Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Mushroom soup and November colours.

A mushroom velouté is just what we need for the month of november. I used the ordinary champignon de Paris, the button mushroom, but the bolet from Bordeaux also makes an excellent velouté for a special evening since it is rather on the expensive side. If you are looking for a quick and inexpensive, but still delicious meal, this soup is it. It tastes of earth and forest and spectacular colours.

Mushroom soup.

  • 1 large onion
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • olive oil
  • 500 g champignon de Paris(button mushrooms)
  • 500 ml chicken stock (or vegetable stock for a vegetarian option)
  • 3Tsbp créme fraîche or thick cream
  • grated nutmeg
  • fresh thyme
  1. Peel and slice the onion. Peel and cut the garlic. Sauté the onion and garlic in a pot in some olive oil until translucent. Take care not to burn the garlic.
  2. Clean and slice the mushrooms and add to the onions.
  3. Add the chicken stock and thyme leaves and simmer for 30 minutes until the mushrooms are tender.
  4. Remove from the heat and mix with an electric blender until smooth.
  5. Add the cream and stir through. Season to taste with salt and pepper and grated nutmeg.
  6. Place back on heat and simmer on low heat for another 5- 10 minutes.
  7. Serve hot with toasted wholewheat country bread.

Suggestions:

  • Fry some coppa italian ham and serve on top of the soup.
  • Keep some mushrooms aside and fry to serve on top of the soup.
  • Replace the button mushrooms with cépes mushrooms (porcini mushrooms). Keep some aside and fry to serve on top with chopped fresh italian parsley.

Serves 4 people

Two mushrooms, oil on board, 15x15cm

November is still a beautiful month where all the leaves hang on for the last show of autumn. Greens and ochres and siennas come together in a magnificent explosion against bright and dark skies. Winds blow, the mist hang low in the valleys and heavy skies are preparing for winter rains. It is the month to store away garden furniture, bring fragile plants indoors and light evening fires. November is not really autumn any more, but it is not yet winter. It is whatever you want it to be.

Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Autumn with chestnuts, walnuts and prunes.

Autumn is the most melancholic time of year for me. It is also the most beautiful. Every time, when I drive off the road in my efforts to admire the colours, I think this year is the most beautiful I have seen. Then comes the next autumn and the same thoughts go through my mind. As well as driving off the road.

chestnuts, walnuts and prunes for autumn.

All over the villages in France, les fêtes d’automne are celebrating with enthusiasm ..well…autumn. With stalls of food and bric and bracs, dancing in the streets and musicians sounding with loud self confidence their sometimes false chords into the air. But who cares! Everybody is having fun.

Fete de la chataigne3One such a fete was la fête de chataigne at Beynat, close to home. An atmosphere of vivacity reigned..for me in any case.  Everything was there; Trophies for the best chestnut harvest. Traditional artisans who made their sabots and combed their wool, embroidered their linens and wove their baskets the old fashioned way. By hand, of course.You could buy roasted chestnuts, apples by the crate, walnuts, nutcrackers(of which I bought one, simply because I am too lame to say no!) the meal of the day was home made boudin(blood sausage) with…frites. The French love their frites at markets. The usual crepe a la nutella was ever popular.

Fete de la chataigne1 Fete de la chataigne

I have to admit that I love to go to all these markets, and fairs and fêtes and foires and brocantes. I love browsing and tasting, having coffee(but of course!) I love the atmosphere of exuberance and fun, touching stuff, turning it upside down. I love the smells of food finding its way to my nose. I love the excitement of finding a tiny something for a tiny price; a pot of home made confiture, a piece of sauccisson with walnuts(my favorite), or an old coffee cup or two…simply just for remembering a great morning.

chestnuts, walnuts and prunes for autumn.-005

So, did I buy a tiny something for a tiny price. Oh yes I did! Chestnuts.  For this delicious accompaniment. I ‘m not a big fan of chestnuts, but this dish is divine. I can eat it by the spoonful. It only consists of chestnuts, walnuts and prunes. Some butter(salted) and some chicken stock, or if you prefer, vegetable stock, in which case, it is completely vegetarian. The most fascinating aspect of this dish is that it is autumn at its best. It smells and looks and tastes like forest. OK, you might  need a little imagination and heaps of enthusiasm, but autumn is short. Enjoy it.

La recette:

  1. A handful of cleaned, cooked chestnuts. (It is much easier to buy the vacuum packed cleaned and cooked ones, just ready for use. It is quite an ordeal to clean and cook them. I will show how in a next post for this one is already starting to resemble a marathon.)
  2. A handful of prunes, seeds removed.
  3. A handful of walnuts, removed from the shells with the help of your fancy nutcracker.
  4. A big knob of butter
  5. A drizzle of  olive oil.
  6. A TBSP honey.
  7. Fresh thyme, milled black pepper and mixed spices.
  8. About 1 full cup of chicken stock(or vegetable stock for vegetarians)

≅ Heat the olive oil and salted butter in a frying pan. Add the chestnuts, prunes, mixed spices, milled pepper and fresh thyme (stripped from the stems). Sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the walnuts, honey and the chicken stock to the mixture. Leave to gently simmer on low heat just until the juices turned to a thick sauce. Remove from the heat. Serve with roasted chicken, rabbit or venison.

≅ Serves 4 people as accompaniment.

cooking 2014

à bientot

Ronelle