Wild Mushroom Soup

Inspiration for this soup came from 101 Cookbooks. You know how crazy I get at the sight of mushrooms. Click on the 101 Cookbooks link above to see her much more fantastically photographed version of the above soup.) I made some tweaks to the recipe, and I think it turned out pretty delicious. Wild Mushroom Soup: 1/2 cup dry oyster shrooms (any combination of shrooms will work here, just be sure that at least some are dry) 3 cups water 1 tablespoon butter 1 leek stalk, coarsely chopped 2 small yellow potatoes, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1 cup cremini shrooms, coarsely chopped salt and pepper to taste 1 teaspoon dried rosemary parmasan cheese Soak dried mushrooms in a large pot with hot water for 15 minutes. Set aside. Heat butter in a skillet on stovetop and saute leeks and potatoes for about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper. (Next time I would use onion or shallots as they have a stronger flavor). Toss in the mushrooms and garlic and saute for a few minutes--you don't want the garlic to burn here, we just want the mushrooms to soak up some of the flavor of the butter and onions. Add the sauteed vegetables to the pot of soaking mushrooms. Add 2 more cups of water and bring mixture to a boil. Add rosemary and loads more salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Serve with parmasan cheese sprinkled on top.