Roasting Chestnuts

I'm sure you're all familiar with the lyrics from the Christmas carol - "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire." We've sung the song for decades, but have never actually eaten any roasted chestnuts. When I came across a recipe using them, we decided it was time to try them. Wayne declares that the carol isn't referring to eating them, but rather to destroying them in the fiery flame!

Our first clue that we wouldn't care for the nuts should have been the difficulty we had in finding them; they weren't at the first two grocery stores we visited, but good old Publix came through for us. The second clue should have been that they were located next to the Brussel sprouts in the produce section.

Nevertheless, we took them home and I followed the recipe instructions which were to score an "X" on the flat side of the nut, soak them in water for 15 minutes, then roast them in the oven for 10-12 minutes. At that point, I expected the shells to come off easily. I thought wrong. However, carefully separating the nutmeat from the shell was the perfect project to do while watching tv for a few hours. It brought back fond childhood memories of cracking the walnuts harvested from our backyard while watching a favorite show.

Thanksgiving morning I combined the broken chestnut pieces with the rest of the ingredients and served Wild Rice and Chestnut Stuffing with our Thanksgiving turkey. I rather liked the non-traditional side dish. 

Then later I used the whole chestnuts in another recipe that didn't quite make the Thanksgiving menu cut - Braised Chestnuts. We liked the second recipe more, but figured it would be even better with just the carrots and mushrooms.