Cream of salsify and mushroom soup

Posted By Tessie2.

Ingredients.

450 g Salsify ( 1 lb)
2 Onions, chopped
3 tb Sunflower oil
275 g Mushrooms (9 2/3 oz),
-- cleaned and roughly
-- chopped
1 tb Olive oil
1 l Water (2 1/8 pints)
25 g Butter (1 oz)
25 g Flour (1 oz)
1 1/2 dl Milk (1/4 pint)
Sea salt
Black pepper, freshly ground

Scrub the salsify in plenty of water, discard the ends of the roots and
cut into 1 cm (1/2 in) lengths. Soften the onions with the salsify in the
sunflower oil for 10 ... 15 minutes in a heavy, covered pan. Stir
occasionally to prevent sticking, as salsify is dry.

Meanwhile stew the mushrooms in the olive oil until they have given off
their liquid, reserve the liquid and add the mushrooms to the salsify and
onions. Cover with the water and bring to the boil; simmer for 20 minutes.

In a heavy pan, melt the butter, stir in the flour and gradually add first
the mushrooms-liquid, then the milk. When you have a thick sauce, slowly
stir in the liquid from the soup, add the vegetables and liquidize.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.



(Salsify is a long, thin, darkly earth-colored root, can be found in
green grocers shops in February, also available as preserved ; when
scrubbed, it is revealed to be white without an obvious outer skin. Also
known as "vegetable oysters" - some curiously salt, fishy flavor - or as
"poor people's asparagus")