Sweet Chestnuts

Psykicpup

Caterina wrote: »

If you make a slit in the skin to prevent chestnuts from exploding (because air becomes hot and expands inside skin) you can also roast them in a roasting tin in the oven.

Caterina

I wish someone had told me that about 5 yrs ago - fluffy chesnut nut spreads a long way in an oven -:o

Jolaaled

tenuissent wrote: »

I've looked through the thread, and I don't think anyone has mentioned what I do: I boil the chestnuts for 20 minutes or so and let them cool (I don't bother to pierce them first and it doesn't matter). Then I slice them into two with a sharp knife and scoop out the insides with a strong teaspoon. I find this much faster than any peeling method.

I can put the results into soup or casseroles, and once tried mashing them fairly fine and mixing with whipped eggwhite and a little sugar. Plops on a baking tray turned into tasty little macaroons. Or you can freeze them for Christmas stuffing etc.

There is a handsome and productive sweet chestnut avenue near me, and I soon ran out of patience with peeling. It is best to slice them top to bottom along the edges, if you see what I mean......then each half is shallow and easy to scoop out with the teaspoon. If you slice them round the circumference, it is more fiddly.

Well...tonight, i've microwaved my pierced chestnuts and then peeled them without too much bother. They taste great, but i think would be even better roasted. I've now put them in the freezer and intend to use them at Xmas for stuffing.

thanks for all your suggestions... i now need to collect more!

Justamum

We all love roasting chestnuts, and usually treat ourselves to a large bag at this time of year. I bought a couple of net bags from Tesco and we roasted them on the braai outside. The first one I tried didn't taste "chestnutty" so I looked at it and saw a maggot :eek: The next one tasted nice, but after an initial nibble I had a look and found a maggot in that one too :eek::eek: In fact quite a few of the chestnuts were either maggoty or just bad inside. Has anybody else had this problem this year? Other years it's not been too bad. I would say that we only had about 1/3 of them which were edible. They are horrendously expensive too. It's put me off chestnuts.

Boatie_Bird

I have a theory that the 'first' chestnuts of the year are actually ones that have been stored from the previous year
I don't buy them when they first appear and the later ones seem to be ok.

Seakay

Justamum wrote: »

We all love roasting chestnuts, and usually treat ourselves to a large bag at this time of year. I bought a couple of net bags from Tesco and we roasted them on the braai outside. The first one I tried didn't taste "chestnutty" so I looked at it and saw a maggot :eek: The next one tasted nice, but after an initial nibble I had a look and found a maggot in that one too :eek::eek: In fact quite a few of the chestnuts were either maggoty or just bad inside. Has anybody else had this problem this year? Other years it's not been too bad. I would say that we only had about 1/3 of them which were edible. They are horrendously expensive too. It's put me off chestnuts.

I do hope that you returned them to Mr T! That is really awful!
I generally check the outside before preparing, and reject any with a small hole (although this doesn't mean that they won't have gone off). So far this has worked for me, and I only find a few 'gone over' ones towards the end of the season.
What annoys me about chestnuts in the shops is where they have been shipped in from! (Presumaly this is what makes them expensive)

KittyKate

I buy chestnuts from the street vendor in the city - roasted over coals, 60p a big bag...mmm! They're £1.50 uncooked for roughly double the amount in Mr Ts so I don't feel ripped off. They're always good, sweet and delicious. The street vendor has a huge bag of them, presumably bought wholesale - I guess he'd sell me a bag of uncooked ones for 50p (there aren't many chestnut trees in Leeds centre!)

Justamum

Seakay wrote: »

I do hope that you returned them to Mr T! That is really awful!

It was a bit late by then, but I am going to send a snotty e-mail to them. There were no holes or anything in them. They looked perfectly fine on the outside.

Seakay

Good for you! Let us know how you get on (quote your till receipt number if you've still got it).

kickstart_3

Yes i have had the same problem ..bought from Tesco's and most of them bad when i roasted and opened them . Has put me off getting any more from anywhere and tinned/vaccum packed ones are awful , all mushy and sweet.

Smiley_Mum

I've been waiting patiently for the chestnuts to arrive on the shelves. I love them, got hooked on them during an Autumn trip to Portugal, bought them every day from the street vendor. I bought mine from Tesco last year and they were fine but haven't seen them yet. I think I'll wait until late on before I buy any just in case. Hope you get a result with the complaint to Tesco about the yukky maggoty ones, not nice at all.