Originally Posted by Jess – February 4, 2015
So for years, my grandmother (AKA Nan) has been trying to talk me into making a variation of this recipe. I’ve never been much interested because Glen used to despise mushrooms. Of course, when Glen and I met many years ago, his diet consisted of pretty standard foods- burgers and fries, the occasional steak, and hot dogs with ketchup (blasphemy!) Over the years, he has softened to many different kinds of foods, including mushrooms. Living with me, it was kind of hard for him not to try new things. Mushrooms went back on our household consumption list right around the time that I began to shy away from canned soups. Nan’s version of the recipe called for a can of cream of mushroom soup, and with so many fresh ingredients available, I just didn’t want to go there. More years passed and Nan would casually mention this recipe from time to time.
Anyhow, the planets finally aligned for this recipe to become a reality. We had a blade steak in the freezer, a bag of fresh button mushrooms in the share box, and Nan was over for a visit. It was a total trifecta!
I decided that instead of using a can of cream of mushroom soup, I’d make my own in the slow cooker.
I had a little bit of thyme and a little bit of time. (This thyme is, of course, from Springdell Farm.)
The mushrooms look raring to go!
Now that’s a cream of mushroom soup I can get behind!
I gave a quick sear to both sides of the blade steaks.
I then added the soup and simmered with an occasional flip until the steaks were tender, just short of a full hour. I added a little sherry wine to the simmer and it added an extra little something to the flavor.
This was great with some herb roasted fingerlings and a salad of fresh Springdell greens. The sauce consistency was a little watery as you can see, I definitely could have thickened it up with an immersion blender but left it as-is. Next time, I’ll scoop out some of the mushrooms and blend the rest before putting them back in. Regardless, this recipe passed Nan’s test, and Glen cleaned his plate, mushrooms and all!
The steak cooks best with lots of liquid to simmer in, but there will be some extra at the end. I saved mine and put it in the freezer for my next slow cooker recipe!
Slow Cooker Cream of Mushroom Soup
Lose the can. THIS is Cream of Mushroom soup.
Ingredients
1 tbsp amish roll butter
3 1/2 cups white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 cups of vegetable broth (preferably home made)
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
Instructions
Heat sauté pan on medium heat until brought to temperature, add butter and melt, then add onion and sauté a few minutes until clear. Remove from heat.
Add onions and everything else but the cream to the slow cooker.
Slow cook on low for 6 hours, or high for 3 hours.
Add the heavy cream to the soup.
Notes
I skipped this part for the blade steak, but you can thicken the soup in a blender or immersion blender and then slow cook for another 15 minutes or so.
Adapted from The Great American Slow Cooker Book by Mark Scarbrough