What You Need:
1 lb cremini mushrooms
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks
2 cups celery, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 cups yellow onions, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 garlic clove
8 cups beef stock
3 tsp tomato paste
bouquet garni (3 sprigs parsley, 3 sprigs fresh thyme, 1 bay leaf tied in cheesecloth)
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp dried dill plus more for garnish
(fresh is better, just triple the amount)
juice of ½ lemon
2 Tbsp Hungarian paprika
¾ cup sour cream plus more for garnish
What You Do:
Set aside 1 cup of mushrooms to be sliced and added later. Quarter the remaining mushrooms to be chopped.
By cupfuls, chop the quartered mushrooms in the Vita-Mix with speed set at Variable, 3, pulsing 10 times.
In a soup pot sauté the chopped mushrooms in 4 Tbsps of the butter.
Processing 1 cup at a time, chop the carrots, celery, onions, and garlic with Vita-Mix settings on Variable, 3. Chop each batch for 10 seconds.
Add the carrots, celery, onions and garlic to the mushrooms and sauté 5 minutes longer.
Stir in the beef stock, tomato paste, and bouquet garni. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Simmer, partially covered, for 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, sauté the remaining cup of sliced mushrooms in the remaining butter. Set aside for final assembly.
Remove the bouquet garni and stir in the sautéed mushrooms, dill, lemon juice, paprika, and sour cream. Heat gently. Do not boil or the sour cream may curdle.
Serve while warm, garnished with more sour cream and dill.
