Conference turris::cooks

    The easiest way to cook chestnuts is to roast them.
    
    With a sharp knife make a cross in the skin of the chestnut, this
    allows the steam to exit.
    
    Place the nuts on a cookies sheet and roast at approx. 350 - 375
    degrees until softened.
    
    Peel the skin off and enjoy.
    
    They can be roasted by placing close to the fire in the fireplace if
    you have one.
    

    When I'm cooking chestnuts for chestnut stuffing for turkey, I cut
    crosses in them and then boil them in water.  

    After they've been roasted I usually roll them in bacon slices and pop
    them back into the oven for about 10 minutes.  Yummmmmm

The cut to let steam escape is crutial here. 

My cousin had just gotten married and was entertaining during their 
first holidays.  She roasted them without the cuts.   Put them on a 
platter and was walking into the living room to serve them to her 
company.   

They turned into brown missiles as they shot across the room, bursting 
open from the pressure. 

    The microwave works fine. Cut the tops in a cris-cross pattern then
    wave them for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes on high. I like them better than
    any other way. You might have to experiment on the lenght of time
    depending on how many and the power of your microwave.
    
      

    Peel 4-6 chestnuts, add to 2 C. brown rice and cook as usual.  When
    cooked, break chestnuts up into small pieces and stir into rice.  If
    you're lucky, you'll get a bit of nut in every mouthful!  Sure beats
    plain rice.  If using white rice, precook chestnuts a bit by boiling
    (15 mins.?)--then use this water for the rice. 

    
    I grew up with a chestnut tree across street from my parents home. This
    tree has been around for over 40 years so it has somehow been able to
    dodge the chestnut blight that has destroyed most the the chestnut
    trees in this area. The other eve while visiting my parents I picked
    about 10 lbs of chestnuts. As a kid we would pick them and really not
    do much with them....now I would like to cook with them if possible. 
    
    Do you think I can use these chestnuts in the same way as store bought
    chestnuts? I did talk to a young girl who had picked a bunch the day
    before and she said that they roasted a few and they were bitter, so
    they will let them ripen a bit more. Will this really make a
    difference? How long should they be roasted? 
    
    Does anyone have any other recipes? I would like to know how to make 
    chestnut puree, cookies, stuffing...if you don't have time to enter
    in notes could you send a copy of recipe through interoffice mail and
    I'll enter it in all my spare time ;^)
    
    Mrs �

The reason it escaped the blight is that it is not an american chestnut tree. 
I've always been told that while the chestnuts that grow in this area are
edible, they are not very good, that they have a slightly bitter, pasty taste
instead of the sweeter flavor of the ones you get in the stores.  Given that, I
never tried them, but stuck to the store bought ones.

    In the Uk we have two common types of chestnut tree: Horse chestnuts
    and sweet chestnuts. You eat sweet chestnuts, you do not eat Horse
    chestnuts. How to tell the difference:
    
    Sweet chestnuts. Think of a large, fat raindrop, say about 3/4" to 1"
    long, and about 3/4" wide. Cut the raindrop in half, lengthways. Give
    it a matt brown skin.
    
    Horse chestnuts. Think of a slightly flattened ball 1" - 2" in
    diameter. Overall, the nut is a shiny, glossy brown, apart from one end
    of the flattened top, where is wears a biege cap.
    
    Is your chestnut the eating variety?
    
    Angus

    There is still a sort of "ghost" population of American chestnuts in
    New England.  They are a very tough tree!  The stumps resprout, but
    when the tree gets to be about 20 feet tall or so, usually before it is
    big enough to form nuts, the blight gets it, and the tree dies down to
    the roots again.  So, there are still quite a few chestnut trees
    around, but they are all bush-sized.  So, there's hope, if some clever
    biologist discovers a cure for the chestnut blight, since there are
    still living trees.  But there are fewer of them every year, since some
    of the roots don't resprout, and some get dug up, etc.  The American
    chestnuts were supposed to much tastier than the English ones (which
    are good!).  And the wood of the tree was good for furniture.
    
    I don't know if horse chestnuts are at all related to real chestnuts.
    They certainly aren't affected by the chestnut blight, and aren't
    edible anyhow.  They are a nice tree if you don't need to remove the
    nuts (sort of like having a big oak tree in your yard).
    
    /Charlotte
              

>    I don't know if horse chestnuts are at all related to real chestnuts.
>    They certainly aren't affected by the chestnut blight, and aren't
>    edible anyhow.  They are a nice tree if you don't need to remove the
>    nuts (sort of like having a big oak tree in your yard).

   Real chestnuts are related to acorns, but horse chestnuts aren't
   even in the same family; I don't know why the name is similar.
   They have tannin and some other stuff in them from what I've read.

   I once made a chocolate chestnut terrine, sort of like an adult chocolate
   bar.  That was the only time I tried cooking with them.   I remember
   burning my fingers peeling those hot chestnuts!

   - Jim

    
 >   Does anyone have any other recipes? I would like to know how to make 
 >   chestnut puree, cookies, stuffing...if you don't have time to enter
 >   in notes could you send a copy of recipe through interoffice mail and
 >   I'll enter it in all my spare time ;^)

	Made a wonderful winter squash soup with chestnuts, from
	the Victory Garden cookbook, a couple of weeks ago.  If you'd
	like the recipe, I'll enter it.

	Di

    A favorite side dish of mine that combines my wife's least favorite
    foods is brussel sprouts and chestnuts.  Trim the base of the sprouts
    and remove the damaged outer leaves if needed.  Cut an x in the base,
    and steam until tender.  Cut an x in the chestnuts, roast and peel. 
    When both are done, toss together in a sauce made from reduced chicken
    stock and butter whisked together.  Serve immediately.
    
    By the way, has anyone ever tried making a traditionalchestnut recipe
    using the dried chestnuts available in Asian markets?

    re .12
    Di,
    Please enter the recipe for winter squash with chestnuts.  Judging from
    my Dad's bumper crop of accorted squashes, we'll be looking for
    recipes!
    Thanks, Sarah

	Sarah, I know what you mean - we have more winter squash than you
	can shake a stick at right now. 8-) 8-|  Hence, the soup.

	This is a slightly modified version of the Victory Garden's recipe.

		Squash Soup

	1/2 lb. raw chestnuts, peeled, skinned, coarsely chopped
	2 and 1/2 lb. winter squash, peeled, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
		[calls for butternut; I used half butternut, half buttercup]
	1 medium onion
	1 lg. carrot
	2 stalks celery
	3 T butter
	5 c. chicken stock  [I used canned, low-salt]
	1/4 tsp. ground ginger
	1 and 1/2 c. light cream
	salt & pepper
	
	Chop onion, carrot, and celery, and add to butter melted in a
	4-qt. saucepan.  Stew to wilt but not brown.  Stir in chestnuts
	and squash.  Add 4 c. chicken stock.  Bring to boil, cover,
	reduce heat, simmer 30-40 mins, until squash is very tender.
	Stir in ginger.  Pure� in a blender with remaining 1 c. chicken
	stock.  Add cream and season to taste with salt and pepper.
	Reheat and serve.  (Makes 8 cups.)  

	[I garnished with a little bit of finely chopped chestnuts.]

    >  we have more winter squash than you can shake a stick at right now.
    
    I love that expression, do you know its origin ?
                                           
    Alan.

    >  we have more winter squash than you can shake a stick at right now.
    
>>    I love that expression, do you know its origin ?

	*^) I love it too.  You know, it's funny, I was wondering about the
	origin when I entered the note - I'll have to look into that
	if no-one else knows.

	Di

    re .11 - Jim
    
    Can you enter the recipe for the Chocolate Chestnut Terrine? Sounds
    intersting!
    
    Thanks,
    ~beth
    
    p.s. why would you WANT to shake a stick at squash, anyway?! 8-) 8-)
    I can just picture a pilgrim shaking a stick at a pile of squash....

    
    
    According to the descriptions in .9 I believe  I have collected horse
    chestnuts!!! Darn!! 
    
    Think I'll take this discussion to the crafts file now...maybe they
    have some ideas on what I can do with them ..besides toss them. 
    
    Mrs �

    
    Make a hole in them, put a piece of shoelace through the hole, knotted
    at one end and play conkers...
    
    Hours of fun, and lots of mess on the carpet...

    What did the outside hulls look like?  Horse chestnuts in the
    Northeastern US have a leathery green hull with large rather widely
    spaced spikes - the hulls turn brown when dried out.  The one live
    "American?" chestnut tree that I have seen had hulls that were covered
    with small, sharp, thin, closely spaced spines.  At first glance, the
    hull looked like a patch of light brown fur; picking it up was a
    mistake, those spines hurt.  Hope this helps...
    
    Dave
    

    Di,
    Raw chestnuts?  I've never tried to peel raw chestnuts, just roasted
    ones. Is this a major job (like peeling butternut squash : )? Any quick
    "this is the easy way" tips (including peeling the squash!!) would be
    appreciated.  Also, is this one of those soups that tastes better after
    having "rested" for a day or two?  I was thinking of assembling it
    tonight, but eating it for lunch tomorrow (Saturday).
    Sounds yummy.  And I just happen to have a huge stockpot full of
    chicken stock from last weeks "buy one chicken-get one free" deal at
    the supermarket...
    Sarah

I hate peeling butternut squash, and have actually switched to using buttercup
squash because it's easier to just cut it in half, bake it, then mix it up
with maple syrup, brown sugar, and butter and freeze. And since I do about
20-30 pounds of squash a year so that we have enough to last til the next
squash season, I really appreciate not peeling squash anymore.

But I have a friend who showed me what seems to be an easier way to peel the
squash. I used to peel it first and then cut it up which took forever and
wasn't the most loved task.  Instead, try cutting it in slices first, and then
peel each slice.  It's a lot easier, although I still put that on the list
of chores I'd rather avoid.

Cathy

>>I hate peeling butternut squash, and have actually switched to using buttercup
>>squash because it's easier to just cut it in half, bake it, then mix it up
>>with maple syrup, brown sugar, and butter and freeze. And since I do about

	But you can do this with butternut as well.  And acorn.  The butternut,
	if you bake until very tender, is the easiest to peel afterward,
	I find.  Yield is the greatest too.  I don't mix it with anything
	before freezing, but I happen to like it plain.

	Diane

    I bought a book on using the microwave to prepare baby food and 
    they give directions on cutting all manner of squash in half and 
    microwaving then scooping out. Works WONDERFULLY. Baby loved the 
    stuff.
    
    Monica