Narnia Menu: “The Dufflepuds’ Mushroom Soup”

Image source: http://narnia.wikia.com/wiki/Dufflepud

By Astrid Tuttle Winegar

Lucy, Edmund, and Eustace share a meal prepared and served by the Dufflepuds. It was… well, interesting, to put it mildly. It was also particularly messy, since their invisible hosts “progressed up the long dining-hall in a series of bounds or jumps. […] When the dish contained anything like soup or stew the result was rather disastrous.” Then, of course, there were the conversations: “What I always say is, when a chap’s hungry, he likes some victuals,” or “Getting dark now; always does at night,” or even “Ah, you’ve come over the water. Powerful wet stuff, ain’t it?”

Actually, to me, these sound like corny jokes you’d hear from your dad or grandpa; it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to hear my husband use one of those lines on our grandsons, merely substituting “guy” for “chap” and “food” for “victuals.” Regardless, the children are served a “good meal,” though Eustace regretted drinking any mead. The Dufflepuds serve a mushroom soup and I hope you will like this hearty version I’ve dreamed up. Try not to jump very high when you serve it, however.

“The Dufflepuds’ Mushroom Soup”

2 tablespoons salted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons dry mustard

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1½ teaspoons dry dill weed

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon cayenne

1 cup minced celery

1 cup minced onion

1 pound cremini mushrooms (baby portabellas), thinly sliced

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 quart low-sodium chicken broth (vegetable is fine as well)

1 cup heavy cream

Combine the butter through the salt in a 6-quart saucepan over rather high heat until melted. Add the celery and onion and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the mushrooms and sauté another 5 minutes over rather high heat. Stir frequently and scrape up any brown bits. Add the flour and mix in. Add the broth and mix it in. Bring to a boil, then simmer 40 minutes, covered, on lowest heat. Stir a few times. Pour the cream in slowly and mix in. Raise heat to medium/high and cook 5 minutes, uncovered. Stir a few times. Season, if desired. Cover and chill leftovers. Serves 4-6.

Astrid Tuttle Winegar is the author of Cooking for Halflings & Monsters: 111 Comfy, Cozy Recipes for Fantasy-Loving Souls, which is currently available exclusively in e-book form on the Amazon Kindle, but will soon be released by Oloris Publishing! Stay tuned for details. For now, she is mostly telling a culinary Middle-earth story here on Legendarium. Astrid has loved C. S. Lewis since childhood, J. R. R. Tolkien since middle and high school, all Star things, both Trek and Wars, all things Whedon, and many other things besides… She lives in the enchanted city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her husband and dog. She blogs occasionally at Cooking for Halflings & Monsters. You can check out (and like!) her Facebook page or visit (and follow!) her Twitter feed. Staff Reporter.