A time for soup

By mykitchendiaries On February 1, 2008 · Leave a Comment

Lately, I am craving for my bed, a lot of sleep and soup! Chicken soup, leek and curry soup, fennel soup, celeriac and spinach soup… I just can’t get enough!

Not surprising you would say, with all those microbes and viruses running around lately: I am surrounded by running noses, low hoarse voices and feverish eyes… My dutchie and I didn’t make an exception to the rule and are both trying to cope the best we can. At least one good thing to the story: for once, I manage to have him eat soup without (hardly) any complaints!

In case you too are having trouble to crawl out of bed, desperatly looking for yet another pack of tissues, while your nose has nothing more to envy to the nose of that clown you laughed so much about at the christmas circus, I’d thought I would share a bowl of my favourite chestnut soup with you! It’s heartwarming, smooth and velvety… and it doesn’t only work great for colds: with a few thin slices of foie gras or of smoked duck breast, it’s a great starter to a fancy winter dinner!

Chestnut cream soup
Velouté de chataignes

serves 6 pers.
prep: 15 min. cook: 25 min

Ingredients:
500g steamed chestnuts (peeled),
900 ml chicken or turkey stock,
10cl liquid cream,
1 knob of butter,
1 small shallot, peeled and diced,
sea salt and pepper to taste,
Optional but so good: dices of fresh foie gras to garnish,

In a pan, sauteed half of the chestnuts with the knob of butter for 5 minuts. Lower the fire, add the remaining chestnuts, the shallot and cover with chicken bouillon and the liquid cream. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer covered for 20 to 25 minutes or until the chestnuts are soft. Leave to cool and mix until smooth using a blender (don’t add all the liquid at once so that you can adjust the texture to a velvety creamy soup). Before serving, warm up the soup on low heat. Serve the soup in individual bowls and for a real treat garnish with dices of fresh foie gras sprinkled with ‘fleur de sel’ and freshly crushed pepper.

Bon appétit!