Thursday, 20th November 2008

Easy and spectacular – Chestnut-Cream-Soup with Sherry and Cinnamon

At these days you can buy chestnuts, or as we say “maroni”, everywhere. They are offered in small bags, with or without peel, pre-cooked and shrink-wrapped, not to lose much time to get them prepared.

I remember quite well when I tasted chestnut-cream-soup for the first time. It was about ten years ago. I went with my colleagues to the restaurant “Brauhaus zur Dicken Sophie” in Johanniskirchen near Munich. I ordered such a kind of soup and I was surprised about the marvellous taste.
So I decided to try to copy this creation. With the help of  all my experience, spices and of course a certain time investment I was really lucky. The result was a soup which was exactly matching with the wonderful soup I had tasted at the “Dicken Sophie” .
I decided to select this soup as starter for my Christmas-dinner this year. 
By the way, some days ago I served this soup to some of my friends. They where really impressed and asked me about the secret of this tasty creation.

As Christmas is near I think it is a good idea to offer your guests this wonderful chestnut-cream-soup with  sherry and cinnamon as well:

Directions:

1. Cut chestnuts into quarters.
2. Melt butter in a pot.
3. Add chestnuts and flour them with icing sugar – leave it to caramelise.
4. Add water –  let it recuce a little bit.
5. Puree it with a hand blender. If necessary add some more water to get the desired consistency (creamy or liquid).
6. Reheat gently, stirring in the sherry and cream. Do not boil again!
7. Season it with salt, nutmeg, cane sugar and cinnamon and check seasoning by tasting. 
8. Ladle the soup into individual bowls. Just before serving, spoon on a generous dollop of sour cream (if desired, then add two or three cheestnuts).