Chestnuts

[ludja]

Personally, if I was considering this, I'd want to hear from someone that it comes out alright using dried chestnuts b/4 I invested the time or $...  It is a pain to peel fresh chestnuts and the season is ending, ended?... I'd wait for fresh chestnuts next fall. 

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I thought for a long time that mont blanc would only work with fresh chestnuts. Two weeks ago, my wife and I (craving for mont blanc) went on a fruitless hunt for fresh chestnuts, we came up with the crazy idea of attempting the recipe with chesnuts in a jar. To our surprise, it came out quite alright..

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Cool, thanks for sharing. I like it enough that it would be great to be able to have it more often!

[Simon Lewinson]

Hi all, I am in the position of having a number of chestnut trees that are about to shower me with their bountiful fruit.

I am after some ideas on what to do with the fresh chestnuts apart from the standard roasting and eating.

Thanks in advance

Simon

[bague25]

I make an Indian stir-fry with heat ghee (or butter+oil). Add mustard and cumin seeds, next put in some other veggie (especially for the colour, like beans, peas or carrots) and the cooked chestnuts. Cover and cook on slow flame turning from time to time till the veggies are cooked but still crunchy. Top with lots of fresh coconut and coriander and finish with a squeeze of lemon juice.

[Plantes Vertes]

Meat/poultry

Marrons glaces with pate de foie gras

Rabbit, pork belly, onion and chestnuts cooked in white wine

Quail stuffed with chestnuts and sausage

Venison fillet with chestnut stuffing

Leg of venison with red wine, mushrooms and chestnuts

Pigeon, apples and chestnuts

Vegetables

Pumpkin and chestnut soup

Chestnut veloute

Braised endive and chestnuts

Seafood

Langoustines, marmalade and chestnuts

Scallops with chestnut sauce

Bass with chard and chestnuts

Sweets

Chestnut macaroons

Chestnut mousse with hazelnut pralines

Chestnut roule

Crepes with chestnuts and orange

Chestnuts with spice bread and salted caramel cream

[ninagluck]

try to hydrate them and grind them to chestnut flour

[Mjx]

And if you do make chestnut flour, chestnut flour pasta (especially pappardelle and gnocchi) is great with game.

[Simon Lewinson]

try to hydrate them and grind them to chestnut flour

Nina, do you roast them first?

Simon

[liuzhou]

Braised chicken with chestnuts is a popular dish across China.

is a video of a very traditional version from central China.

And here is a recipe for a more Hong Style version.

[janeer]

I just posted a chestnut soup recipe in the Soup Topic a few days ago. It's good.

[annachan]

Braised chicken with chestnuts is a popular dish across China.

is a video of a very traditional version from central China.

And here is a recipe for a more Hong Style version.

Braised chestnut chicken is one of my favorite recipes.

Though not my favorite, chestnut cake has always been popular in Hong Kong.

I am enjoying a nice chestnut tea at the moment, with pieces of dry chestnut in it. I imagine you may be able to make that at home by combining dry chestnut pieces and loose left tea.

[ninagluck]

take off the outer shell and inner skin. chop them roughly and roast them in the oven starting at 150° C with falling temperatur. after they are dry grind them into powder.

[Simon Lewinson]

This morning I spent 5 minutes collecting these beauties. There is over 1kg.

I am roasting them and plan to try making some braised pork and chestnut ravioli tomorrow. I have cooked the pork shanks sous vide with garlic, ginger and soy sauce.

Simon

[andiesenji]

Here's a link to my spicy chestnut soup that works very well as a "mug" soup when you want to serve buffet style.

One variation that I did not include on the page is that this is wonderful when topped with a piece of toasted French bread and topped with a cheese such as Asiago - something with a bit of "bite" to it.

[Mjx]

This morning I spent 5 minutes collecting these beauties. There is over 1kg.

I am roasting them and plan to try making some braised pork and chestnut ravioli tomorrow. I have cooked the pork shanks sous vide with garlic, ginger and soy sauce.

Simon

I am feeling deeply envious. Those are gorgeous (I haven't been able to get my hands on decent chestnuts in ages), and those dishes sound like they're going to be delicious, so I'm hoping you'll follow up with images/descriptions.

[Simon Lewinson]

Update. The chestnuts have been roasted, shelled, chopped, dried and ground into 350 grams of flour. Only pity is that it looks like such a small amount, but should make some wonderful pasta.

I promise to post updates, either in this thread or the dinner 2013 thread about its final destiny.

What do you think about chestnut and porcini fettuccine served with sage buerre noisette and pecorino?

I will pick more tomorrow if time permits.

Simon

[ninagluck]

I guess that the flavour of the porcini is too strong for the chestnuts............

[Simon Lewinson]

Nina, I was thinking along that line but wanted others opinions.

Thanks

[andiesenji]

There is an Italian chestnut ravioli that I have had with the pasta made from chestnut flour and the filling made with chopped cooked chestnuts.

I've also had chestnut ravioli with a filling of foie gras and truffles and the flavors enhance and complement each other.

I have made ravioli from chestnut flour and filled with ricotta cheese, it is very delicate and as I recall, I made a very mild white sauce for it.

[SobaAddict70]

Update. The chestnuts have been roasted, shelled, chopped, dried and ground into 350 grams of flour. Only pity is that it looks like such a small amount, but should make some wonderful pasta.

I promise to post updates, either in this thread or the dinner 2013 thread about its final destiny.

What do you think about chestnut and porcini fettuccine served with sage buerre noisette and pecorino?

I will pick more tomorrow if time permits.

Simon

it would depend on the proportion of porcini to the chestnuts, as well as the other ingredients.

could be good or not. my initial reaction is that it's one too many ingredients (i.e., the sage might get lost with all the background "noise" provided by the porcini).

personally if I had access to fresh roasted chestnuts, I'd make risi e castagne. you can do either a sweet or savory version, depending on your mood.

[SobaAddict70]

there is also chestnut gnocchi, which is sometimes pure chestnut but more often than not mixed in with a little bit of potato, to give it some added "heft".

[ninagluck]

try castagnaccio with your flour, but go for the savory version with rosemary and pinenuts!

[Simon Lewinson]

try castagnaccio with your flour, but go for the savory version with rosemary and pinenuts!

Sounds like a baking morning! Castagnaccio and banana bread it will be. I do not bake much and leave it to my nearly 14 year old daughter who loves it.

I should have enough flour left to make a batch of chestnut pasta.

Simon

[Simon Lewinson]

Three loaves of banana bread out of the oven. No 1 son has already eaten half of a loaf as a post breakfast snack.

Castagnaccio in the oven - subbed pine nuts with macadamia nuts because I can only get the crappy Chinese ones locally. Added heaps of fresh rosemary and used freshly pressed local extra virgin olive oil.

Lunch will be some antipasto with the castagnaccio and a glass to three of vino. Why does time run so slowly? Will post photos and taste report soon

Edited April 14, 2013 by Simon Lewinson (log)

[ninagluck]

I would kill for some warm castagnaccio right now!

[Simon Lewinson]

I would kill for some warm castagnaccio right now!

Nina, the castagnaccio was not bad, but I think that something was missing from the recipe that I used from here http://thriftytuscany.com/chestnut-cake-castagnaccio-recipe. The texture was extremely crumbly and almost falling apart whenever you tried to pick it up. The colour was a light golden brown with small cracks on the surface.

The flavour was quite subtle and went well with the prosciutto, pecorino and home made basil and cashew pesto.

I would love suggestions on better recipes to try.

Simon