wednesday in the kitchen

I haven't written about my adventures in cooking in a really long time. Once school started, I sort of slowed down at bit - I'm still cooking most of the time, but I eat lunch at school during the week, and often make something pretty simple for dinner. Today, however, I was quite busy. Damien served this soup while we were at his place during vacation, and it's perfect for winter, which has started here. I don't know what to call it, but it sure is tasty.


1.5 kg carrots
1 red bell pepper
1 onion
1/2 of a Boursin cheese
bouquet garni (spices)
1 bullion cube
butter


Peel, chop, slice the vegetables, then sauté them in butter. I know, this sort of defeats the purpose of eating vegetable soup, but trust me, it's worth it.

Cover the vegetables with water, add a bullion cube and some bouquet garni. Cook until they're soft. Purée the vegetables until they're nice and smooth. This is easiest with a hand-held blender* like the one pictured, but since I don't have one in France (or at home, for that matter), I had to let the veggies cool and ladle them into the food processor. Then, stir in the Boursin until it melts.

And then I made a cake. Forget Mom's strawberry cake - this is my favorite dessert right now. And it's incredibly easy, if you can find the ingredients. I got the recipe from a co-worker who is allergic to gluten, and since there is no flour, this is one cake she can eat.

Fondant aux marrons
100g baking chocolate - here, they sell it by percent of chocolate. I used 70%.
100g butter
500g chestnut cream, flavored with sugar and vanilla
3 eggs

Melt the chocolate bar and butter in a double boiler. In a medium-sized bowl, add it to the chestnut cream. Whip the eggs with fork and add to the mixture. My recipe says to bake in a moule à cake (like a skinny loaf pan) for 45 minutes at 150° C, but I have to bake it for an hour and a half. I don't know if it's my oven or my cake pan. You could also make it in a square cake pan, but I'd cook it for less time. This is a very moist cake, so the toothpick test won't work; I just wiggle the pan, and if it's still soupy, I cook it for a bit longer.

Here's a different version I found online. No baking required for this one.

If you try these recipes, let me know what you think. And if you find the chestnut cream in the US, let me know where I can get some when I get home. Otherwise, I'll have to give all of my clothes to charity and bring back a suitcase of this stuff.

*This kitchen gadget would make a great birthday present in 2008...