Well, it's that time of year again. Chestnuts!
I wrote about my love/hate relationship with chestnuts
last year. And I'm back in the same boat again this year. The chestnut trees have these charming little prickly balls all over them and they look magical. But to get to the chestnuts themselves is a bit challenging.
My neighbors and local farmers are bringing me chestnuts by the bags again and I have to figure out how to get them to an edible stage. Someone gave me the hint that I just put the bags in the freezer and then I can use the chestnuts gradually over the year so I've already stuffed two bags in the freezer. Yesterday I asked some friends what their favorite chestnut recipes were and got a couple of suggestions. I tried two recipes last night with mixed results. Roasted some chestnuts in the shell in the oven and they were a bit easier to eat but didn't have a whole lot of flavor. Peeled some other chestnuts and simmered them in sweet soy sauce with pork and green onions and they were quite good.
And the best suggestion so far was to buy something called a Kuri-kuri Bozu (
kuri means chestnut) which is a scissor-like instrument that peels the chestnut with more ease than using a regular knife. Much easier on the wrist and the chef is less likely to get blisters or lose a finger.
I wonder how Shelina is doing with her buckeyes this year... We commiserated with each other about the bounty of nuts (buckeyes and chestnuts) that we'd acquired last year but didn't come up with any solutions.
I wrote about my love/hate relationship with chestnuts last year. And I'm back in the same boat again this year. The chestnut trees have these charming little prickly balls all over them and they look magical. But to get to the chestnuts themselves is a bit challenging. 
My neighbors and local farmers are bringing me chestnuts by the bags again and I have to figure out how to get them to an edible stage. Someone gave me the hint that I just put the bags in the freezer and then I can use the chestnuts gradually over the year so I've already stuffed two bags in the freezer. Yesterday I asked some friends what their favorite chestnut recipes were and got a couple of suggestions. I tried two recipes last night with mixed results. Roasted some chestnuts in the shell in the oven and they were a bit easier to eat but didn't have a whole lot of flavor. Peeled some other chestnuts and simmered them in sweet soy sauce with pork and green onions and they were quite good.
And the best suggestion so far was to buy something called a Kuri-kuri Bozu (kuri means chestnut) which is a scissor-like instrument that peels the chestnut with more ease than using a regular knife. Much easier on the wrist and the chef is less likely to get blisters or lose a finger.
I wonder how Shelina is doing with her buckeyes this year... We commiserated with each other about the bounty of nuts (buckeyes and chestnuts) that we'd acquired last year but didn't come up with any solutions.
4 comments:
Chestnuts are a real sign of winter for us. We don't have all that many sweet chestnut trees, just loads of horse chestnuts (great conkers though!). So most of our chestnuts are imported. I love roasted chestnuts, but don't use them for anything else really, though they are traditional to have with brussels sprouts for Christmas dinner.
Buckeyes, what are those? Never heard of them. LOL
We used to roast the chestnuts on open fires, when we were kids. I like the idea of the soy sauce & pork!
No chestnuts near me but I'm having the new experience of what to do with millions of pecans! :-)
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