Sweet Chestnuts

Curry_Queen

Thanks for resurrecting this thread lucylou as I'd completely forgotten about it and also that I was meant to send DS to the local greengrocer to see if they had any chestnuts :doh:

Really weird feeling reading back through this, even though it was only posted a week ago, but I couldn't remember having read some of the posts, although I clearly had as I'd thanked Lia for her recipe yet it was like reading it again for the first time today!!! :eek:

Kinda made me think about a programme I saw on tv last night about this guy who only had a 7 second memory span and then everything was erased and it was all new to him again! Quite sad and disturbing really to think he's lived like that for the last 20+ years

Anyway, I digress, sorry ... but I do have to wonder about my own memory sometimes that I can forget things so easily _pale_

lucylou

no problem Curry_Queen I am chestnut mad.I haven't seen any around yet though.Have you?Not many people eatt hem but I think they are really nice

squeaky

I'll be trying beech nuts this year. They're supposed to taste rather like walnuts.

Curry_Queen

squeaky wrote:

I'll be trying beech nuts this year. They're supposed to taste rather like walnuts.

If I recall correctly beech nuts are quite sweet, and very yummy! ... we used to pick them up and eat them from the casings whilst tramping through the woods

squeaky

I've got several beech trees along the road that mine leads in to. Must be several hundred weight or more just left to rot. If I like them ('cos I'm not that keen on walnuts, my least favourite nut) I should be able to collect a year's supply

Mado

Rave wrote:

In France they do a sort of chesnut jam, which is absolutely delicious on waffles and pancakes. I have also bought bags of brussels sprouts mixed with chesnuts, the supermarkets seem to do them at christmas, very nice:).

).

Never heard of the sprout bits...

to make chestnut "jam" (known as creme de marron).

Slit the chesnuts with a sharp knife.
Put a few at a time in a pan of boiling water. Remove while very hot after 2-3 minutes and wearing superfine gloves peel off the " layers of skin. It takes a long time to do a substancial amount. The fresher one tends to peel easier (although this is not always true).

At this stage if you have lovely whole ones (when the skins just slides off) you can reserve them and just saute them in butter for a nice vegetable side dish.

Anyway, after peeling the chestnuts, weight them. Cook them with a bit of water until soft. Mash ... either with a processor (I use the soup mixer) or with a "presse-puree" (sorry don't know what you call it in english).
Return to the pan and add the same amount of sugar as chestnut. The mixture should look very thick and unpromissing before you add the sugar and turns like by magic into a drak brown runny mixture after the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil and simmer about 20 min. Pour into jars like jam. It keeps exactly like jam if made and proceesed the same way.

It goes beautifully with natural yogurt... or cream.
Add some meringues + cream + chestunt cream and you have another version of the Mont-Blanc!

Just don't pick the ones in my area. THEY ARE MINE

purplegirluk1

Is it chestnut time yet? I just went on a drive with my OH and his parents and his mum pointed out that there are lots of chestnut trees at the bottom of our road. I have read through the thread an know what i'm looking for now. I just wanted to know when they are ready to pick really? There were a few on the ground but not that many.

Curry_Queen

It's not far off now! My DS asked at the veg shop last week if they had any in yet and she said another week or two and she will :j


Oh, just remembered ... make sure they are sweet chestnut and not horse chestnut (conker) trees as I found out there's a big difference earlier in this thread

rustywallet

Think I might try this recipe for chestnut roast...If I can find any chestnuts this year!

200g cooked chestnuts
100g cashew nuts
100g red lentils
1/2 a tin of chopped tomatoes
25g rolled oats

Salt (or crumbled stock cube) and Pepper

Instructions

1) Boil lentils for about 15 minutes

2) Put nuts in a blender

3)Put in a bowl with lentils and tomatoes, add oats and season. If the mixture is very dry, add a dash of boiling water to mix to a firm 'stodge'.

4)Press mixture into a greased loaf tin and cook for at least 45 minutes at 200ºC/400ºF until solid and browned.

Ticklemouse

And those Beech nuts - which type of beech tree do they come off, what do they look like? I have lots of trees around where I live, so will investigate them forthwith