Hello Dearest Readers,

It’s the coziest season of them all.

How do you stay warm and cozy in the Fall?

While I’m delighted that the seasons are changing, I also anticipate the need for sustained rituals to support good mental health throughout the colder days. One of these is lighting my favorite candle, listening to music, and making soup.

The soup I will be talking about today is the last recipe I’ll review from Susan Semenac’s The Market Chronicles. I chose to make the “Mushroom and Chestnut soup”.

Admittedly, I couldn’t find roasted chestnuts anywhere. So, I chose the next best thing– cashews. They’re often used in vegan recipes to create silky textures in salad dressings and sauces due to their high volume of fat. So I thought, why not give this a whirl. YOLO, as the ancient wisemen say.

Here are the ingredients I used:

The first step is chopping up all your veggies and setting aside.

At this point, you will sauté the celery, leek and mushrooms until tender and add a pinch of salt and pepper. I also added some sherry towards the end for flavor depth and let that evaporate.

Once your veggies are tender, add them to whatever stock you prefer (I chose homemade chicken stock) along with the cashews. I know adding nuts to soup sounds unconventional, but trust the process!

Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes.

Once the 20 minutes are up, go ahead and blend this in small batches. Be mindful that the consistency of the soup will depend on how much stock is added to the blender. If you want a thicker soup, like a velouté, use less stock.

In the end, plate and add toppings. I used leftover sautéed mushrooms, parsley, chives, and added a bit of cream. I think some parmesan cheese would go with this as well. The result is a silky soup that is very rich, filling, and tasty. I recommend blending well, as the nuts require more time to break down and become smooth.

This is the final result:

The one mistake I made was not blending enough. It ended up being a bit … chunky, for lack of better words. Hence, my recommendation earlier to blend, blend, and blend some more. Otherwise, this was delightful. I can see it being the perfect meal for a cold evening. It’s adequate especially if you are lactose intolerant or vegetarian/vegan.

Well, my friends, I hope you enjoyed this post. I wish you a happy and joyful weekend & week ahead.

Evy