Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire… (Actually in my oven)

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I roasted the chestnuts.

It wasn’t too hard to do. First off, I viewed several YouTube videos on how to do it. They differed a bit in the process but I was confident I could figure it out.

The procedure goes like this; using a paring knife (or a fancy chestnut knife that is actually quite scary looking), you score the chestnuts on the fat side in an ‘X’ pattern. Then you soak them in really hot water for about 15 minutes. Remove them from the water and put them in a bowl. This recipe called for 2 sprigs of rosemary and a stick of melted butter, for every 2 pounds of chestnuts. Thank goodness I only had about 15 chestnuts to begin with, well under 1 pound, so I used a lot less butter. Toss with salt and pepper and put in foil, crimp the sides to make a pocket, leaving the top open. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes. At this point the house smelled pretty good. They do have a nice aroma.

Here’s the tricky part; you have to peel the chestnuts while they are still hot. Fifteen chestnuts and 10 burned fingers later, I decided that this was not for me. The taste ran the gamut of a so, so creamy, nutty flavor to grainy potatoes. Not what I expected.

I’ll just stick with my fantasy they would taste better roasted on an open fire on a street corner in Manhattan, during a cold winter’s night while out with Nat King Cole.

Until next week,

 

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