How To Boil CHESTNUTS

[iLander]

I'm sure a lot of you know how to do this, but for those that don't I thought I'd post this "recipe" for the holidays. We do it every year, it's from DH's side of the family.

The result is really sweet,delicious meaty chestnuts that are perfect for a snack or for use in stuffing.

1) Cut bottom of chestnuts with a serrated knife, 3/4 of the way around. Be careful! You kinda want to saw slowly and carefully.

2) Put in water with 1 level tablespoon of salt, and bring to a boil.

3) Keep at rolling boil for about 15 minutes, until the chestnuts puff up and split open

4) While the chestnuts are still hot, peel off the shell and the brown skin on the chestnuts. If they are too cool, the skin won't come off easily. Watch your fingers! They tend to crumble, but are really quite tasty.

I have never roasted chestnuts, maybe someone can add a recipe for that?

 

[monarch64]

Wow, thank you iLander! Our friends have a chestnut tree and they give us a bag of nuts every year. Every year we don't know how to roast or cook them and I have ended up throwing them out save one batch my husband tried to roast over our fire pit and subsequently set on fire. That will suck the yuletide right out of your Nat King Cole song.

Chestnut trees in my state succumbed to blight decades ago and scientists spent years hybridizing a new disease-resistant type. Recently the new ones were planted in large numbers so we hope to see a resurgence of chestnut trees here. No more feeling left out while everyone else is looking all smug, singing about roasting their nuts on the old open fire.

http://www.inwoodlands.org/american-chestnut-trees-return/

I hope someone chimes in with a safe and foolproof roasting method!

 

[partgypsy]

My father used to roast chestnuts every winter in our fireplace. He would put them in this pan that opened, and place it below the fire, or if the fire is low you can hold it over the fire. They were so tender and delicious!
I thought of it as an English thing but my Dad once said that he had fond memories of it as a child in Greece, street vendors would roast and sell chestnuts in winter.
His has a top that opened and closed over it but this is what it looked like. You do have to score the bottom of the chestnuts before roasting them.

http://www.amazon.com/Paderno-World-Cuisine-Chestnut-Oversized/dp/B000ZM8EOC/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1448994913&sr=8-17-spons&keywords=chestnut+roaster&psc=1

 

[Dancing Fire]

Wife and I love chestnuts... Ca. chestnuts are the best tasting.

 

[stracci2000]

My dad taught me how to roast them.
Just cut a slit on the top of each one to let steam escape.
Place them on a rimmed cookie sheet and roast at 350 till they open, about 20 minutes.
Peel while still warm.
They are so delicious!
It's not Christmas Eve without them.

 

[Gypsy]

I roast them, but find it's too much of a pain for something that I'm largely ambivalent about. I hadn't thought to boil them. That sounds like a good idea. Thanks for posting!

 

[iLander]

monarch Thank you for the info on the trees! I am an avid gardener, so I found it very interesting! I wish someone would give me a bag of them, they're $7 a pound here and sooooo hard to find in stores!

party gypsy My DH remembers street vendors in NYC, but they seem to have disappeared over the years.

DF! How do you guys cook them?

stracci2000 Thanks for posting that! I was hoping someone would post a roasting recipe.

Gypsy Let me know your assessment of roasted versus boiled, I'd be interested to know.

 

[Gypsy]

Gypsy Let me know your assessment of roasted versus boiled, I'd be interested to know.

I doubt it will be this year. But my major complaint about roasting is that the meat/skin sticks too much to the shells making it too little reward for way too much work.

 

[Rockinruby]

Ilander, thanks for sharing this. I've never tried it myself, but chestnuts remind me of my grandfather. He loved them! I will see if I can find any on my next trip to the store.

 

[iLander]

Gypsy Let me know your assessment of roasted versus boiled, I'd be interested to know.

I doubt it will be this year. But my major complaint about roasting is that the meat/skin sticks too much to the shells making it too little reward for way too much work.

Don't let them cool off, and you can invert the shell and the skin, and the nut pops right out. Just flip it back, like an turning an umbrella inside-out. If they get cold, it's a pain.

 

[iLander]

Ilander, thanks for sharing this. I've never tried it myself, but chestnuts remind me of my grandfather. He loved them! I will see if I can find any on my next trip to the store.

I had to ask in the produce section, and they had about 5 packages. They really are oddly hard to find.