I can remember traveling through Burgundy, France, near the little village of Beaune, and in the back of the hotel where we stayed was the most beautiful private garden full of leeks and cauliflower so big - it was unbelievable.
Every time I need a few leeks for a recipe, I always see them in bunches of 3-4, way too much for whatever recipe I am making. Last week I was surprised to see them at Wegmans, nicely washed and cut into pieces, packaged and ready to go. How great is that ?
Unfortunately, I did not like this soup, cleaned leeks or not. I tried and only made half the recipe for the two of us, but it was still a bit too bland.
That said, I have not given up on creamed soups.
Per Tricia~
Guess where I got my leeks ? Yup, lucked out. (Thanks Nana !) I also lucked out because I did not get to the soup as originally planned..... which worked quite well for my little pears, which ended up accidentally and perfectly ripe to perfection on the day I did knock out the recipe.
My husband and I loved this one. The taste and the texture. Which was great since I did not think of halving the recipe and instead had a nice big pot of it. One thing I know I will tweak the next time around is to tone down the amount of fresh rosemary.
I think my sprigs were a bit large and the flavor came dangerously close to overpowering the other ingredients. My husband commented that he didn't taste chestnut flavor at all. Since there was an almost $10 jar of that pot of soup, this did make me think twice.
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| my little Turkey Day place setting pear candles got in the themed shot ! |
Happy French Friday !
I"m glad you aren't giving up on creamed soups! Esp. since this isn't one. lol. If you added cream it would really tone things down and perhaps that is why it was bland. As I will do when savory foods have 'sweet' in them I tend to amp the heat so I made sure there was 'pepper heat' to be had in my version. I used half thyme and half rosemary and I had to pat myself on the back for that inspiration as it tasted brilliant. This is a great shot too and I love those mini pumpkin tureens! Just perfect for this soup.
ReplyDeleteOh, I love that pumpkin bowl! So cute!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nana, this soup did not work for me. Love the pumpkin tureen.
ReplyDeleteI liked this one a lot but agree that some might find it bland. But hey, like some, not others, t'is the way of the Doristas!
ReplyDeleteNana, Nana, Nana, you are not the first to call this soup bland but I felt mine was really flavorful. I was prepared not to like it at all but was won over by the flavor. Or, it may be that the chestnuts cost me so damn much that I "willed" myself to enjoy it. Seriously, I did like this soup and will make it again. I chose to go chunky but will smooth it out for company. Tricia, love the pear candles. Your whole themed setting just says "tGobbleGobble" to me.
ReplyDeleteNana, sorry that this soup did not jive for you, but good to have tried making it!
ReplyDeleteTricia, love that Turkey Day setting picture!
I think how well roasted the chestnuts were and how ripe the pears makes a big difference in the taste of this soup, sorry it didn't work for you.
ReplyDeleteNana, sorry this one was not a winner for you…my husband wouldn’t even give it a try! I’m with Tricia on this one though…I loved it! And I love your Pumpkin soup bowl, Tricia…I have one of those and should have thought to use it…your photo is gorgeous! Have a nice weekend, ladies!
ReplyDeleteNana, sorry you didn't enjoy this one. I will say that adding some crumbled blue cheese sounds like the perfect topper. I'm going to keep that in mind if I make it again. I also wanted to mention that I have had good luck slicing washed leeks and freezing them in ziplock bags. When the bunches are big, I do that with the extra so I can use leeks again for another recipe. I do enjoy them in soup.
ReplyDeleteTricia, your food styling gets an A+ this week. I love the tureen and pear candles. Your Thanksgiving table will be gorgeous (assuming you, not Nana, is hosting).
I want some of those washed leeks - brilliant idea! Sorry it wasn't for you Nana. Tricia, glad you and hubby liked this one - the consensus among the husbands is hat they didn't like this! I thought it was quite tasty myself.
ReplyDeleteWow, I love that this is both filling a hot bowl
ReplyDeleteNana: although this was probably not your very favorite cream soup, it looks quite wonderful and delicious - I love the picture of the whole chestnuts too!
ReplyDeleteTricia: your Chestnut-Pear Soup looks like utter bliss in a very pretty soup bowl and, yes, I noticed those pear shaped candles. So very nice for a seasonal table setting. Your soup looks so creamy with such a lovely color. Glad that you and your husband enjoyed it so much - same at our household, none left after dinner and my husband liked it so much that I had to promise to stock-up on some more fresh chesnuts (as all are gone from our tree) and make this soup again!
I also wanted to thank you so much for all your wonderful and thoughtful comments on my blog - I really appreciate getting friendly feedback on my posts and my pictures - makes it all worth the time it does take to put these posts together!
Have a wonderful week, ladies and I hope all are well and healthy again!
Nana - sorry this wasn't a hit for you. I love leeks, so will take them however they are bundled :-)
ReplyDeleteNow Tricia - I love that table setting. In my house, everyone is lucky to get a full set of silverware AND a napkin. The other stuff, well... we won't talk about that.
I'm with Tricia on this one; we enjoyed it. Nana, I'm sorry you didn't like it. Hopefully you'll like the next one better. Tricia, I love your pumpkin serving dish. What fun!
ReplyDeleteI was a bit surprised that we liked this one. That said, I probably won't make this again because smooth, creamy soups aren't my favorites.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I love the pumpkin soup bowl!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful soups ladies!! Just wanted to drop by and wish both of you a very Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Cooking ;)
ReplyDelete