Gag.

I grew up on processed food.  Squishy white bread, boxed macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, frozen pizzas, and the ever-present casseroles made with cream of something soup and an envelope of some sort of instant seasoning.  As I grew older, I was able to skip a lot of those processed food, but the canned cream soups remained a staple.  I had just really never given it much thought - it was always in my pantry with all the rest of my staples of canned tomatoes, canned beans, and jarred spaghetti sauces.  After all, how in the world could I possibly make my favorite scalloped potatoes (my ideal comfort food) without it?

I bought a can for the first time in over a decade last week just for this entry.  In the aisle, I studied the ingredient labels of two brands, a leading brand and the store brand.  The leading brand sported an ingredient list of 13 things, seven of which I could easily identify.  The store brand's ingredient list was much more impressive; it had 16 ingredients, and I could identify the same 7 ingredients.  I chose the leading brand, even though it was 15 cents more expensive, because there were fewer things in the can.  It was almost painful for me to part with my $1.57 as I paid for it.  Oh, and I didn't even have to go to the grocery store to get it.  I bought it at a department store.  Yes, I did.  I also bought a great summer dress on clearance and some socks for my daughter in the same order.

Here are the ingredients in my tab-top, easy open can of cream of mushroom soup:

Water, Mushrooms, Vegetable Oil (Corn, Cottonseed, Canola and/or Soybean), Modified Food Starch, Wheat Flour, contains Less than 2% of: Cream (Milk), Salt, Dried Whey (Milk), Monosodium Glutamate, Soy Protein Concentrate, Yeast Extract, Flavoring, Dehydrated Garlic.

Mushrooms are the second ingredient, so that's good, right?  And vegetable oil I know - but which vegetable oil being used is going to remain a secret; we get to guess.  Wheat flour - good.  Cream and salt - makes sense.  Why the dried milk?  Wasn't cream already added?  Or did you notice that it says "Cream (Milk)"?  Last I checked, cream is the thick liquid that rises to the top, and milk is the liquid beneath it, and they are technically not the same thing, as the listing indicates by placing parenthesis around the word "milk". MSG?  That's a chemical flavor enhancer for those of you who didn't already know.  Gives me migranes.  The ubiquitous "Flavoring" made me laugh right out loud.  Yet another secret of the cream of mushroom soup.

Want to know what's in the condensed version of cream of mushroom soup that I've been using in place of this lovely little can?  Butter, mushrooms, flour, milk, salt and pepper.  That's it.  Sometimes I add a little garlic with the mushrooms, sometimes I add some thyme, because I like those flavors in my cream of mushroom soup, but at least I get to choose.  Not once do I reach for a bottle of mystery oil, a jar of MSG, modified food starch, concentrated soy protein or "flavoring".  And I don't use any water, which is the first ingredient listed.

And guess what.  It tastes better than the canned.  And guess what else.  It costs about the same, maybe less.  And one more thing.  It's easy and quick.  But the coolest thing?  I already had all of those things on hand.  They are all staples in my kitchen.  I didn't spend an extra $1.57 and that's just one more steel can I don't have to recycle.  Oh, and did I mention that my condensed cream of mushroom soup is organic and all natural?  It is because when I shop, I buy organic or all natural ingredients.

• Here is what you do to substitute your own condensed cream soup in your favorite recipes.  
• Heat a sauce pan over medium heat.  
• Melt 3 Tbs of unsalted butter.  
• Toss in one finely chopped portobello mushroom cap (about 1/2 cup) and saute until tender.  
• Stir in 3 Tbs flour* (see note).  Cook for about 30 seconds.
• Gradually add 1 cup of milk, stirring like crazy with a whisk or fork to avoid lumps.  Stir constantly for about 3-5 minutes, or until the soup comes to a very gentle boil and thickens.  
• Add some salt (about 1/2 tsp) and pepper to taste (add a pinch of dried thyme now if you like the flavor). 
• Remove from the heat.  

Saute mushrooms in butter

Stir in flour and cook 30 seconds

Add milk and stir like crazy

Voila!  You now have a condensed cream of mushroom soup.  Use the same as you would use the canned version.

The idea is the same with all condensed cream soups.  If you like cream of celery, cream of onion, cream of broccoli, you add about 1/2 c of the finely chopped vegetable, saute it in the 3Tbs butter (you can use olive oil if you really want to) add an equal amount of flour as fat (in this case, 3Tbs) and pour in 1 cup of milk.  For cream of chicken, you would use about 1/4c finely chopped chicken, the same butter/flour ratio, but  substitute 1/2 c of the milk with 1/2 cup chicken broth.

Click here for the printable Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup recipe.

*NOTE - If you use a dry milled flour with the germ, you will need less than 3 Tbs.  I recently switched to a white flour like this and found I only needed about 2 1/2 Tbs to achieve the desired results.