Last night the house republicans passed their country-torching reconciliation bill. It’s astonishingly bad. Bad for almost everyone except the very rich and not only that, it’s beyond fiscally irresponsible. Today is 5/23/25.

“Fiscally irresponsible” should apply to unfair tax laws that would require an opposing party to tweak the regs later for a course correction and not to a bill that shoves the American economy off a cliff. We’re talking generational damage.

Also: the bill is morally repugnant. They do not care, the GOP, who they kill or how many they kill. They do not care.

So I made soup. And I offer you the recipe. It’s important to nourish ourselves and our loved ones.

Mushroom Bisque

This yummy soup is based on a recipe devised by personal chef Elizabeth Germain’s uncle, Arthur Grasso. Grasso ran a restaurant and wrote a cookbook called, The Tulip Tree Cook Book. Please note that just because a recipe is easy to prepare doesn’t mean it won’t produce an off-the-charts delicious dish.

Because this recipe uses one pot and an immersion blender, prep is streamlined. Rough chopping the veggies allows speed and gives you time to make croutons, an especially nice touch with this creamy soup.

Today’s variation is below. Note that this recipe is forgiving. For instance, today I omitted celery and parsley and it was just fine.

Ingredients

Olive oil to coat the pan and two tablespoons butter.

One big onion, rough chopped

Four cups or so or rough chopped mushrooms, stems included

A fist-sized potato chopped into cubes (no need to peel if using Yukon Golds)

One carrot, chopped (no need to peel)

Chicken stock

Dashes of nutmeg and cayenne

Salt and pepper

A splash of heavy cream in the serving bowl (not necessary) (3 tablespoons?)

Steps

In a mix of olive oil and butter, sauté the onions a little before adding the mushrooms and then the carrots and potatoes. Depending on how much liquid the mushrooms release, you might need to add a little more oil. You want the onions and mushrooms cooked down and covered with the fats before adding any liquid. Add salt and pepper, cayenne, nutmeg.

Pour in your chicken stock. Homemade is best but honestly boxed or bouillon (or a combo) is just fine. Today I used 3/4 of a box of organic stock and 1 and 1/2 cups water with a tablespoon of jarred chicken bouillon.

Also, I threw in the two cloves of garlic and the sprig of rosemary from the crouton-making (see below).

Cook until potatoes and carrots are soft. If you added an herbal sprig, be sure to remove before the final step.

Blend. Adjust for salt and pepper. Always needs more salt in my estimation.

Puddle a little heavy cream in a bowl and add three ladles of soup. Stir. Add croutons. Go to Heaven.

Note: even without heavy cream, the soup is creamy and delicious. Also, sometimes, I add a dollop of cream fraiche at the end instead of cream.

Croutons

I toast sourdough cubes in the oven (crusts removed) and then brown them in an iron skillet with olive oil, herbs (here fresh rosemary), and two cloves of garlic. Stir. Add salt and pepper.

Save the crusts to make homemade bread crumbs at another time.

Note: As Grasso directs, I do sometimes sauté mushroom caps and dice them to add at the end. It adds a nice texture. Not necessary though, especially if you really want to keep it easy.

Today I forgot the fresh parsley. It’s always a nice addition.