Chestnut season is here! Most of you are likely to have memories of hot chestnuts booked on a cold days in the ashes of the fireplace. It brings you back to your childhood, doesn’t it?
Parisians may argue, you can get a cone of roasted warm chestnuts in winter at street corners for a couple Euros. I remember that from my student years, although the currency was not yet the Euro!
Today, most of us don’t have a fireplace, but you can still eat those chestnuts! Use a sharp knife to incise slightly through the skin if the chestnut (this is to prevent them having a little tantrum while cooking). Be careful not to cut yourself. Place the chestnuts on a baking sheet, little tin and in a hot oven for about 10 minutes. Insert a pointy knife in one of them to check for doneness. Peel the exterior and interior skins and enjoy!
What else can you use chestnuts for? Here are a few ideas:
- Add on the sides of a lamb roast or roasted chicken. You will need to incise them as explained above, parboil them for a couple minutes and peel them. The boiling will help removing the skins. Make sure there is some juice in your roasting pan or they will become dry.
- Make chestnut puree (water based or milk based). As above incise, boil a couple minutes then remove the skins. Then cook in either water or a mix of water and milk on low heat until crumbly and coked through. Puree. Add sugar if you wish (it depends what you want to do with the puree). Keep in the fridge or freezer. There are a number of recipes with chestnut puree, here is mine for a chestnut pudding. It is light and very delicate, beautiful!
