Friday, November 15, 2013

FFwD: Chestnut-Pear Soup


Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is Chestnut-Pear Soup. A wonderful autumnal treat. Chestnuts make for a velvety, warming soup, and Dorie has added pears for an extra sweet touch.




As I already mentioned in my Danish Braid blog post for the Tuesdays with Dorie group last month, we have a chestnut tree in our garden and although our home-grown chestnuts are definitely smaller than the commercial cultivars from France, Italy or Spain that are available in stores and markets around here, for flavor, they simply cannot be beat.

To prepare the chestnuts for cooking or baking, make a slit in the shell of each chestnut and plunge them into a pan of boiling water. Bring back to the boil and simmer for three to four minutes. Drain, leave until cool enough to handle, then peel off the skin, including the thin, brown inner skin. Alternatively, you can roast and peel them.




Chestnuts are a wonderful and versatile seasonal ingredient in all manner of recipes, both savory and sweet. And they are fantastic in soup, where they behave more like beans, acting as a thickener and a great absorber of flavors.




Dorie´s recipe for the Chestnut-Pear Soup is simple and the ingredients required are mainly pantry items. For the soup you will need some unsalted butter, an onion, two leeks, and five celery stalks, sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, two ripe pears (I used two large “Williams Christ pears”), thyme or rosemary (I used a bit of both because I like the “woodsy” flavor that rosemary brings to chestnuts and pears), chicken stock (I used about four cups of homemade chicken stock), and a good two cups of cooked and peeled chestnuts.




The process of making the soup is much like making a regular cream soup – sauté the onion, leeks and celery, add the pears, herbs and then broth and chestnuts, simmer gently for about forty minutes, purée using a blender and serve really hot - we liked adding quite a bit of freshly ground pepper to this soup.




To finish the Chestnut-Pear Soup, I added a generous dollop of crème fraiche, parsnip chips and fresh sage leaves that I had previously fried in olive oil and lightly seasoned with sea salt.




This is definitely a rich and creamy soup and you should make sure to serve it as quickly as possible – if you can get your hands on fresh chestnuts, you should use those - sure, peeling them "can try the patience of a saint" (as one of my very favorite cooks would say), but the taste is definitely worth it.

To see how much the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed today´s recipe, please click here.

If you happen to own Dorie Greenspan´s book “Around my French Table”, you will find the recipe for the “Chestnut-Pear Soup” on page 82.



25 comments:

  1. First, about your chestnut tree....... Lucky you. Your picture of the chestnuts is a classic. Since I have never been accused of being saint-like, I guess I will have to keep paying the big bucks for chestnuts in a jar. I do look forward to roasting them over the holidays. Thank you for the technical info on preparing a chestnut for cooking or baking. Prepared parsnip chips? sage leaves? - Ms. Andrea, do you ever sleep? Just a gorgeous presentation and post. Do your kids know the poem "The Village Blacksmith" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (he is an ancestor on my father's side) ? Every American kid used to have to memorize it in school and I think your girls should read it. It begins, "Under a spreading chestnut tree......." Just the thot of that translated into German makes me smile.

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    1. Dear Mary, so let´s turn to a wonderful poem then. "The Village Blacksmith" is "Der Dorfschmied" in German and since this is a long poem and no translation available yet, I shall translate the last verse which reads in the original as follows:

      "Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
      For the lesson thou hast taught!
      Thus at the flaming forge of life
      Our fortunes must be wrought;
      Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
      Each burning deed and thought."

      In German I translated the following:"Ich danke Dir, mein treuer Freund, für die Lektion die du mir beigebracht hast. An der brennenden Schmiede des Lebens müssen wir unser Glück selbst schmieden, so wie jede Tat und jeder Gedanke auf dem klingenden Amboss Gestalt annimmt." - How does that sound..wonderful, I think! I will translate the rest for the girls!

      Thank you for the wonderful, inspirational comment, dear Mary!!!

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  2. How lucky to have your own Chestnut tree. Love your presentation - it is beautiful as always. Hope you have a great weekend.

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    1. Geraldine, yes lucky we are, a chesnut tree in the garden is wonderful - so glad thatyou enjoy my presentation of the Chestnut-Pear Soup - this is not the most photogenic of soups, I might add!

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  3. Love that you have a chestnut tree of your own! Envy! Thanks for how-to for the chestnuts and love love your parsnip chips! Soup's looking FAB!

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    1. Emily, thanks so much - the parsnip chipys are utterly delightful with this soup and just about anything else on this planet - we are presently addicted to these slightly salted, baked treats!

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  4. We have a chestnut tree but the animals have gotten most of our nuts. I had another tree too but we cut it down because when our kids were little their friends were getting really hurt from the thorns… they are seriously sharp. So glad your fresh chestnuts were worth the hassle, I am just not a patience soul.

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    1. Diane - just one piece of advice if I may "protective garden gloves" -- my kids all have a pair of their own and so do we. Since we have so many chesnuts, I most certainly will not let them go to waste.

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  5. Quelle belle idée pour un potage, si j'avais des châtaignes au Canada comme vous l'avez chez vous j'aurai définitivement essayé de le préparer.

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    1. Tu es tellement gentil, mon cher Nicolas! Mercie mille fois pour ton très gentil commentaire! J` espère sincèrement que tous vas bien à Montréal!
      Bisous!!!

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  6. How lovely that you have a chestnut tree in your yard, Andrea! You can't get more local than that! Our neighbor has a horse chestnut tree, which has a similar looking fruit, once out of the pod. I just looked it up, and, alas, the horse chestnut is toxic, Good thing I didn't try to eat those.. The parsnip chips look amazing. Do you just roast the chips on high heat? Or do you something else special? They make the soup look fun, in addition to more delicious. Have a lovely weekend, my friend.

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    1. Betsy, oh, do not eat those horse chestnuts, while animals are crazy about those, they are certainly not meant for human consumption! We usually collect them and bring them to an animal parc to feed the wild boars (can you believe it?!). The parsnip chips are easily made: using a potato peeler, peel the parsnips and continue using it or a mandoline, if you own one, to cut really thin, long slices. Then heat some olive oil with a high smoking point in a medium sized pan and let them sizzle away till golden brown. Drain on paper towels and season with coarse sea salt to taste. That´s all! They are utterly addictive! Thank you for the wonderful comment!

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  7. Wow would I love to have a chestnut tree in my yard! My aunt used to have one and she would send us bags of chestnuts every fall. Great photo of the chestnuts shedding there skin. Andrea, Your photos are gorgeous and so is your presentation! Glad this soup was enjoyed by you…I loved it’s velvety texture and nutty taste. A winner for me! Happy weekend, my friend!

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    1. Kathy, this soup was amazingly well received at our house - the kids loved the taste of the chestnuts (they always do) together with the sweetness that the pears brought to the soup! And I have already decided to make it again soon - while the chestnut season lasts! Thank you for the lovely comment, dear friend!

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  8. This soup was a real treat for us and I can only imagine how luscious yours tasted with the fresh chestnuts from your own tree. That is so special and all the more wonderful that you take advantage of it and actually take the time to use it's harvest. As always, your presentation is just stunning and you had me at the first shot...only to enjoy each photo that followed. And loved the parsnip crisps- I was so curious to see what that was and am wondering what the flavor is like (I may need to break down and actually try these ....:) I am playing catch up on your posts after getting a bit of a virus- all is well, just a few days set back. Your Compote de Pommes was rich and healthy looking, and I enjoyed seeing all the photos of the heritage apples at the apple fair. I love this time of year. And I believe your St. Martin's Day post is one of my all time favorites-perhaps in part because I am not familiar with this holiday so it was a complete and utter delight to see the lanterns, doughmen with pipes and those gorgeous crescents you made. Not to mention learning the history as well as how the holiday is currently celebrated in Europe (as well as by your girls:). The photos of the lanterns at night left a huge smile on my face. Thanks for sharing it all ~

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    1. Dear Tricia, I really want to thank you for the time you take to read through my numerous posts and ramblings about foods and their stories! It really means a lot to me to read all of your thoughtful and warm comments! So glad to get feedback on all posts but particularly on the St. Martin´s Day post which is very dear to my heart - I love that day, it kind of marks the begiining of the "festive season" for us and I can never seem to get enough of these lovely lanters and treats either! Thank you so very much, again, dear friend!

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  9. A stunning gorgeous feast for the eyes.
    I so much appreciate you, Andrea. xx

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    1. Kim, thank you so much - your comments mean the world to me!

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  10. A bit backwards in responding to the cake post first - I know it is cheating to buy precooked and peeled chestnuts, but it does mean my patience won't be tried! (Not that I am a saint... ) I love adding pears and apples to soups in the autumn - what a difference it makes. And I think your parsnip chip is perfection! How did you slice them? Did you bake the chips? Ich muss lernen, wie man diese Pastinake zumachen! (Pastinake is definitely new to my German vocabulary! :) ~ David

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  11. Your parsnip chip is a beautiful garnish...I was waiting for the big reveal :) Lucky you with the fresh chestnuts!

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  12. I am very envious of your lovely chesnut tree - I am sure they are wonderful.

    My grandmother always had walnut trees and I remember how much I used to love eating those once they had dried out. They were so much better than anything you could find in a store.

    Your presentation is gorgeous. The sage and parsnip trips were such a lovely idea.

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  13. Pear is such a hot produce item now. Pairing it w chestnuts is just brilliant - I love their creamy, nuttiness. YUM
    Danke! xo

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  14. What an intriguing combination dear Andrea! I love it though because I love chestnuts.and pears. I am envious of your chestnut tree! How fun to have that beauty in your garden. Thank you for the great recipe!

    Nazneen

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  15. What pretty garnishes! I love the fried sage and parsnip chips. You're smart to add some texture to this soup.

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  16. My gosh... I was drooling over your bundt cake and now the chestnut soup! I would be in chestnut heaven if I was at your house. And omg, your chestnuts looks so much more plump and fresh than what I bought... they don't look half good as yours. Seriously. But that's what I could (finally) found. I need 3 bowls of this with your boundt cake as dessert. Sounds like I'm so greedy... hehe.

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