Chestnut Soup with Cheddar Puffs

Chestnuts are a typical winter holiday ingredient, particularly, in the Mediterranean cuisine. They have become popular and available all over the world, already precooked or roasted. So today, I want to share a recipe for an easy, yet sophisticated and tasty chestnut soup that can be served at an elegant dinner party.

It combines elements from three different recipes, which I tested to match the right ingredients. I think the final result is very good. The soup itself is easy and can be made a day ahead. But I think that what makes this soup truly delicious are the home made cheddar puffs spiced with rosemary, which accompany the soup and add the extra sharpness and flavor to its slightly sweet taste.

Home made puffs may seem difficult to make but in fact they are not. The pastry is cooked quickly in a pot and later baked in an oven. They also can be frozen and served cold or gently warmed up.



Chestnut Soup with Cheddar Puffs

The Soup

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked or roasted and peeled chestnuts,
2 small shallots chopped,
2 celery sticks, sliced,
2 tbsp olive oil,
1 cup of half-and-half or whole milk,
32 oz (4 cups) chicken or vegetable stock,
salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation:
1. Heat the oil in a large heavy duty pot. Add shallots and sliced celery and fry for about 3 minutes. Add chopped chestnuts and cook together for 2 minutes.



2. Pour in half-and-half or milk, cover the pot with a lid, and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Finally, add the stock and simmer the soup on on a low heat for 15-20 minutes.
4. Purée the soup using a food processor or a blender. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Cheddar-Rosemary Puffs

Ingredients:
1 cup flour all purpose,
1 stick unsalted butter,
1/2 tsp salt,
4 large eggs,
1 cup grated cheddar,
1/2 tsp baking powder.
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves.

Preparation:
1. Preheat an oven to 400 F. Grease a large baking form with butter.
2. In a medium pot boil a cup of water with a stick of butter and salt. Reduce the heat and quickly sift in flour, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon for about 2 minutes.



3. Remove the pot from the heat and cool slightly then add eggs beating well between each addition.
4. Stir in grated cheddar and chopped rosemary. Using a soup spoon scoop the dough puff by puff and place on the form.



5. Bake the puffs for about 30 minutes until they rise and become gold.
Serve them warm or at least in room temperature.

Chestnut Mousse with Persimmon Sauce--Dessert in no Time

Last year, when I shared a recipe based on chestnuts, it was a savory dish--cornish hens with chestnut stuffing. The chestnut season is upon us and I decided to experiment with chestnuts again. For this purpose, I bought several bags of the organic shelled and roasted chestnuts to make a dessert based on chestnuts.

I was inspired by the Italian cuisine and my Italian cookbooks where chestnuts appear often as a main ingredient of many desserts: cakes, creams, and mousses. I chose a chestnut mousse, a very simple dessert that can be prepared in no time. I was full of doubts how it would turn out after my chocolate and chestnut cake disappointment a few years ago. This time, I was pleasantly surprised.

I liked the taste of the mousse very much--it was delicate but chestnuts gave it a kind of earthy flavor. And the whole dessert was not too sweet. I also added a tablespoon of the hazelnut liqueur, which made it taste even more "earthy and nutty".

But I needed something extra to finish the whole dessert and create a nice presentation. I chose the persimmon sauce. Persimmons, like chestnuts, are typical fruits of the season. It was a good combination, since the delicate persimmons did not overshadow the taste of the chestnuts. Overall, chestnut mousse, although somewhat unusual, seemed interesting enough and very in season to be a Thanksgiving dinner dessert.

Chestnut Mousse with Persimmon Sauce
(Serves six)

Ingredients:
1 cup (7 oz) of roasted and shelled chestnuts, or a full cup of raw chestnuts,
1/4 cup of sugar,
1 tbsp of hazelnut (Frangelico) or walnut liqueur,
1 cup heavy whipping cream,
3 persimmons,
a pinch of cinnamon (optional),
juice from half a lime,
mint leaves to decorate.

Preparation:
1. If you use raw chestnuts, blanch them in boiling water for 5 minutes then drain and peel off. Put the peeled chestnuts in a small pot of boiling water and simmer for about 30 minutes. Drain them and chop. If you use cooked or roasted chestnuts just chopped them roughly.

2. Put sugar in a small pot, add two tbsp of water and bring to boil. Boil briefly stirring until sugar dissolves. Turn off the heat. Add to the pot chopped chestnuts and using a hand blender make purée. Let it cool down.
3. Add hazelnut liqueur and cinnamon, if you like. Mix well.
4. Pour heavy whipping cream into a medium bowl and beat until stiff. Add chestnuts purée in two batches gently folding in. Chill the mousse in a refrigerator for half an hour.

5. Meanwhile, peel off persimmons and remove the hard parts around the stem.

6. Cut two persimmons in small pieces, add lime juice and, using a hand blender, make a smooth sauce. Cut the third persimmon into slices and use for decoration before serving.
7. Remove the chestnut mousse from the refrigerator. Dip a soup spoon in a hot water, get a spoon of mousse and place two spoons on each serving plate. Drizzle with persimmon sauce, decorate with persimmon slices and mint, and serve.