Chestnuts

[Rob]

This has been split from cooking mussels topic

I'm with with Loopy Lou i always order mussels when they're on the menu.
I do them myself now and again but listen i went to a Turkish market today and bought chestnuts. How do i do them??
Last time i eat them was over 50 years ago on bonfire night down Eel Street?

[SRD]

Pierce the chestnuts with a fork or needle, place in a roasting tin and roast in a very hot oven 'til the outsides look a little charred. I suppose you could just do them in a frying pan too, but you would need to turn them.

If you've got an open fire pierce the chestnuts then place on a coal shovel and roast on the fire, turning when the underside is slightly charred. You can get special 'shovels' with holes in which speeds up the process.

[snoopysue]

Saw a Jamie Oliver program the other day, once roasted he bunged them in some brandy - you´can eat them straight away or leave them for a while.
He also boiled some, and said they'd be good mashed with potatoes.

[mallosa]

...mashed with potatoes eh? That sounds good!

[Rob]

Well i did a few of them.Just to see if they were ok.
******' **** they were horrible!!That's me finished with chestnuts.

[Rob]

I'm going to make pastry now and try my hand at making mince pies.
Mince meat? Best before August 2010? Never been opened.Throw it away?

[gardener]

I'm going to make pastry now and try my hand at making mince pies.
Mince meat? Best before August 2010? Never been opened.Throw it away?

Only if it smells iffy.

[SRD]

Well i did a few of them.Just to see if they were ok.
******' **** they were horrible!!That's me finished with chestnuts.

Did you take off the bitter underskin as well as the glossy outer?

[Rob]

Of course i took off the glossy overcoat,burnt my fingers as well!!
There's an underskin as well?

[gardener]

I expect it is like any nut, think of an almond which has quite a bitter skin inside the hard nutshell. Sometimes you eat it and some times not.

[SRD]

Of course i took off the glossy overcoat,burnt my fingers as well!!
There's an underskin as well?

Yup, it's very bitter. Sometimes it comes off with the outer skin but quite often not, that's one of the reasons for roasting chestnuts; it makes it easier to remove.