Especially for my Aunt Barbara--Lentil Mushroom Soup

I've been tossing around this recipe in my head for a while. I was going for hearty without being too heavy, so no cream in this one. A dollop of sour cream, on the other hand, may work for your palate (it did for mine, though not for Nexx).

First, the fungus:

4 oz dried crepe mushrooms

1 cup sliced crimini mushrooms

.5 cup chopped shitake mushroom stems (I'm using the caps in lettuce wraps)

A little aromatic:

3 cloves of garlic minced

1 cup of onion finally chopped

A bit of legume:

one cup dried brown lentils

Some fat:

2 T butter

This and that:

6 cups boiling water

2 cups beef broth 

1 T dried thyme

Worcestershire sauce

salt to taste

Stir the dried mushrooms into the boiling water, turn off the heat and let sit for about an hour. While they are sitting, melt 1/2 the butter in a small pan and sautee the shitake stems with a little Worcestershire sauce. Remove from pan, add the other T of butter and the onions, stir on low heat until the onions turn golden and add the garlic. Continue stirring until onions are dark brown and carmelized.

After your hour has passed, add the onions & garlic, crimini shrooms, the lentils, thyme and salt, still well and put the heat up to medium high. Stir in beef broth and bring to a low boil. Turn heat down to low and let it simmer for about an hour or until lentils are soft.

This was served alongside some leftover roast pork. I will be doing this again, this time adding parsley, a touch of lemon and some cayenne. There may also be beer involved, as soon as I figure out which one. 

So now this week's mission is to drink several different kinds of beer. Challenge Accepted!