Always.
I talk a big game in terms of dough making, but I sit firmly in my mother's baking shadow.
I find pizza and ice cream like religion should be avoided in internet discussions.
On some of the cooking competitions the discussion of doneness of meat has escalated to a racist issue, go figure.
I'm a very comfortable guy.
I promise to use fresh Hawaiian pineapple on your spam and pineapple pizza.
Chestnuts
Chestnuts are popular this time of year, either roasting on an open fire, or in a stuffing, or adding a nice accent to vegetables, or..?
I love the little buggers. The first time I ate a chestnut was in London, in November many years ago, purchased from a street vendor. There was something about buying a paper sack fof roasted nuts right off the brazier, roasted over charcoal (or maybe coal?), on a cold November day, and peeling and munching them walking down the street in the city of Dickens and Shakespeare and Mary Poppins, especially for us colonials. I was surprised by the creamy texture and sweetness, quite different from what I imagined. Of course the city I live in is full of chestnut trees, but alas the North American horse chestnut has the same relationship to chestnuts that horseradish has to radishes. Except you can eat horseradish.
For years I never saw chestnuts in stores here, then there was one shop that stocked them but the quality was all over the map. Sometimes they were fine, sometimes some had powdery mold inside the shell, sometimes almost all did, and you couldn't tell until after you had roasted and peeled them. This year a local grocery store has a bunch and they are very good and a decent price.
I have prepared them a couple of ways in the past and have been experimenting a bit this year. I would like to prepare some, peel them, and freeze them for future use. Is that a reasonable goal? Will they freeze OK after they are roasted? One method I have tried is boiling them before roasting. It seems like some folks only boil them, others only roast them. Tonight it seems like I boiled them too long and didn't roast long enough, with result that the shells were very flexible and leathery, and the nut meat stuck to the shells so they were extremely hard to peel.
Do you have a favourite way to prepare chestnuts? Do you have a favourite way to use them / eat them?
PS: no chestnut pizza please!
Chestnuts are popular this time of year, either roasting on an open fire, or in a stuffing, or adding a nice accent to vegetables, or..?
I love the little buggers. The first time I ate a chestnut was in London, in November many years ago, purchased from a street vendor. There was something about buying a paper sack fof roasted nuts right off the brazier, roasted over charcoal (or maybe coal?), on a cold November day, and peeling and munching them walking down the street in the city of Dickens and Shakespeare and Mary Poppins, especially for us colonials. I was surprised by the creamy texture and sweetness, quite different from what I imagined. Of course the city I live in is full of chestnut trees, but alas the North American horse chestnut has the same relationship to chestnuts that horseradish has to radishes. Except you can eat horseradish.
For years I never saw chestnuts in stores here, then there was one shop that stocked them but the quality was all over the map. Sometimes they were fine, sometimes some had powdery mold inside the shell, sometimes almost all did, and you couldn't tell until after you had roasted and peeled them. This year a local grocery store has a bunch and they are very good and a decent price.
I have prepared them a couple of ways in the past and have been experimenting a bit this year. I would like to prepare some, peel them, and freeze them for future use. Is that a reasonable goal? Will they freeze OK after they are roasted? One method I have tried is boiling them before roasting. It seems like some folks only boil them, others only roast them. Tonight it seems like I boiled them too long and didn't roast long enough, with result that the shells were very flexible and leathery, and the nut meat stuck to the shells so they were extremely hard to peel.
Do you have a favourite way to prepare chestnuts? Do you have a favourite way to use them / eat them?
PS: no chestnut pizza please!
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I'm not a big fan but the classic marron glace should keep very well.
Classic French Marrons Glace - Candied Chestnuts Recipe
Wow. Yes, they should keep very well indeed. I'm not sure that's what I'm really going for, though. I like chestnuts in savoury dishes, though those marrons would make a nice sweet snack. Maybe add some sea salt to have them with beer.
I'm just wondering whether they will keep their texture when frozen. I will let you know after Christmas!
Gordon Ramsay has a nice recipe for Brussels sprouts with pancetta and chestnuts, and I think he uses them in his beef Wellington recipe too. I'm just trying to find the best way to get them out of the shell and ready to use. Which reminds me, the marrons glace recipe starts with 2 lbs shelled chestnuts. I guess that is a thing you can buy in France, but mine are in the shell.
I'm just wondering whether they will keep their texture when frozen. I will let you know after Christmas!
Gordon Ramsay has a nice recipe for Brussels sprouts with pancetta and chestnuts, and I think he uses them in his beef Wellington recipe too. I'm just trying to find the best way to get them out of the shell and ready to use. Which reminds me, the marrons glace recipe starts with 2 lbs shelled chestnuts. I guess that is a thing you can buy in France, but mine are in the shell.
Not the recipe I did. Funny you should mention it when I was in Europe last month there were vendors with open fire barbecues selling them fresh roasted. I think you score them first and then they peel easily.
Stores around here have a free peeling service. Here's ones you can buy.
Chestnut Peeler, Chestnut Peeler Suppliers and Manufacturers at Alibaba.com
Yes I always score them, usually with an X pattern on one side. I have tried the flat side and the round side, but don't see much difference. Scoring the shell before cooking is the most time-consuming part.
Boiling them before roasting makes the "meat" softer, sometimes otherwise they become quite hard when roasted. Of 3 batches in the last week one worked just about perfectly. I think maybe last night I boiled them too long and didn't roast them long enough. The shell curled back where it was scored but I still had a lot of trouble getting the shell off the nuts, like it was glued (epoxied) in place.
I'll just have to buy some more and try again.
Sans chestnuts that's how I like to cook pork tenderloin, on a bed of sliced cabbage, onions, and apples.
A great side by itself with some caraway seed and a touch of apple cider vinegar (and some honey for Ed
).
A great side by itself with some caraway seed and a touch of apple cider vinegar (and some honey for Ed
I didn't mention the caraway (I like to pop the seeds in the oil first) and cider vinegar, though a splash of white wine and a bit of chicken stock also works, and I consider herbs implied. Anything with apples reacts well to a piece of cinnamon and/or a bit of allspice.
I have never boiled chestnuts before roasting but of course we have to score them. Doing it with a serrated bread knife works well if they are not preshelled at the store.
They never come out hard unless you forget about them in the oven overnight. Always soft, creamy and delicious.
Like Chris says, it's a complete shame that we have them by the thousands but nary a one can you eat. Horse Chestnuts.
They never come out hard unless you forget about them in the oven overnight. Always soft, creamy and delicious.
Like Chris says, it's a complete shame that we have them by the thousands but nary a one can you eat. Horse Chestnuts.
Bigos!
Something my mother would never serve even though she is 100% of that ethnic persuasion. Add some kielbasa (or other sausage), and use some red wine and it is the perfect winter dinner.
I had to work late tonight and my wife was at a book release ("Bounty: The Greatest Sea Story of Them All", Geoff D'Eon, 2018, Formac Publishing) so I picked up a steak on the way home, and par-boiled some carrots and green beans then sauteed them with a bit of mushroom, garlic, and the crumbly bits of chestnut that I couldn't get out of the shell whole last night!
It's a thing and I am told it works well. I did one batch that way that turned out well, but I think since then I got carried away and boiled them too long then didn't roast them long enough, so they didn't separate from the shell. I think 5 to 10 minutes boil is plenty, followed by about 20 minutes in the oven.
They are difficult to score without cutting yourself, but yesterday I used the tip of a small sharp paring knife and it worked very well, much better than using a lerge knife and trying to make the cut in one go.
They never come out hard unless you forget about them in the oven overnight. Always soft, creamy and delicious.
Like Chris says, it's a complete shame that we have them by the thousands but nary a one can you eat. Horse Chestnuts.
I think the ones that came out hard were already spoiling. The mold that develops in them dries them out, then when roasted they harden up. I think just like beans, if you put them in a bowl of water any that float should be discarded.
What temperature and how long do you roast them? I really can't believe how I have had such mixed results for many years, which is why I keep trying different methods. I really would like to get a proper chestnut pan and roast some over charcoal or a wood fire. The ones I got from a street vendor, right off the brazier, all those years ago in London, had a nice smoky quality.
Sounds about right. IIRC, you give them a shake to see if they rattle. If so, no good?
Again, it sounds good.
Uhhhhh... not sure. Would it be 375º for 30 minutes? I always look it up and just follow what Google tells me as my two remaining brain cells don't have the capacity to remember.
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire?