Coconut Celery Cream of Mushroom Soup

This a dairy-free vegan cream of mushroom type soup. It is absolutely stellar, especially the next day.

1 stalk to celery
1/2 a medium onion
6 cloves of garlic
1 large bag of white mushrooms*
1/3 c. assorted dried mushrooms
1/2 tbsp. powdered ginger
1 tbsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
pinch powdered cloves.
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cans of coconut milk (or equivalent home made)
6 cups water
salt & pepper

*A large bag of mushrooms, to me, looks something like 8 cups, loosely packed and uncut.

Rehydrate the dried mushrooms in a 2c. mason jar, keeping the liquid for the soup. Wash and prep the mushrooms, wiping dirt off with a dish towel. Pull the stems out, remove any very tough spots, and finely chop them. Slice the mushroom heads and set aside all the nice pieces - combine any broken bits back with the stems. Finely chop celery, garlic and onion.

In a good size pot on medium heat saute onions and celery until soft. Add garlic and mushroom stems and cook a bit longer, careful not to brown. Remove from heat, add coconut milk and re-hydrated mushrooms and blend thoroughly with a stick blender.

Return to heat, add water, bay leaf, thyme, ginger, clove, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, check seasoning and add large mushroom slices. Simmer on low 15-20 minutes until flavors have mingled and mushrooms are tender and chewy.