Oh hey everyone,

I’m the Head Chef at Casa Propercorn and my name is Ed, although some people call me ‘The Kernel’, others Big Poppa and my Grandma often calls me Mark. It’s my job to keep the people of Propercorn HQ fed and watered on more than just popcorn, which means I’m concocting less corny lunches and light bites for 40 hungry mouths on a daily basis.

From here on in, I’ll keep you up to date with a few things I’ve been playing about with in the kitchen, starting with a couple of recipes to get everyone in the Christmassy mood.

Today’s recipe is a Chestnut Soup and is so simple and delicious that you could almost pay someone else to make it and they would refuse the money, it’s that quick and easy. But they would make it all the same, therefore being fooled into making you lunch.

Word of warning: The Chestnut is famed for its health giving properties, especially in helping digestion. The Brussel Sprout is not the only baddie.

Parp the Herald Angels Sing!

Ed (Mark)

6 tablespoons of olive oil

1 medium onion

1 bay leaf

1 small bunch of sage

1 kg ready-peeled Chestnuts

Good pinch of salt and pepper to season

1 litre of vegetable stock

1 pack of Salt & Pepper Crunch Corn

Heat the oil on a medium heat, in a large pan. While that is heating up, peel and roughly chop your onion and add to the pan with the bay leaf. Give it all a stir, turn the heat down and put the lid on to sweat the onions for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While your onions are softening, roughly chop 6 sage leaves and add to the pan along with the chestnuts. Give it all a good stir, breaking up the chestnuts a bit. Season with salt and pepper.

Next add your veg stock and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn down and simmer for 10 minutes, before blitzing with a hand blender until velvety smooth. Check your seasoning.

To serve, lightly fry the remaining sage leaves in a drop of oil to crisp up. Spoon into bowls and top with your crispy sage leaves, a sprinkling of Crunch Corn and a nice drizzle of oil.