The Holiday Kitchen: Roasted Chestnut Soup

STUDIO CITY (CBS) — Are you looking for new recipes to spice up your menu over the holidays? Chef Kerry Simon's "Holiday Kitchen"  shows us how to make a tasty treat.

Roasted Chestnut Soup with Spiced Cream, Apple Flan and Jamon Serrano ( Serves 8 )

For Chestnut Soup:

2 ½ cups chestnut cooked and peeled
4 small (2 big) celeriac peeled and cubed
½ cup Butter
1/3 lb. pancetta, thinly sliced then cut into 5mm pieces
2 celery hearts (white only) brunoise
3 garlic cloves chopped
1 liter chicken stock
5 juniper berries crushed
4 bay leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. In a pot put butter and pancetta. Cook slowly until translucent.

2. Add celeriac and celery and sweat 2 minutes. Add garlic and whole chestnuts.

3. Add juniper, bay leaves (in cheesecloth) and hot chicken stock just to cover vegetables. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes (until celeriac is soft).

4. Puree soup and pass through a fine chinois.

Spiced Cream:

½ cup Crème fraiche
¼ tsp. Mace or to taste

Gently mix mace into crème fraiche.

Apple Flan:

1 cup milk
½ vanilla bean, split, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup granulated sugar
2 egg yolks
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 Cups Granny Smith apples, pureed

1. In medium saucepan over medium heat, bring milk to boil. Reduce heat to low and scrape vanilla bean seeds into milk. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes.

2. In mixing bowl, combine sugar with egg yolks and whisk to lighten.

3. Sift cornstarch over egg mixture and continue whipping until just incorporated.

4. Slowly pour half of milk into egg mixture, gently stirring, until well mixed.

5. Prepare large bowl of ice water.

6. Return egg mixture to saucepan and heat over medium-low, add apple puree. Cook slowly, stirring constantly with wooden spoon, until mixture coats back of spoon, about 5 minutes. Immediately remove from heat and strain through fine sieve into another bowl. Place bowl in ice water to chill.

7. When mixture is cool, cover with plastic, making sure plastic touches surface to keep cream skinless. Refrigerate.

For Jamon Serrano:

¼ lb thinly sliced Jamon Serrano

Thinly slice ham and lay on a sheet pan lined with parchment. Bake in a 325 degree oven until crispy. Cool on wire rack until ready to use.

To Plate:

Carefully place flan in shallow bowl. Pour soup around flan. Top with spiced crème and Jamon Serrano chips. Serve.

About Chef Kerry Simon:

From tossing pizzas at age 15 at a Little Caesar's in suburban Chicago to creating the "perfect" omelet for Henry Kissinger's visits to New York's La Cote Basque, Chef Kerry Simon has earned an international reputation as one of the country's most innovative and respected chefs. A graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, Simon has worked the line alongside some of the country's most outstanding toques, modern-day masters of the culinary arts such as Andre Soltner of the much beloved Lutece, Jean-Jacques Rachou of La Cote Basque, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten of Jean Goerges, Perry Street, Spice Market, and many more!

To learn more about Chef Simon, click here.