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Mushroom and Chestnut Cream Soup

ingredients for 4 people 750g mixed mushrooms. 150g chestnut purée. 1 onion. 1/2 leek (white part only). 1 potato (about 120g). 1 liter vegetable or chicken stock. 80cc extra virgin olive oil. salt. freshly ground black pepper.   preparation Wash the chestnuts and with a sharp knife, make a cut in each one — don't cut too deep or they'll split, you just need to pierce through the outer shell. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the chestnuts, letting them bubble away for 5 to 8 minutes. Being careful not to burn your fingers, peel them one by one with a knife. The outer skin comes off easily enough; the inner skin, well, if your chestnuts are fresh and good quality, that'll take a bit more patience, but they turn out beautifully... Now they're ready to freeze, preserve in syrup, or in this case, turn into purée . Simmer them with a bit of water until they're completely soft, then blend them smooth. Fry the mushrooms in a deep pan wi...

Caramelized Banana with Coffee Granita


Every good celebration deserves an even better dessert!





Ingredients

for 4 people

  • 3 ripe, firm bananas
  • 150g sugar
  • 80g water + 2 tablespoons
  • 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

for the tuiles

  • 2 sheets phyllo pastry
  • 75g sugar
  • 50g water
  • instant coffee
  • pure cocoa powder (optional)

for the coffee granita

  • 2 strong coffees
  • sugar to taste

for the vanilla cream

  • 250g heavy cream
  • 1/2 vanilla bean
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 75g sugar
  • 2 and 1/2 sheets gelatin



Preparation

To make the tuiles, put the sugar and water in a pan, stir it around, and let it come to a boil. Take it off the heat so it stops boiling.
Heat your oven to 200°C.
Lay out the phyllo sheets on parchment paper and brush them with the syrup on both sides. Stack them one on top of the other, then cut them into 4 squares. Cut each square into 2 triangles, and fold each triangle in half to make a smaller triangle.
Dust the tops with instant coffee powder.
Or if you'd rather, use the cocoa powder instead. I've made them both ways and they're both lovely.
Bake until the pastry turns golden, about 3 to 4 minutes. These are the coffee ones.
And these are the cocoa ones.
Make the two coffees, sweeten them to your liking, and once they've cooled completely, pop them in the freezer for 8 to 10 hours.
For the vanilla cream, use a knife to split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Put everything — seeds, pod, and cream — into a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until it just starts to boil.
Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar. When the cream starts to boil, strain it and mix it into the yolks, whisking vigorously. Return the mixture to the stove over very low heat. Keep stirring with a wooden spoon until the cream coats the back of the spoon, like you see in the photo.
Stir in the well-squeezed gelatin sheets and let it cool down. Refrigerate for at least two hours.
To caramelize the bananas, put the 150g of sugar and 80g of water in a pan. Bring to a boil without stirring until it starts to turn golden. Add the lemon juice, the 2 tablespoons of water, and the bananas — peeled and sliced into rounds about 2 centimeters thick. Cook everything together over low heat for 4 to 5 minutes, being careful not to let the bananas fall apart.
Take it off the heat and set aside.
When you're ready to serve, spoon out four dollops of the vanilla cream (since it has gelatin, it'll be nicely set). Stick two tuiles into each portion and arrange pieces of caramelized banana in the center of the plate.
Drizzle a few drops of the banana caramel sauce around the plate. Scrape the frozen coffee with a fork to make the granita fluffy, and scatter it over the top.
Serve right away.
Enjoy your dessert!

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