Chestnut and Celery Root Soup Recipe




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! 


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Individual Apple Crisp Recipe




Last week I got a shipment of SweeTango apples to try. New varieties of apples appear up now and again and the SweeTango is a relatively new one that's harvested the end of August and beginning of September. It's a very pretty apple with a bright mix of golden green and bright red. The SweeTango is a cross between a Honeycrisp and a Zestar apple. Honeycrisp is sweet and crisp and Zestar is juicy and zesty. The cross is a very good eating apple but you can use it for cooking too. It's a juicy apple so it doesn't need additional liquid and is best for recipes that are fairly quick cooking because it gets very soft when cooked. 

The SweeTango is perfect for apple crisp, which is super easy to make, easier than pie or even a cobbler. It's the kind of thing that takes only minutes to prepare, then you can pop it in the oven after or even during dinner. The smell of apples, butter and cinnamon might be the best thing about autumn. 

If you've ever ordered apple crisp in a restaurant, no doubt it was served in some kind of ramekin. Making individual portions of  apple crisp is particularly convenient for my household of two. Each apple crisp uses a single apple. I like adding cinnamon to the apples, but you could add it to the crumble topping if you prefer.




Individual Apple Crisp
makes 1 serving

Ingredients

1 medium apple such as SweeTango, peeled and diced
1/2 teaspoon sugar 
Cinnamon

1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
Pinch salt
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon rolled oats
1 Tablespoon walnuts or pecans chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to at 375� Toss apples with sugar and sprinkle with cinnamon. Place apples in a ramekin, pressing down and compressing the apples so they fit snuggly.  In a small bowl, combine flour, brown sugar and salt; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Blend in oats and nuts. Sprinkle over apples. Bake, uncovered, for 25 - 30 minutes or until brown on top.

Enjoy! 

Disclaimer: I received a sample of apples but was not paid to write this or any other post on Cooking with Amy


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Brussels Sprout Slaw with Apples & Walnuts Recipe



Brussels Sprouts Slaw with Apples & Walnut
This brussels sprout salad recipe is perfect for lovers and haters of the little cabbage-looking sprout. The flavor is so mild, that it barely has any cabbage flavor. Because the brussels sprouts are shredded, guests might not even know they are the basis for the dish. Sweet apples and toasted nuts add complexity and crunch. It's a nice balance of sweet, salty, crunchy, tangy with just a touch of richness from the walnuts and the oil.

Brussels sprout slaw is yet another recipe that was created out of "whatever was in the house." I will admit, laziness that keeps me from going to the store in turn inspires new recipes on a regular basis. In this case I had one apple and a bag of brussels sprouts. Back from a weekend out of town, I had no desire to go shopping. My original plan was to roast or saute them, but raw was a refreshing change from the expected. You could probably slice the brussels sprouts very thinly with a knife, but it's much easier to do in a food processor or with a mandolin. You do have a mandolin, right? Cheap Japanese ones are fine, just watch your fingers!

I've seen a number of brussels sprout salads, but very few of them are raw. I hope you will try a raw brussels sprout salad, mine or one of the others listed below. They are delicious and make a great side dish. I served mine as a side to spaghetti alla carbonara but it would go with any kind of roasted meat or chicken, fish, you-name-it. As with all recipes, adjust the seasonings to your taste.

Brussels Sprout Slaw with Apples and Walnuts
Serves 4 -6

Ingredients

1/2 lb brussels sprouts
1 green apple
2 green onions, white and pale green part only
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil (or walnut oil)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon Dijon style mustard
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted

Instructions

Shred the brussels sprouts using a mandolin or shredding blade in a food processor. Thinly slice the apple, then cut each slice into matchsticks. Thinly slice the green onions and toss with the shredded brussels sprouts and apple pieces. In a small bowl combine the cider vinegar, olive oil, salt and Dijon mustard. Toss the dressing with the salad, season with freshly ground pepper to taste and gently add the toasted walnuts. Allow to rest a room temperature for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

More Brussels Sprouts Salads & Slaws

Spicy Brussels Sprouts Salad with Almonds and Mint, from Molly Watson at About.com Local Foods
Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Fresh Walnuts and Pecorino, from Gourmet
Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Pecans and Mustard Seeds, from Whole Living/Martha Stewart
Brussels Sprouts Salad, from 101 Cookbooks
Stolen Salad, from The Food Section
Raw Brussels Sprouts Salad with Almonds and Parmesan, from Oprah magazine


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