What to do with fresh chestnuts?

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uli, Mar 14, 10:48pm
After usually just either boiling them or roasting them I'd like to collect some more recipes as we have a bumper crop this year.

This will be tonights dinner:
http://www.chestnutrecipes.co.uk/beef-stew.html

mandi, Mar 14, 10:53pm
Did this one a couple of years ago at Christmas, was a very tasty stuffing for the turkey.
CHESTNUT, BACON AND CRANBERRY STUFFING

100g Cranberries
50ml ruby port
1 onion chopped
2 rashers bacon cut into strips
50g butter
2 cloves garlic chopped
450g sausagemeat
140g breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley
½ tsp fresh chopped thyme
140g peeled, cooked chestnuts, roughly chopped
1 med egg lightly beaten

Soak cranberries in port for an hour.Fry onion and bacon in the butter until the onion is tender and bacon is cooked.Add garlic and fry for a minute or so.
Cool slightly and mix with all the remaining ingredients, including the cranberries and port, add enough egg to combine - could be easiest to mix with hands.

mandi, Mar 14, 10:58pm
There's also this one, makes a lovely chutney to have with cold meats and is good with blue cheese.
• Chestnut Chutney
Makes about 625g, prep time 15 mins, cooking time 1.5 hrs.
60ml Olive oil
4 large red onions thinly sliced
1 fennel bulb trimmed and thinly sliced
250g cooked peeled chestnuts chopped
100g soft brown sugar
125ml cider vinegar
125ml sweet sherry or marsala wine
freshly ground black pepper
Heat oil in a large pan, add the onions and fennel and cook gently for 25-30 mins until the onions are very soft.
Add the chestnuts, sugar, vinegar and sherry to the pan, season well with pepper and stir. Simmer gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally for about 1 hour, until the chutney is thickened.
Transfer the chutney to a warm jar/s and seal.
Store in a cool dark place or in the fridge. It will keep for 3-4 months.

kiwitrish, Mar 14, 11:26pm
Delia smith has a great recipe for Chestnut Soup with Bacon and Thyme Croutons.Tastes delicious.

lilyfield, Mar 14, 11:31pm
I make a curry out ofthem, eat over rice for a vegetarien meal

uli, Mar 21, 5:52am
We still get a few buckets each day, so the main chore is to cook, peel and freeze :)

The latest loved recipe is to fry onions and add sliced peeled apples and boiled peeled chestnuts.

Any other recipes out there!

autumnwinds, Mar 21, 5:55am
Yum!So many nice things to do with chestnuts.
even gorgeous desserts (marron glace).
and oh, the memories of eating roast chestnuts, hot in cold hands, in Autumn in Paris .yum!

gag5, Mar 21, 9:41am
we have 4 chestnut trees but really we find them a drag, to collect, cook & peel. A lot fo time for a small amount. & those darn prickles are nasty!
But I do usually gather them & then they sit around till they go in teh compost or fed to the chooks!

uli, Mar 22, 4:45am
You need to pick them up daily or at least every second day. Then stab them and boil them (or roast them). If you cannot be bothered to peel them the same evening - hot is best, fastest and easiest - then freeze them until you have time.

Bloody waste of money to not pick them up . and then go to the supermarket and buy flour, bread, pasta, rice .

schnauzer11, Mar 22, 11:45am
Where did you source chestnuts in December!

schnauzer11, Mar 22, 11:47am
I love collecting and roasting chestunts each April.Yum !

mandi, Mar 22, 8:18pm
I bought them frozen from a supplier.

uli, Mar 23, 4:23am
I freeze cooked and peeled chestnuts to use all year round.

shop-a-holic, Mar 23, 11:30am
What species of chestnut do you have Uli! and would you like to tell the readers which species are not for eating!

uli, Mar 24, 4:21am
All "edible" chestnuts are for eating (they come covered in very spikey shells and are brown inside - no white bits on them).
http://cdn.honeytraveler.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Chestnut.jpg!4c9b33 All horse chestnuts are poisonous (they come in much less spikey shells and have a white patch on them). http://www.mdidea.com/products/new/horse-chestnut_cosmetic.jpg

True edible chestnuts are readily recognisable from conkers (the nut of the common name for Horse Chestnut) by the point at the top of the nut. Conkers have no point on their flattened smooth tops.

Most chestnuts in NZ are Japanese chestnut - Castanea crenata - there are some C. sativa too.

Hope that answers your questions shop-a-holic.

rkh38, Mar 25, 3:22am
Yum i love chestnuts!
We make a really good leek and chestnut soup -

Sweat off onion and garlic, add leek and small potato, sweat a little more, add stock we use either chicken or veg and chestnuts, season well and simmer till cooked. Whizz up and enjoy!

gag5, Mar 25, 9:21am
um, where do the chestnuts come in!

uli, Mar 26, 8:09am
If you read the recipe above you will see it!

".Sweat off onion and garlic, add leek and small potato, sweat a little more, add stock we use either chicken or veg and CHESTNUTS, season well and simmer till cooked. Whizz up and enjoy!."

toffeey, Mar 26, 6:42pm
I miss chestnuts. Mum and Dad had a huge tree at the family home. They sold this last year and I picked up the last of the chestnuts. I managed to sprout three of them but only have a tiny section. Am hoping to guerilla plant them somewhere public.

uli, Mar 30, 5:02am
Usually they split before they fall and then you use the foot (in a shoe) to get them out if they don't fall out by themselves.

If they are completely closed they are either unripe (because of the drought maybe!) or not fertile - meaning there are no plump seeds inside. The brown ones look like that to me.

willyow, Mar 30, 7:41am
With a really sharp knife cut a big Xthrough the skin on one side and roast at 180 for eight toten minutes - they open up like a flower and you then eat them -very yummy!

uli, Mar 30, 8:16am
You got to get them out of the spiny outer before you make cuts into the nuts willyow!

toadfish, Mar 30, 6:46pm
You are absolutely correct. they are shrivelled up inside (even the bright green ones) - we thought it was maybe because of the drought as well.Found one good one when we collected them - that had started to split and the nut was lovely.Now I know what to look for I will "scrump" again lol.

toadfish, Mar 30, 10:54pm
Ok. Went back to the scene of the scrumping. knowing what to look for and came back with a bag of good ones. Now to roast and eat.

uli, Mar 31, 12:00am
Wow - now how does that make me feel - being "absolutely correct" for once LOL :)

I hope you find some more good ones toadfish - they are very nice eating when fresh and plump.