Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

What to substitute for chestnuts?


OliverB

Recommended Posts

I'm planning our Valentines dinner and part will be a nice beef roast that's supposed to be with chestnuts and Brusselsprouts, but I can't find chestnuts anywhere. I'll try an other large Safeway and a NobHill and maybe call TJs but I haven't seen their frozen ones in a while. Whole Food told me that they're not in season (isn't that why we can things, so we have them out of season?) and they're all out of the jars.

Any idea what I could substitute? They're just boiled chestnuts that will be sliced and plated around the beef.

Thanks!

oliver

:edit:

I could find chestnut paste, if anyone has an idea how I could turn this somehow into "chestnuts" or slices thereof somehow, that would be great too. It was in a solid can so I could not see what consistency it has. Maybe if I add chestnut flour - if I can find that?

One of these things, see them all the time and when I need them I can't find them anywhere....

Edited by OliverB (log)

"And don't forget music - music in the kitchen is an essential ingredient!"

- Thomas Keller

Diablo Kitchen, my food blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, if they are just boiled and sliced around the beef, does it really matter if they are omitted? Doesn't sound like they are integral to the dish.

I know that a lot of different kinds of nuts go with brussels sprouts. Pecans are great IMO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They could be left out, but it's a pretty minimalist dish already. I'm thinking of trying the paste if I can't find the real thing. Thinking that a "spreadable chestnut" might actually be quite good. Of course, I have no idea if there's a ton of sugar or who knows what in that paste, it's in the baking aisle at Whole Foods.

I have pecans in the menu already, I guess I could add them here too in some variation and carry them all the way through to dessert. Could be interesting.

Thanks!

"And don't forget music - music in the kitchen is an essential ingredient!"

- Thomas Keller

Diablo Kitchen, my food blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cans of pureed chestnuts are usually available both sweetened and unsweetened, so just make sure you read the label. I think that the sweetened version is usually called "chestnut paste" and the unsweetened one "chestnut puree," but I'm not 100% sure about that.

The other option would be to try an Italian market, since they often have chestnuts in various forms. I use vacuum-sealed ones to make soup, but I'm not sure how well they would slice.

Matthew Kayahara

Kayahara.ca

@mtkayahara

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hazelnuts or Pecans should work well, and personally I think they'd be preferable...

John DePaula
formerly of DePaula Confections
Hand-crafted artisanal chocolates & gourmet confections - …Because Pleasure Matters…
--------------------
When asked “What are the secrets of good cooking? Escoffier replied, “There are three: butter, butter and butter.”

Link to comment
Share on other sites

also sounds yummy, not sure it would work here. It's a menu from Food&Wine magazine and I'm going to have the sprouts taken apart as leaves, some asian pear with the chestnuts (if I can find them). Pecans might work as well though.

"And don't forget music - music in the kitchen is an essential ingredient!"

- Thomas Keller

Diablo Kitchen, my food blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like a problem that I had at Thanksgiving, regarding this recipe. We finally found some, but we had to shell them -- NOT worth it. I could've used any other nut or omitted it.

I have, since then, found them at World Market; they come in glass jars. If I were you, I wouldn't bother. I'd go with pecans, otherwise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's more that - on the rare occasion that I do cook after recipes - I prefer to do it as written. I won't make a big deal of it, my wife might be able to pick some up on her way home tonight, otherwise I have pecans. But you mentioning that world market, we have a cost plus and a pier one, I might just check those, they always surprise me with the oddball things they stock.

Thanks all, I think I'm all set now, either chestnuts or we'll go with pecans.

By the way, TJ's at least sometimes has roasted chestnuts in shells in the freezer. Those are really quite good, you do have to shell them, but it's pretty easy, as they're all split open. And - at least so far - I've not gotten any with "free meat", i.e. worms in them, which tends to happen with the ones you can sometimes buy fresh in bulk. And it's NO fun to open one of those to find nothing but a - - - well, I'll spare you all ;-)

"And don't forget music - music in the kitchen is an essential ingredient!"

- Thomas Keller

Diablo Kitchen, my food blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

that sounds great too! I love roasting them too.

But back to the chestnuts, I managed to find some, but still thanks to all the replies here, some good ideas! I might even add pecan as an alternative today, as I'm curious about the different combinations.

Happy V-day to all!

Oliver

"And don't forget music - music in the kitchen is an essential ingredient!"

- Thomas Keller

Diablo Kitchen, my food blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Late in reply, but Asian markets usually have dehydrated peeled chestnuts, and unseasoned peeled roasted chestnuts sold as snacks. The roasted ones would certainly have worked in your Valentine supper.

Dejah

www.hillmanweb.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...