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peggy
9-15-11, 8:25am
I'm thinking of planting some chestnut trees. Does anyone here eat chestnuts?How? How do they taste? I know I can get some in the store at Christmas, but I'm wanting to plant now, cause nows the time.

sweetana3
9-15-11, 11:22am
My dad grows an orchard of chestnut trees in CA as a hobby. They are just harvesting. I love them in stuffing and roasted. Gave him a cookbook once. He grows the mammoth CA chestnuts and they have a lot of meat. Hard to shell though so you might want to investigate that first. They are spiny.

Gina
9-15-11, 11:38am
I grew up eating chestnuts as a special treat after dinner during the holidays. The way my Italian father prepared them was very simple. He would simply score the smooth seed with a sharp knive and put them in a heavy pan in the oven till they slightly split along the score. Let them cool a bit, then peel and eat. He liked a dab of cranberry sauce on his, I preferred mine plain.

I'll still buy and roast some almost every year, but they can be difficult to select since many are already too dry. Only pick the plump ones that have a sheen. Also hold each one, even slightly tossing it in your hand to get a better feel, and only buy the rounder, heavier ones. The ones without enough moisture inside don't swell enough to crack and peel easily. And they are too hard to eat.

How do they taste? Impossible to accurately put into words. I find them mild, slightly sweet and nutty, but more crumbly than actual nuts. Very pleasant to my taste buds.

This image of roasted chestnuts is from the Martha Stewart site, so she has a special pan. Not needed.

http://images.marthastewart.com/images/content/pub/ms_living/2001Q4//ml111_1101_chestnutht2_xl.jpg

peggy
9-15-11, 4:37pm
Thanks y'all!

Gregg
10-3-11, 4:32pm
When I was a kid we always roasted the smaller ones and boiled the bigger nuts. I'm really not sure why! Mom would make stuffing "muffins" with them. Essentially just adding a bunch to her regular turkey stuffing and over filling muffin tins with the mix then baking it till they were set up. Great way to take stuffing for lunches.