Yesterday we visited a basket-weaver here, who also happens to own 60-something chestnut trees. He had a tons of chestnuts spread out over the floor of his working hut; we offered to buy some, and he gave us some for free since we only wanted to try "a little" (although, a kilo doesn't seem like "a little" to me!) He told us that it's traditional to eat chestnuts on All Saint's Day... November 1. 
So, today, as a little snack, we roasted some up. We looked up info online, and found that you need to cut an "X" into each nut before roasting, or they will explode. We roasted them at 400 degrees F for about 35 minutes. We weren't sure how long to roast them, this being our first time and all. I think they turned out fine, but I wonder if we should have had them in longer. They had a slightly sweet flavor, and the texture was a little mealy. Our kids loved them; they ate wasy more than I did. They liked salt sprinkled on theirs. Chestnuts are very filling!
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We have chestnuts all over the place here and I thought about giving the roasting thing a try too..Yours looked great so I think I will give it a shot too!
ReplyDeleteI bought chestnuts last year and never used them. :( They are SO hard; I think I got discouraged thinking about putting x's into all of them. ;) You make them sound delish--maybe I'll try them this year!
ReplyDeleteLinda, we had bought some from a supermarket a few weeks back, and those were hard; I think they were too old. These fresh ones weren't rock-hard. I just used a small paring knife and it was pretty easy, although my hand did start hurting after a while.
ReplyDeleteI didn't LOVE the chesnuts; it was something fun to try, but we wont' do it often.
Ah--old chestnuts is probably what I had. :(
ReplyDeleteWe tried roasting them a couple of years ago too, and also didn't love them, but it was fun giving it a shot.
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