I have a new piece appearing today on NPR’s weekly Kitchen Window column: this one is all about putting together a cheese platter, how to serve it and what to enjoy it with.

And on the picture above, you will recognize — from left to right — an ash-coated goat cheese from the Deux-Sèvres, a Pont-l’Evêque from Normandy, and a Perail des Cabasses, a sheep’s milk cheese from Aveyron.

(Previous contributions to Kitchen Window:
– Fresh Herb Muffins
– Cherry Soup with Hazelnut Rosemary Tuiles
– Artichoke and Goat Cheese Mille-feuille,
– Asparagus Confit with Almonds and Rosemary,
– Chocolate and Candied Ginger Tartlets.)

[Carrot Chestnut Soup]

Fall officially came into office barely a week ago, and while the weather hasn’t been particularly drab (we’ve even had a few unseasonally beautiful days), it seems as though a giant switch had been flicked in some great control room somewhere: all of a sudden, with no warning at all, I felt like eating soup.

So. Veggies were purchased, a cocotte was whipped out (this is just a manner of speaking considering the weight of it, but ’tis the spirit that counts), and this carrot chestnut soup was improvized.

In fact, I fully intended to make a leek and carrot soup, but just as I was looking for onions in our onions-and-miscellaneous-other-things drawer, I spotted a half-open package of brise de châtaigne, purchased at the Salon Saveur last spring. Brise de châtaigne could be described as tiny nuggets of dried chestnuts. I had first discovered it at the previous spring edition of that food show, had enjoyed it tremendously — as illustrated by these galettes for instance — and was looking for new ways to use it.

Brise de châtaigne works really well in this soup: it cooks side by side with the carrots, and both ingredients are such good friends in terms of flavor and texture that they team up beautifully to create one hearty and velvety soup, with plenty of aromatic subtleties (the caraway seeds bring in a nice touch without talking too loud) and a delightful sweetness, the perfect fit for autumnal moods.

Note: I have indicated chestnut substitutions in the recipe, but if you’d like to try brise de châtaigne for yourself you can contact the producer, Maurice Zerathe, at +33 (0)4 75 39 26 39 and enquire about the cost of shipping and handling for the number of packages you would like and where you want them shipped.

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Pimentón de la Vera is a paprika-like powder made of smoked and ground chilli peppers, produced in Extremadura, one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. Extremadura is in the South-West of Spain, close to Portugal, and it is in fact where the first chilli peppers were introduced as they were brought back from the New World.

Pimentón is made from pimientos that are grown locally, and then slowly dried over an oakwood fire. The process lasts for ten to fifteen days, during which the peppers are constantly hand-turned, until they are completely dried and infused with smoke flavors. They are then transferred to a manufacture where the stem and seeds are discarded, and the flesh is ground to a super-fine, brick-red powder.

I get particularly excited about “magic” spices that shake up any dish you put them in, and lend it an unusual depth of flavour.

Initially made by monks from a Yuste monastery in the 16th century, pimentón progressively grew to become a regional specialty, and was awarded a Denominación de Origen to certify its quality and authenticity. It was the first chili pepper to be thus protected, just before the piment d’Espelette. About a dozen producers are currently allowed to call their chili powder Pimentón de la Vera, and their little tins are marked with a special numbered label.

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[Rice Cakes]

“Waste not, want not“, saith popular wisdom. I do hate having to throw out good ingredients or tasty leftovers. I generally strive to make the most of my supplies, and in fact it’s an excellent exercise for your creative muscles to try and find ways to do so. But I have to admit it’s a constant battle between this thrifty side of me and the other one, who rolls her eyes and moans, “We’ve eaten that twice already, can we please move on to something else?”

So I could have thrown out the leftover basmati rice that we had in the fridge, but decided instead to make little rice cakes, mixing the rice with an egg and what vegetables I had on hand, and cooking the patties in the skillet. The resulting galettes were a very pleasant mix of crunchy and tender, with the lovely aroma of basmati rice enjoying the fresh company of spring onions and diced tomato, the whole thing being spiked up by a sprinkle of red pepper flakes — piment d’Espelette, to be specific.

They are very easy to make and assemble, the only step requiring a bit of skill is the flipping of patties in the skillet: be gentle but quick, and don’t flip them too soon or they’ll fall apart — which has no consequence on taste, just presentation. Naturally the recipe below is just a suggestion, you should go ahead and use whichever vegetables (raw or cooked) you have on hand, and maybe throw in a bit of ham or diced tofu in the mix.

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