Cream of Mushroom Soup

I don't like using a lot of canned soups in cooking.  It isn't that I don't like the creamy taste, it is just the fact that it plops out of the can in such a weird manner that I am kind of grossed out by it and can't stand to use it very often.   Homemade cream of mushroom soup doesn't 'plop' like the canned soup, it doesn't taste like the canned soup, and it doesn't have as many weird/unhealthy sounding ingredients like the canned soup does.

The ingredients listed on a can of Healthy Cream of Mushroom soup are:
WATER, MUSHROOMS, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, WHEAT FLOUR, VEGETABLE OIL (CORN, COTTONSEED, CANOLA AND/OR SOYBEAN), SUGAR, SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, CREAM (MILK), CONTAINS LESS THAN 1 % OF: LOWER SODIUM NATURAL SEA SALT, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, SALT, CALCIUM CARBONATE, DEXTROSE, DISODIUM INOSINATE, DISODIUM GUANYLATE, SPICE EXTRACT, MALTODEXTRIN, FLAVORING, DEHYDRATED GARLIC, MUSHROOM POWDER.


Cream of Mushroom Soup
slightly adapted from Simply Recipes  (and made for 2, not 4)
Ingredients
8 ounces pound regular white mushrooms, cleaned, quartered or sliced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons minced red onion
1 teaspoon dried Italian Herb Blend (oregano, thyme, rosemary)
1/2 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 cups fat free half and half
3 tablespoons white cooking wine
3/4 cups chicken stock
3 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 3 tablespoons water
Minced parsley for garnish

Directions
1) In a food processor, coarsely chop mushrooms and lemon juice.
2) Melt butter in (4-5 quart) sauce pan and lightly sauté red onion on medium heat. Add mushrooms, Italian Herb blend, and bay leaf, sauté over moderate heat for 10-15 minutes, or until the liquid that is released from the mushrooms disappears.
3) Add salt, pepper, half and half, white wine, and chicken stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
4) Add cornstarch and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Correct seasoning and add more lemon juice to taste.

Serve sprinkled with a little parsley.

 
This soup came together quickly and was much easier than I was expecting it to be.  Even though it took more cornstarch than the original recipe called for, it still thickened up very nicely.  I was expecting it to taste heavy and thick, but it didn't taste either.  The mushroom flavor was great, and I could taste the addition of the white wine.  I thought it tasted like cream of mushroom soup should taste, minus all the preservatives that go into a can.  I think that this will definitely get made at our house again, especially when I run across a recipe that calls for canned cream of mushroom soup.