Converting old recipes with canned cream of mushroom soup and dry onion soup mix
Going through my Mom's 50-something-year-old recipe box -- some of the recipes sound really interesting except for the canned and dried soup stuff. I've used a thickened version of sticksnscones mushroom with thyme gravy with success -- any other thoughts?
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Gluten-Free Cream of Mushroom Soup
Olive oil for sauteing
1 lb. button mushrooms (or you can use fancier ones), sliced.
6 Tablespoons butter
2 cups chicken/vegetable broth
2 cups whole milk
6 Tablespoons flour (sweet rice flour preferably, but brown rice flour works ok too)
1 tsp Coleman’s dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper for a little kick (use less if you don't want so much spice)
Salt to taste (I used a tsp)
Freshly ground black pepper
Dash of garlic powder
First, saute your mushrooms in olive oil and set aside.
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, once it starts to bubble, add the flour to make a roux. Add the spices. Once the roux has cooked/bubbled for a few minutes, add the milk and broth. Whisk until the sauce thickens. Once the sauce has thickened, add back in the sauteed mushrooms. Cook for several minutes until heated through. Use as you would in any other cream of mushroom soup recipe (reconstituted).
I am such a snot about this. The only stuff I find appealing about Campbell's Soup are the pictures painted by Andy Warhol. I was frightened by my mom's tuna casserole as a child in the early 50s, and I've never gotten over my fear of Campbell's. I swore up and down that when I had kids of my own, I would never torture them with canned cream of anything.
The absolute worst is boxed stuffing mix topped with a canned vegetable of some sort and chicken parts smothered in an undiluted "cream" soup which is then sprinkled with a packet of dry onion soup, covered in foil and steam-baked. Shortly before serving, the foil is removed and the casserole is topped with cracker crumbs and drizzled with margarine and is baked for a few more minutes. A daughter-in-law's aunt served this and told us that if you put slices of fresh zucchini in it, "it tastes even more gourmet."
I think you need to analyze the contents of your treasure box on a recipe-by-recipe basis. I can see instances when a veloute (roux with stock) or a bechamel (roux with dairy) would work, and both are fairly quick, tasty and easy substitutions for a can of undiluted soup. I can see other instances when a cheese sauce would work, too.
As far as dried soup mixes are concerned, there are a lot of copycat recipes floating around, most involving dried onion flakes and granulated bouillon. If you're going to go there, you might as well just purchase a box of the original stuff--I see no reason to imitate an imitation.
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/green-beans-crispy-pancetta-mushrooms-shallots.aspx