Purée de Marrons

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •3-quart heavy saucepan
• •Food mill fitted with a fine disk
• •Sturdy fine-mesh sieve and flexible scraper
• •Wooden spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook Until Collapsing

   Prepare the Stewed Chestnuts (No. 2173) according to its own entry, adding the sugar to the cooking liquid at the start. For stuffing, that preparation may remain somewhat firm; for this purée, continue until a chestnut collapses under a fork and shows no pale, chalky core. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking liquid before draining.

2. 2

   Pass the Chestnuts

   Pass the drained chestnuts through the fine disk of a food mill while they are still hot, then press the resulting meal through a sturdy fine-mesh sieve with a flexible scraper. This replaces the brigade's tammy without changing its purpose: removing every resistant fragment and giving the purée an even, close texture. Don't use a blender, which beats the chestnuts into a heavy paste instead of pressing them cleanly.

   If the chestnuts resist the food mill, they are undercooked. Return them to the reserved liquid and simmer gently until they crush without effort, then drain and pass them again. Ça se rattrape.
3. 3

   Dessécher With Butter

   Put the sieved chestnuts in a heavy saucepan with 3 tablespoons of the butter. Work them over medium-low heat with a wooden spoon for 5 to 8 minutes. This is dessécher, drying the purée: the butter disappears into the chestnuts, excess moisture leaves, and the spoon begins to draw a clean path across the pan floor. If the purée catches, lift the pan from the heat immediately and beat in a spoonful of reserved cooking liquid before transferring it to a clean pan. Don't scrape burnt bits into it.

4. 4

   Loosen With Milk

   Lower the heat and beat in ½ cup of the warm milk a little at a time, letting each addition disappear before the next. Stop when the purée is smooth, supple, and able to hold a soft ridge from the spoon without standing stiffly. If it remains dense, add the remaining milk by the spoonful. If it becomes loose, ça se rattrape: work it over gentle heat until the spoon again leaves a brief trail.

5. 5

   Finish and Serve

   Taste before adding salt, since the white consommé in the chestnut preparation may already carry enough. Beat in the remaining tablespoon of cold butter until the surface takes on a quiet sheen, then spoon the purée into a warmed serving dish. Give the top broad, generous folds with the back of the spoon and serve beside roast poultry, pork, or game. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Vacuum-packed, peeled, unsweetened chestnuts are the honest home choice when fresh chestnuts are unavailable. They spare you the peeling, which is labor rather than technique, while leaving the flavor and method intact.
• •Keep the celery in the Stewed Chestnuts (No. 2173). You shouldn't taste celery as a separate flavor; its quiet bitterness keeps the chestnut and sugar from wandering toward dessert.
• •Warm the milk before adding it. Cold milk tightens the butter and cools the purée just when you need it supple enough to absorb liquid evenly.
• •Season only after the milk is incorporated. Consommé varies greatly in salinity, and reduction concentrates whatever salt it carried into the pan.
• •Serve this with roast turkey, goose, pork, venison, or duck. It wants savory juices nearby and needs no decorative greenery.

Advance Preparation

• •The Stewed Chestnuts (No. 2173) can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Refrigerate them in their cooking liquid, then warm gently before draining and passing them.
• •The finished purée keeps for up to 3 days in a covered container in the refrigerator. Reheat it over low heat with a spoonful of milk, beating steadily until supple, then finish with a small piece of butter.
• •For holiday service, finish the purée several hours ahead and press buttered parchment directly against its surface. Reheat gently, loosening with warm milk only if it has tightened.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 170g)