PrintWhat to do with chestnuts?
I have never cooked with fresh (as in, unpeeled) chestnuts before and would like to while they are around and it's still wintery. Any ideas or advice?
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15 Comments:
Purée, soup, filling for ravioli, candied, roasted, used in a stuffing, those are my favorite ways of using them. Theere are tons of recipes out there, just search. They are very easy to work with.
seyo at 1:11PM on 03/11/08
I've only smelled them roasting in NYC and had to hold my nose from the stench. Because of that, I've never been to anxious to taste them, but I love nuts.......legumes and people. They're probably delicious used the same way other nuts are used. Seyo's suggestions sound wonderful!
PerkyMac at 1:26PM on 03/11/08
I used to buy them fresh roasted and eat them as is when I was a kid. My mother would make Japanese sweets by pureeing and using them as filling for mochi or shaping them as confections. My coworker, who is Romanian, purees them and uses them as a filling in chocolate and hazelnut confection cups that she makes herself.
Cassaendra at 1:52PM on 03/11/08
I lie very, very still and hope they'll go away.
annien at 2:05PM on 03/11/08
This is a cool post from someone who has been methodically cooking every single one of the Keller's recipes from the FL cookbook:
Chestnut agnolotti with celery root and fontina cheese.
seyo at 2:43PM on 03/11/08
Roasted in the oven, peeled, and eaten with a light sprinkle of salt is the only way I eat them.
grampart at 2:43PM on 03/11/08
Oven roasted. Carve an X on the round side and sit them in the oven until the skin peels back the the flesh is golden. There are plenty of chestnut recipes, granted, but that's my favorite way to eat them.
You are so lucky - chestnuts cost me an arm and a leg and yet they're nowhere to be found :(
jazzinx at 6:59PM on 03/11/08
I know what I WANT to do with them. I've have some that I bought in January and I'm thinking I'd like to make marron glace. Does anyone have a recipe? They are so fabulous and so expensive.
frederika at 9:46PM on 03/11/08
from epicurious. not tried and true.
ingredients:
2 lbs chestnuts, shells removed
2 lbs granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups water
1 vanilla bean
Directions:
In a large saucepan, cover chestnuts with water. Bring to a boil. Boil 8 minutes. Discard liquid. Drain. Using a kitchen towel, rub off brown inner skins. In a large saucepan, cook sugar, water and vanilla bean over low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Simmer 5 minutes. Add chestnuts. Increase heat. Boil 10 minutes. Remove vanilla bean. Pour syrup and nuts into a large bowl. Let stand 12 hours. Return to pan. Boil 1 minute. Return to bowl. Let stand 24 hours. Repeat process 3 times until syrup has been absorbed.
Preheat oven to 150* F. Cover a wire rack with parchment paper. Place chestnuts on wire rack. Bake in preheated oven with oven door open 2 hours or until firm. Remove from oven. Cool.
Store in a container lined with waxed paper. Will keep up to 2 weeks.
Makes 2 pounds.
cybercita at 9:58PM on 03/11/08
Thanks, cybercita! It sounds like a good weekend project.
frederika at 1:35AM on 03/12/08
Thanks everyone. Jazzinx that's how I always felt, in Sydney (where I'm from) never having access to them, and now I'm living in Holland, they are a good price (4E a kilo) and I want to do something with them!
I think I'll roast them and try them in a soup!
soisbelle at 4:38AM on 03/12/08
I so envy you. Winter here in FL lasts about two weeks and that's the size window we have to get "wintery" foods. Chestnuts and cranberries disappear faster than biscuits at a church luncheon. I try to freeze crans but chestnuts are only eaten when they're fresh here - which is usually around holiday time - if I'm lucky enough to find them.
When I do them at holiday time, I use the technique taught to me by the mother of a friend years ago.
Cut a deep cross in each chestnut and if you happen to cut some in half in the process, no big deal.
Soak chestnuts in water overnight. (I do this in a ziplock bag.)
Drain chestnuts.
In a deep saute pan, melt a couple of tablespoons of unsalted butter. Saute the raw chestnuts a few minutes, making sure they are coated in the butter. Add about 1 cup of drinking water, cover and simmer about 15 minutes, making sure to add water if it becomes absorbed by the chestnuts. You want to complete the procedure with a few tablespoons of water left in the pan.
Remove chestnuts from the pan and sprinkle them with salt. The shells will be more supple and the papery skin should peel right off (most) of the nuts. I used to roast them but got so frustrated when the papery skin clung to the nutmeat because the skin is so bitter. Not a problem with this technique.
Wow...it feels good to even talk about something I do during Christmas!! :D
chiff0nade at 10:40AM on 03/12/08
Annien ("I lie very, very still and hope they go away."), I don't know who you are but thanks for making me laugh.
Yours is the best post comment I've ever read on Serious Eats.
I ordered some stuff (french kisses, yummy) including vacuum packed roasted chestnuts from D'artagnan.com (don't ask me why I included chestnuts in the order) & now everytime I open the refrigerator door; they glare at me accusingly. Maybe I should take your advice.
lgvw1963 at 1:44PM on 03/13/08
If you have a heavy duty slingshot, they make great ammo!
drsmoke at 10:38AM on 03/17/08
i had the most delicious dish of chestnuts, stewed, with what tasted like cinnamon and nutmeg, very creamy, and topped with ricotta salata. absolutely delicate and wintry and divine.
tinymango at 11:12PM on 03/17/08