Chestnut and Celery Root Soup Recipe

11:56 AM , , , 0 Comments


My CSA or community supported agriculture box of produce from Eatwell Farms challenges me with every delivery this season. Bok choy? Cabbage? Celery root? Sure I have a recipe or two for each of those, but week after week and I get bored and need to find something new. As much as I love celery root salad and mash I think I've discovered a recipe I like even better, Chestnut and Celery Root Soup. It would be perfect to serve on Christmas or on New Year's Eve. 

This is the epitome of a shortcut recipe with few ingredients and a reliance on a couple of convenience items namely roasted, peeled and vacuum packed chestnuts I find at Trader Joe's and canned chicken broth. I've mentioned it before, but when I don't have homemade chicken broth, I find Swanson's to be the next best thing. The prep for this soup takes more time than the cooking and it's just a matter of peeling, slicing and dicing onions, celery root and an apple pear. 

Chestnut and Celery Root Soup is really very elegant and rich despite the fact that it has no cream in it. I took my inspiration from a Daniel Boulud recipe I found on Dorie Greenspan's blog, In the Kitchen and on the Road with Dorie Greenspan. That recipe is much more of a chef recipe than mine, but trust me, mine is delicious! It has lots of depth and  a nice balance of sweetness and earthy flavors. 


Chestnut and Celery Root Soup
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon oil
1 small onion, peeled and sliced thinly 
1 apple pear (you could use an apple or a pear if you prefer), peeled and diced
1 celery root, peeled and diced 
1 14.5 ounce can chicken broth or homemade
1/2 cup cooked and peeled chestnuts
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Nutmeg
Cream or sour cream, optional for garnish

Instructions

Heat the butter and oil in a saucepan. When the butter melts, add the onion. Cook gently for 5 minutes or until soft, then ad the pear and celery root and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth, then fill the can with water and add that as well. Simmer the soup for 10 minutes or until the celery root is very tender. 

Add the chestnuts to the soup and puree in the blender in batches until creamy. Season with salt and add a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg. Serve with a swirl of sour cream or cream and a few bits of chestnut if desired. 

Enjoy! 

0 comments:

Christmas Cakes & Drink Like a Kiwi and more

7:59 AM 0 Comments

My latest stories on Recipe.com and 7x7.com
The America's Cup is over, but our love affair with New Zealand is far from finished.

Stuart Brioza chef owner of State Bird Provisions, which won the James Beard award for Best New Restaurant, was a presenter at the CIA Worlds of Flavor conference earlier this month. We sat down to talk to him about one of the themes of the conference, creativity. 

0 comments:

Eggnog Product Taste Test

7:55 AM 0 Comments

The last time I made eggnog was in college. It was a recipe from one of the first cookbooks I ever owned, the Joy of Cooking, and it involved whipped egg whites and heavy cream, lots of sugar and brandy. It was voluminous, fluffy and delicious but a fair amount of work and it served an army. 

When the holidays roll around, I'm always tempted, but often disappointed by the eggnog available at the supermarket. This year I was sent a sample of eggnog from Organic Valley and was surprised by how good it was. It wasn't fluffy, but it was rich and creamy and it didn't have any strange flavors or weird texture. I wanted to see if other eggnogs were equally as good. Thanks to a connection at Whole Foods, the next thing I knew a handful of local food writers and bloggers were sitting around a table tasting eggnogs and also some desserts, cheeses (Uniekaas truffled gouda, oh la la!) a delectable baked spiral sliced Wellshire ham and wine for good measure (more about that later). 

Here are the results:

Califia Farms Holiday Nog (Almond milk): $3.99/48 oz
This is apparently a very popular eggnog this year, but our tasters didn't think much of it. It was a little bland and the texture was odd. Perhaps vegans like it? 

So Delicious Dairy-Free Nog (coconut milk): $2.99/quart, Non-GMO Project Verified
This was the most surprising eggnog, because none of us expected it to be very good. And yet all of us liked it! It was rich, had nice spice flavor and no artificial notes. BEST NON-DAIRY

Clover Stornetta Egg Nog: $3.99/quart or $6.49/half gallon
This was way too sweet. Not recommended. 

Organic Valley Eggnog: on sale at Whole Foods ‘til 1/1 for $3.99/quart (regular $4.99/quart). Organic.
Hand's down, the favorite among all the tasters. Really rich, the freshest and cleanest tasting of all the eggnogs and reasonably priced, especially considering the quality. It had a homemade taste and just the right notes of vanilla and nutmeg. WINNER

Traderspoint Creamery Eggnog: $7.49/quart. Organic, grassfed
We hoped this would be something special, but the spicing was too heavy and the texture not very creamy. 

Straus Family Creamery: $6.49/quart, Organic, Non-GMO Project Verified
A solid though pricey choice, it just wasn't nearly as good as the Organic Valley nog. 
RUNNER UP 

A big thank you to Whole Foods for hosting our little tasting party, Organic Valley for sending me a sample, and to my pals on the tasting panel. 

More? 
Check out Sean's review and Molly's review

0 comments:

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)