Cream of Shiitake Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

 * 1 quart milk, whole, low-fat or skim
 * 1 small onion, peeled and stuck with
 * 2 cloves
 * 6 whole peppercorns (or more)
 * 1 pinch salt
 * bouquet garni
 * :tie in cheesecloth
 * 6 fresh parsley stems
 * 1/2 tsp dried leaf thyme
 * 1/2 bay leaf
 * soup, con't
 * 4 tbsp rice flour
 * -(or barley or oat flour)
 * 4 tbsp cold milk (about)
 * 8 oz shiitake mushrooms
 * optional
 * 6 tbsp heavy cream
 * 2 tbsp madeira
 * reserved mushroom slices

Directions
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