Roasted Green Beans

I have recently become a big fan of roasting vegetables as a nice rustic side dish for heartier meals.  Today's recipe comes from my Thanksgiving dinner (a bit delayed in the posting, yes).  Rather than the "traditional" green bean casserole doused in soup, I wanted something with more of a bite and less heavy, since Thanksgiving meals are already so good at weighing us down without an added casserole masquerading as a healthy veggie side dish.

The setup is simple.  Veggies, olive oil, garlic, spices.  I roasted some root veggies for Christmas (sorry no pics) and followed the same system (carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips, turnips, garlic, olive oil, sage).

For this preparation I took fresh green beans with both ends chopped off, fresh scallions cut to the same length as the green beans, a couple tablespoons of minced garlic, fresh sage (~30 whole leaves), dried thyme (~2 tsp), and dried rosemary (~2 tsp).  I drizzled with olive oil (probably about 2 - 3 tbsp) and mixed until everything was lightly covered.

Lay the beans out on an oven rack and bake in a 400 degree oven for an hour.  Every 10-20 minutes or so I went through and tossed the beans with tongs to move them around on the tray so there was even cooking.

And that's it!  Once done you have some nice caramelization on parts of the beans, a good balance between crisp and "soggy" bites, and a good foundation for any of the gravies or sauces you'll be serving with your entree rather than coming to the party with its own sauce.

Roasted Chestnut Soup

A very (belated) Happy New Year to you all, dear readers.  I amassed a bit of a backlog of recipes from the holiday season, and with time permitting I can now bring you the pictures and instructions.  This first winter soup was made following a recipe created by Chef Paul Virant from Vie in Chicago (I must admit I had never heard of him or the restaurant either, but then again I don't follow the Chicago restaurant scene at all).

Chestnuts are typically stocked at your local grocer seasonally.  I once attempted to procure chestnuts in the summer, only to discover no market in San Francisco had them in stock.  But come Thanksgiving and suddenly everyone is all about the chestnuts.  Go figure.  (not to be mistaken for water chestnuts, which are always easy to find).  You typically can purchase chestnuts already shelled and in a jar or can soaked in water.

So here's the recipe:
3 tablespoons butter
1 stalk celery, chopped into one inch half moons
1 carrot, chopped into one inch half moons
1 onion, quartered and chopped into one inch half moons
2 tablespoon chopped rosemary
1 bay leaf
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth or stock
1 pound peeled chestnuts
½ cup cream
¼ pound bacon

Chop bacon strips into one-inch pieces and add to saute pan over medium-low heat.  Render the bacon and once cooked, remove with a slotted spoon, leaving behind the grease.

Next up add the celery, carrot and onion to same sauté pan over medium-to-low heat and sweat for 5 min, or until the vegetables become softer and translucent.

Add rosemary and chestnuts and cook for 5 more minutes.

Finally throw in the broth/stock and bay leaf, cook until chestnuts are tender and remove from heat.

Add cream and then puree the mixture until smooth, either with an immersion blender, or in an actual standing blender.

Garnish with the bacon and if you have any sage, feel free to fry some up and garnish with that as well.  This makes for a great seasonal cold-weather soup.