Hearty Onion Mushroom Soup

I bought a bag of assorted onions at the grocery store and found cipollini's at our local Co-Op. I also bought 4 packages of mushrooms and knew this would either be for a special shrimp scampi, a stroganoff or a big pot of soup. Although I still have a lot of these ingredients...for now...Soup Won!

• 2+# purple, cipollini, white and yellow onions
• 6 big garlic cloves
• 2T rendered, strained chicken fat
• ¼-½t Penzeys Black and Red Spice
• 1-2t Rosemary Seasoning

• 12oz. washed, sliced mushrooms
• 10oz. scrubbed, unpeeled, sliced Yukon Gold potatoes
• 1-2T of rendered, strained bacon fat
• 3oz. sliced-cross-cut fresh spinach
• 1 quart homemade chicken bone broth

Saute' the onions and garlic in a cast iron skillet with the chicken fat.  Add the seasonings (the Penzeys spice is cayenne and black pepper) when everything's sizzling, and continue to saute' until the onions caramelize--they'll turn translucent, then brown and begin to stick to the bottom. Stir, and when they're as brown as you'd like, add about a cup of the broth. Stir, loosening all the brownings on the bottom. Turn off the heat.

In a 4 quart stock pot, combine the mushrooms, potato slices and bacon fat. Simmer and stir over medium heat. This will begin to stick a little, so add a little chicken broth once everything's a nice golden brown. Stir it well, then add the sliced spinach in a layer on top, but don't mix it in. Turn off the heat, add the onions in another layer to cover the spinach.  Cover the pot and just leave it for 10 minutes to steam the spinach.

Add the rest of the broth, stir gently to combine, turn the heat to low, cover and simmer at a very low bubble for another 10 minutes.  Turn off the heat until you're ready to serve.  This would be good with some crusty Italian bread or homemade croutons. Lots of warmth and flavor. Perfect for a chilly winter day. . .Lin