Exploding Nuts
Okay, so I tried my hand at roasting chestnuts this afternoon, and some of them thought they were popcorn, because they exploded. It was really funny, and I pulled the rest out of the oven.
Is this normal?
What a riot...
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18 Comments:
Did you score them?
LoCo at 1:53PM on 10/24/08
From about.com; "... make a cut across the round side of each to keep them from exploding ..."
Did you do this? ;-)
LunaPierCook at 1:56PM on 10/24/08
Okay, good - yes, I did it on some of them - maybe it needed to be deeper on others. Thank you!
La Divina at 2:38PM on 10/24/08
dont feel bad La Divina my mom decided to roast chestnuts once and didnt score them at all, it took a month to scrape all the chestnuts off the ceiling and then repaint. LOL i've never been brave enough to try it, I think she scared me for life ;-)
huneybumper at 3:03PM on 10/24/08
"Exploding Nuts" ??
Are you f-in kidding me?? You're going to post THAT title on a Friday?
Lord God... give me strength... I'm trying so hard not to say anything...
FastFoodCritic at 3:23PM on 10/24/08
As soon as I saw the post, I was sure it was our FFC having some fun with us, and it turned out to be legit. Who knew? haha
I've said this before, but the roasting chestnuts in NYC is one of the most vile smells that has ever assaulted me. You couldn't pay me enough money to put one of those in my mouth. Doesn't your house stink to high heaven when you roast them? Just askin'.
PerkyMac at 3:36PM on 10/24/08
Why do you think I titled it this way? A simple "Question about roasting chestnuts" is all fine and dandy, but after a week of more election hell and financial miseries, we all could use a little perking up, no?
Anyway, no, the house doesn't stink. The weird part is that I kind of think they have a flavor reminiscent of turkey (maybe it's just a vegetarian's bizarre gustatory hallucination). My plan tonight is to make chestnut soup, traditional Italian fare.
La Divina at 3:40PM on 10/24/08
No, no, Perky, I didn't do anything.
La Divina started this thread.
She knew what she was doing.
FastFoodCritic at 3:42PM on 10/24/08
lol :-)
FastFoodCritic at 3:45PM on 10/24/08
... and here I thought I was going to find a new way to deal with the b/f when he's annoying ...
AmazonGoddess at 3:58PM on 10/24/08
Thanks for that LaDavina. Agreed we could use some breathing room to exhale at the end of a trying week.
@FFC ~ Whatever happens, keep your cool. You hadn't planned on painting the ceiling this weekend, right? *wink*wink*
PerkyMac at 3:59PM on 10/24/08
Oh my God.. Perky made a nasty..
I need to have a few more drinks... this is all moving so fast...
FastFoodCritic at 4:15PM on 10/24/08
keeee ripes FFC, keep your mouth down. (no, i didn't mean THAT). shhhhhh....you want everybody to hear? pour me something, quickly! never mind - there's vodka in the freezer. no mixer. oh, well. slainte'
PerkyMac at 4:23PM on 10/24/08
......and it sounds like AmazonGoddess needs some advice for an annoying boyfriend. extend a helping hand FFC, to a lady in need. ;0
PerkyMac at 4:26PM on 10/24/08
Holy bunch o' grapes. Time to put the drink down, brew some coffee, get a cheeseburger and fries and keep those thoughts to yourself.
'sides, big brothe/sister is watching. pts. 1 & 2 are GONE like they never existed. They have power! Sober up my friend, catch ya later.
PerkyMac at 4:41PM on 10/24/08
Seems like I missed quite a bit of excitement today! Perko ~ what did the posts say that "disappeared"? Shoot me an e-mail.
Funny, when I read the title, I did not immediately head for the gutter. I thought this topic was going to be about rotten nuts :-P
izatryt at 6:18PM on 10/24/08
Stop it! You're killin' me!
yankeesgal at 6:41PM on 10/24/08
I love chestnuts and have since I was little. But that whole thing about "chestnuts roasting on an open fire..." is BS. The nuts generally are hard, and the papery inner skin clings to the nut, ruining the experience.
I started making them as follows - try this next time.
Cut a deep cross in each chestnut. Even if the cut goes all the way through, it's fine. Soak chestnuts in water 8 hours or overnight.
In a heavy saute pan, melt 4 Tbsp. of butter. Drain off the chestnuts and pour them into the pan. Sprinkle with salt. Saute a few minutes on medium heat, moving the chestnuts around to ensure even coating of butter. Add about 6 oz. of water to the pan, cover the pan and cook about 5-10 minutes (depending on size of chestnuts). Keep an eye on the water level.
The chestnuts should be tender and they should come out of the skins cleanly - without the papery skin. Yes, this is, in effect steaming. I sometimes do miss the chewy-ness of the roasted ones but historically, I wind up with 10 unpeelable chestnuts to 1 gloriously nekkid chestnut. So buttery steaming it is!
therealchiffonade at 7:14PM on 10/26/08