Day 22: March 15, 2015: Chestnuts Cooked 4 Different Ways - Κάστανα Μαγειρεμένα με 4 Διαφορετικούς Τρόπους

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose…"  It may not be the Christmas season, but the weather outside is still frightful, and the fire inside is delightful, so why not have roasted chestnuts?

We were at at small, independent grocery store, and found they were selling this bag of chestnuts for $1.35 Canadian per pound (454 g).  That seemed like a great price, and it was something we had not had during this winter break, so we bought a bag.  There are many things one can make with chestnuts, and many different ways to eat them, and we thought we would try a few ways here today. 

What prompted us to try preparing chestnuts using several different methods is that while reading how various people prepared chestnuts, these following methods came up most frequently:

a) boiling them in water

b) roasting them in the oven as is

c) roasting them in the oven with an "X-shaped" cut

d) microwaving them

So, we approached the task one afternoon to see how each method fared.

As one can see, chestnuts usually have a flat side.

A cracked, uncooked chestnut.

Chestnuts are called "Kastana" in Greek (in fact, the origin of the word "chestnut" is the ancient Greek word "kastanea").  They are not actually nuts but fruit that fall from the chestnut tree. When you are looking at a chestnut, you may notice that there is one side of the nut (fruit) that is flat.  The other side is rounded and shapely.  (see photo above)  The nuts are smooth and even coloured and have a thick skin around the sweet and creamy centres.

These nuts can be eaten as they are, boiled, roasted, or as part of a recipe.  With each cooking method, the texture of the creamy centre changes slightly, and the amount of sweetness is heightened to a different degree.  We thought we would try four of the most common ways of preparing chestnuts without using a fire or fireplace.

Our first method was to boil the chestnuts.  We put a small pot of water on the stove, and turned on the heat to boil the water.  The heat setting was high, but it does take a while for the water to heat to boiling.  So, while the water was coming to temperature, we added a few chestnuts.  Be careful not to drop the nuts into the water from too high so the hot water does not splash you.  We learned this the hard way!

The water will come up to a boil, and let the chestnuts boil for 20 minutes.  The shells will turn a bit darker in colour, the water will change colour, and you will be pleased with the result of the nuts.  When you look at the pot, you may realize that this is the same thing that people  used for hair dye/hair colour a long time ago!  Then, when the nuts have cooled enough to touch, slice the skin to peel them and enjoy.  The centres will have a consistent hue, and have a soft, almost creamy texture.

Next, we thought we would try the oven method.  We had read directions that included slitting the skins or not slitting the skins.  We did not know what the right answer was, so we tried both.

First, we drew the line on the parchment paper, so we knew the difference between the two, and so you would know the difference between the cut and uncut chestnuts.  We did not know how much the cuts would show, and wanted to make sure we kept it straight.  Using a permanent marker and parchment paper, it was easy to label what we were doing.  

Using a serrated knife, we sliced into the skin twice -- one time from the tip to the tail, and the other slice across the width of the nut.  We then laid the sliced chestnut with the flat side down on the pan, the cross facing up. 

We baked the chestnuts at 400º F (about 200º C) for 20 minutes.  When the chestnuts came out of the oven, the house smelled amazing!  That scent lingered for about thirty minutes.  Then, looking at the cooked products, we were glad that the nuts were labeled (see below).  The chestnuts that were not sliced before baking still cracked open.  The openings were not as drastic as the ones from the cut chestnuts, but they were opening enough to peel the skin off and get into the sweet centre.   However, in the final product after baking, the taste of the baked middle had no difference in flavour or texture to us between these two baked chestnuts.  

The baked chestnuts tasted rather different from the boiled ones!  The boiled chestnuts were softer and creamier, whereas the baked chestnuts were sweet, but a bit dry.  Both were good, but now, we wanted to try the fast way to make chestnuts.

Some of the uncut chestnuts "exploded" during the roasting process!

Our last method of cooking chestnuts is to microwave them.  It may sound wrong since nobody thinks about  "chestnuts roasting in the microwave…" but this was fast and easy.  We put the chestnuts on a microwave safe plate and thought how easy this seemed, perhaps we were missing something.  We put the first batch into the microwave for 3 minutes on high.  At the two minute mark, the chestnuts started to explode -- literally!  If you want to know how long it takes to clean your microwave, then please follow that method.  

Otherwise, follow this method:  This time, we cut the chestnuts.  Using the same method as we did for the baked ones, we used a serrated knife and cut the shape of the cross into the round side of the chestnut.  Then, we placed the chestnuts on a microwave safe plate, we also covered them with a microwave lid.  Nobody wants to clean the microwave two times in a row.  We set the power to high, and cooked the chestnuts for 2 minutes.  

This was not really enough, so we put the chestnuts back in the microwave for another minute.  Three minutes seemed right, but we had to try four minutes, too. So, we did, but we found that was too much.  With each added minute, the texture inside the chestnut changed.  Three minutes age us the perfect sweetness and creaminess, with a little bit of dryness, too.  Four minutes was just dry.  It was hard to appreciate the flavour beyond the dry, crumbly texture.  And, the two minute microwaved chestnut just didn't seem ready -- like eating a half baked cake.

Our microwave is a few years old, so we think that the results would be different with a newer microwave and higher power, but this is what we found.  We liked the 3-minute microwaved method almost as much as we liked the boiled chestnuts.  The oven- baked chestnuts were fine, but the others were a bit sweeter and a little creamier.

We tried all these methods and then summarized them onto one page for you.  We know what we liked and why, but would love to know which method or methods you tried and you liked. If you have other ways that you enjoy chestnuts, please let us know so we, too, can try that, too.  It doesn't have to be winter or Christmas to enjoy this creamy, healthy treat.

"Does not the gratitude of the dog put to shame any man who is ungrateful to his benefactors?"
Saint Basil (330-379 A.D.)

Source of quote: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/s/saintbasil540761.html#jrVGCau3e5ep5Ygu.99