Recipe: Chestnut Cream Soup with Shaved Gala Apples and Toasted Sunflower Seeds

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From the Old Edwards Inn, Highlands, N.C.

Ingredients:

  • 1 lbs Chestnuts, peeled and quartered
  • 2 pc Shallots, peeled and diced
  • 2 pc Leeks (only white part!), washed and diced
  • 1 pc Garlic glove, peeled and diced
  • 0.5 cup White wine
  • 1.5 qt. Vegetable stock
  • 0.5 qt. Heavy cream
  • 1 tbsp Butter
  • 0.25 cup Honey
  • Salt and pepper
  • Nutmeg
  • 1 pc Apple (gala preferred) Shave very fine on a mandolin
  • 0.5 cup Toasted sunflower seeds

Preparation:

  • Bring a large pot to medium heat and add the butter
  • Sauté the shallots, leeks, garlic and chestnuts with the butter until they have a golden brown color
  • Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg
  • Add the honey and let it caramelize with the other ingredients for 2 minutes  
  • Deglaze with white wine and boil until all liquid is reduced
  • Add vegetable stock, bring to boil, cover with a lid and simmer until all ingredients are soft (this will take approximately ½ hour)
  • Add the heavy cream and bring to boil
  • Puree in a blender until smooth consistency is reached and season, if necessary to taste
  • Pour into a soup bowl and garnish with toasted sunflower seeds and shaved apples

Suggestions:

This soup recipe is very versatile for combinations with seafood such as sautéed scallops, smoked halibut and butter-poached lobster or meats like duck confit, sweetbread, rabbit or foie gras

Buy chestnuts already peeled.

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