Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Sweet potato and orange velouté.

A sweet potato soup is very similar in taste to a butternut soup, but it is much creamier. With fall in full swing, we make full use of all the root vegetables available, roasted in the oven, in soups, sautéed, braised. And sweet potatoes lend itself to all those cooking methods. Just in a soup, you can enjoy it in so many ways, see Pinch of salt down the post.

Recipe:

  • 1 large sweet potato(or about 800 g)
  • 1 large onion
  • 250 ml vegetable stock
  • 1 large orange
  • Peel of an orange, washed with the white flesh of the orange removed from the peel.
  • fresh sage leaves
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 slices of thinly sliced serrano ham
  • Cream to taste
  • Créme fraîche or thick cream
  1. Peel the onion, slice and add to some olive oil in a casserole. Sauté until translucent.
  2. Peel and cut the sweet potato in chunks. Add to the onions along with the stock and the orange peel.
  3. Simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes until very soft and tender.
  4. Remove from the heat and add the juice of the orange.
  5. Mix the soup with a hand blender until smooth and without lumps.
  6. Season with salt and pepper and add cream to taste. Mix and set aside.
  7. Heat some olive oil and fry the sage leaves for about 2 minuts until crispy. Drain on some kitchen towel.
  8. Fry the serrano ham in the same oil until slighly crispy and drain on kitchen towel.
  9. Serve the soup in bowls and to with a dollop of créme fraîche, a slice of ham and some crispy sage leaves.

Serves 4

Pinch of salt:

  • Omit the orange juice and add a clove of garlic, fresh thyme, chicken stock and grated nutmeg to the soup.
  • Add chopped fresh ginger along with the orange juice.
  • Add 125 ml white wine.
  • Add a bouquet garni (parsley stems, thyme, bay leaves & lemon peel wrapped and tied in the green part of a leek) along with the stock.
Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Wild mushrooms with lemon and nutmeg

It is time! For wild mushrooms! One of our favorite meals in autumn. We prefer it pretty simple, with either an omelette or a risotto or, as in this case, a crusty baguette. Bolets and girolles are sautéed in olive oil, a little knob of butter and served with lemon juice, nutmeg and a persillade(mix of shallots, garlic and parsley. It speaks of autumn and forest and cool days. And what else is autumn about after all.

I dont give exact quantities because it depends on the type of mushrooms you have and on your appetite. I used about 200g.

Bolets and girolles wild mushrooms

Recipe:

  • About 200g mix of different wild mushrooms like girolles, chanterelles, trompettes de mort, bolets, cepes and whatever safe edible ones you can find in the woods or on the market.
  • 1 onion or two shallots
  • A bouquet of fresh parsley
  • 1 big clove of garlic
  • juice of half a lemon
  • nutmeg
  • salt and pepper
  • olive oil
  • knob of butter
  1. Clean the mushrooms with a brush or rinse under running water and dry immediately with a dry towel.
  2. Melt the butter along with olive oil in a pan.
  3. Add the mushrooms and sauté until the mushrooms are almost tender and caramelized.
  4. Chop the onion or shallots and garlic and add to the mushrooms. Sauté for another few minutes until soft and translucent and the mushrooms caramelized.
  5. Add the chopped parsley, lemon juice and grated nutmeg to taste.
  6. Season with salt and pepper.
  7. Serve warm with crusty baguette and butter.

Serves 2 people

Girolles washed and dried with a dry towel and the bolets cleaned with a soft brush while the stems are scraped with a knife.

Pinch of salt:

  1. Mushrooms shrink a lot when cooked, so get more than you think you need..
  2. Don’t soak mushrooms in water, they absorb water very quickly and get soggy. I prefer to use asoft brush.
  3. Make sure you pick edible safe mushrooms when you go pick in the woods, or take to your pharmacist for identification.
  4. Serve sautéed wild mushrooms with an omelette or a risotto or top off a mushroom soup with a mix of wild mushrooms.
  5. A venison pie is delicious with wild mushrooms.