Recipe: Mushroom Soup with Winter Sage

I originally wanted this to be a "winter thyme" mushroom soup. However when I went outside, all the thyme plants were submerged under the snow, so I had to substitute sage.

The sage gives a surprisingly good flavor to this soup, so use it generously.

Ingredients: (for 3 people)

• One onion, very thinly sliced (use a mandoline if you have one)
•  2-3 tablespoons butter
• Half of a 10 oz. package of white mushrooms, very thinly sliced (with the  mandoline)
• Some dried mushrooms, soaked in about a cup of hot water till soft (put mushrooms and water in microwave for 1 minute). Then slice. Keep the mushroom water
• 1 tsp. chicken base or chicken bouillon
• Two cups chicken broth
• Fresh sage

Using about 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan, saute the sliced onions till soft, carmelized and a golden chamois brown color. Add the sliced mushrooms, and cook till soft. Add the sliced rehydrated dried mushrooms and the mushroom soaking water. Add about 1 tsp of chicken base, and the two cups of chicken broth. Heat together for about 10 minutes.

Chop up several fresh sage leaves, and stir into the soup just before serving. After putting the soup into the serving bowls, add some more of the tinier sage leaves on the top of the soup,  as a garnish.