Morel Mushroom Soup
Our dear Lizzie has quite the discerning palate -- and when I say discerning, I mean that she's impossibly picky, even for a toddler. Last May, we celebrated her second birthday at The Woodspeen near Newbury, which is a village about an hour west of London. Lizzie is partial to all things crunchy junk and food she can suck out of a packet -- she eats like an astronaut, by choice -- so we thought wild mushroom soup would have the best chance of making it past her tight, stubborn lips. To her credit, she did eat a couple spoonfuls, but alas, decided that wild mushroom was a bit too sophisticated for her two-year-old palate. So, Mom ended up eating Lizzie's soup as well (not complaining), alongside ballantine of pigeon (below photo) and lamb rump roast for lunch. Dad had scallops and monkfish. The soup was fabulous: intensely fungal, full of umami and rounded out with cream. The menu didn't say what kind of "wild mushrooms" were in the puree, but as it was morel s
