Roast Chestnuts

Squeezing the nut between my thumb and forefinger. It doesn’t give. Yay, keeping them in the fridge worked! I had a whole bag last week to roast with a friend and then when we got them out of the cupboard to start  they were so squishy there was no point in trying.

Okay, the internet recommends cutting a cross into the curvy side of the nut so they don’t explode and to help peel them later. Wouldn’t an exploded nut be peeled without effort from myself… popcorn style? Oh well, I guess it’s not recommended for a reason. Shame, it would be exciting to hear a bang and say ‘the nuts are ready!’.

Fold up a tea-towel to stop them rolling around. First one scores easily, I can feel the knife get through the skin. Second one is really hard: the mahogany-brown nut really is like wood! Hope the difference doesn’t mean one of them is bad…

Nut three is easy to cut. Nut four is another difficult one.

It feels a bit silly to only be roasting four, but face it self, you’re just too cheap to risk wasting another bag of nuts.

I’ve been asked several times if I’m a high achiever, and I’ve always laughed… I’m too lazy and ready to settle to consider myself an achiever! But it is true that I don’t like making or repeating mistakes.

Anyway, into the oven with you chestnuts! Warm up my cold house while you cook, okay? See you in thirty minutes.

Okay, in twenty-five minutes. Peer into the oven. Oh, they have opened up at the cross and look just like the photos! The nut inside appears toasted golden.

Pick one out in the tea-towel, squeeze my hands around it. Soft crunching noises. Unwrap and gingerly pick at the shell. The recipe said to let them cool a bit but… the brown casing comes away perfectly, very easy! The nut feels a little softer than I’d expected but it looks perfect!

Second, third… all easy! Number four has an extra furry layer clinging around but soon it is also dispensed with.

Four golden ovals. Now to taste!

The skin has a little crunch and chew to it. The inside is soft and slightly doughy. Did I not cook them long enough? But the skins would be difficult to remove if they were under or over-cooked so I must have it right…

Their flavour is not very strong. Some residual sweetness. Really does remind me a bit of popcorn. But much more bland than other nuts. I like the contrast of the hard crust and smooth inner flesh though.

Still, I managed to do something quite easily that the internet said was going to be hard… that rarely happens since I’m so lazy! Not high-achieving… just lucky.

Rating:

Specifics: Whole chestnuts bought at Harris Farm, Merrylands.