Cream of Asparagus Soup Recipe

Cream of asparagus soup is a dish I recently served for a dinner party as a first course. The soup is packed with asparagus flavor. This is because I made the vegetable stock with the roots from the asparagus, then I blended in the asparagus that I roasted for a few minutes. The usual roux helps thicken the soup to which I then added St Félicien cheese, -one of my husband Lulu's favorite cheeses-, for extra creaminess.

This step is optional but if you want to be met with a round of "oohs" and "ahs" when the bowls of soup are brought to the dinner table, I suggest that you cover the bowl of soup with puff pastry. For decoration, top with a little saffron cream and an asparagus spear. It's a truly seductive way to start a meal.

Blue Cheese Pear Salad Recipe

When pears still have a hard texture, they are a wonderfully sweet addition to salad. I wanted to make a first course that looks festive for the holidays, so I mixed some greens, hazelnuts, dried cranberries, pears and blue cheese. What's not to like? To finish, I drizzled creamy blue cheese dressing on the salad.

This is definitely not a salad for dieting! It's the holidays though, so indulge.

Chewy Pecan Caramels with Cardamom

The key utensil for making chewy caramels is a candy thermometer, as it's the only way to control the temperature of the sugar. A few degrees too high and the candies become hard.   

On a recent trip to San Antonio, we discovered these delicious Texan Pecan praline specialties. We brought a lot of boxes home but unfortunately they disappeared fast. Whenever my father-in-law or my husband come back from a trip to San Antonio, they bring back a boxes of the wonderful Texan delicacies. My mother-in-law always asks: "Honey, did you bring home my "magazines" from your business trip?" She refers to them as magazines because if the kids hear that there are caramels in the house they gobble them up right away.

This recipe is the result of several attempts to make the candies at home. To add my own touch, I flavoured the caramels with cardamom which pairs incredibly well with the crunchy roasted pecans. Until my father-in-law or my husband go back to San Antonio for their work, our family can enjoy these homemade caramels; they're perfect for the holidays!

Mashed Purple Potatoes

My husband Lulu and I are spending the holidays with my family and friends in Paris. We just arrived and have enjoyed our first couple of days in the City of Lights, despite the cold weather. The sights are wonderful, but the real treat is the wonderful products and ingredients that France has to offer. We went to an open air market this morning and brought back some Vitelotte potatoes.

You might know them as purple Peruvian fingerling potatoes, négresse or truffe de Chine. They are small-sized waxy potatoes, with a skinny and oblong shape. The flesh is dark-violet blue surrounded with a white rim. The texture is quite flour-y and have a different flavor than regular potatoes. I prepared them by boiling, mashing and then mixing the potatoes with butter, cream and milk. I flavored the mashed potatoes with blue cheese and dill. It was a delicious way to start our Parisian vacation!

Roasted Garlic and Cheese Creme Brulee Recipe

If you go through the previous crème brûlée recipes I've shared so far, this savory version will probably raise some eyebrows. It's not that I've run out of ideas for sweet crèmes brûlées; there are plenty more to come. I've just been toying with the idea of making a savory one because I think the creamy custard and crunchy top create a perfect canvas for savory ingredients.

I chose roasted garlic, goat cheese and herbs because they are intensely flavorful and make an excellent camouflage for the egg flavor. For the top, I mixed parmesan cheese and a bit of sugar and then took my blow torch to the mixture.

Savory crèmes brûlées can be quite an original appetizer to serve at your Christmas party. They are uncommon enough to help mark just about any special occasion though.