1 qt Milk; whole, low-fat or skim

      1 sm Onion; peeled and stuck with

      2    Cloves

      6    Whole peppercorns (or more)

      1 pn Salt

-------------------------------BOUQUET GARNI-------------------------------
           :Tie in cheesecloth,
      6    Fresh parsley stems,

    1/2 ts Dried leaf thyme

    1/2    Bay leaf

--------------------------------SOUP, CON'T--------------------------------
      4 tb Rice flour

           -(or barley or oat flour)
      4 tb Cold milk (about)

      8 oz Shiitake mushrooms

----------------------------------OPTIONAL----------------------------------
      6 tb Heavy cream

      2 tb Madeira

           Reserved mushroom slices
  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.