Cream Of Shiitake Mushroom Soup

In a letter written from prison, Paul requested Timothy to bring him “the books” (2 Tim. 4:13). Charles Spurgeon, the nineteenth-century “prince of preachers,” expressed amazement at such a request from Paul: “He is inspired, and yet he wants books! He has been preaching at least for thirty years, and yet he wants books! He had seen the Lord, and yet he wants books! He had had a wider experience than most men, and yet he wants books! He had been caught up into the third heaven, and had heard things which it was unlawful for a men to utter, yet he wants books! He had written the major part of the New Testament, and yet he wants books! Spurgeon then reminds us, “He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains proves he has no brains of his own.”

Bob Kauflin

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Vegetables, Dairy	Vegetarian	Kump, Low-cal, Low-fat, Soups, Vegetarian	4	Servings

INGREDIENTS

1	qt	Milk, whole low-fat or skim
1		Onion, peeled and stuck with
2		Cloves
6		Whole peppercorns, or more
1	pn	Salt
		:Tie in cheesecloth
6		Fresh parsley stems
1/2	t	Dried leaf thyme
1/2		Bay leaf
4	T	Rice flour
		or barley or oat flour
4	T	Cold milk, about
8	oz	Shiitake mushrooms
6	T	Heavy cream
2	T	Madeira
		Reserved mushroom slices

INSTRUCTIONS

This rich, earthy soup has but 100 calories per serving if made with
non-fat milk.  PLACE THE MILK, ONION, peppercorns, salt and bouquet
garni in a  saucepan and bring slowly to a boil. Form a smooth paste of
the rice  flour and the cold milk. Put into the just-boiling milk and
stir  briskly until there are no lumps. Simmer over very low heat for
20  minutes. Meanwhile, cut off the tough ends of the mushroom stems.
Reserve a few mushroom slices for garnish and chop the remaining
mushrooms coarsely, then place in a food processor with a steel blade
and chop as finely as possible. Strain the milk mixture through a  fine
sieve back into the saucepan; add the chopped mushrooms and  continue
simmering 5 minutes. Add the cream and Madeira, if you wish,  and serve
in hot bowls, garnished with a slice of mushroom.  From Gemini's
MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

A Message from our Provider:

“An active faith can give thanks for a promise, though it be not as yet performed, knowing that God’s bonds are as good as ready money. #Matthew Henry”

Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients) ---------------------------------------------- Calories: 697 Calories From Fat: 315 Total Fat: 35.9g Cholesterol: 102.1mg Sodium: 953.9mg Potassium: 1280.1mg Carbohydrates: 58.5g Fiber: 7.8g Sugar: 3.6g Protein: 43.2g

If Jesus were not raised from the dead, the disciples were at best fools, and at worst, liars. What we know about the Christian life comes from the pen of men moved and guided by God to write the words we call the New Testament. The original apostles died martyrs’ deaths on the basis of their belief that the resurrection took place just as predicted, and that they saw Him alive again. If it were not true, then they were either duped, or else they fabricated the resurrection as a means to shore up the movement. But would they pay the ultimate price for a lie they had manufactured in order to have a job? Not so. Paul speaks of the absurdity of this in the following way: “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ “(1 Cor. 15:14-15).

Jim Elliff