Chestnuts roasting ....

[Gormy Cuss]

in an oven.

So I scored fresh, local chestnuts at the farmers' market and have roasted and peeled them according to the directions provided by the vendor. They have a wonderful flavor but I have no plans to use them for about a week. Should I store them in a plastic container in the fridge, or will they be okay at room temperature?

[kestrel91316]

1. Thanks for reminding me that I really must get fresh chestnuts at Trader Joe's this year!

[katkat]

2. nuts have oil, which gets rancid

I store nuts in the fridge.

[Denninmi]

3. Chestnuts are pretty perishable.

Even in the fridge, I'd be worried about them keeping a week. They tend to get molds quickly.

Personally, for storage of more than a few days, I'd freeze them.

I gave up on the roasting chestnut thing -- a lot of work, hard to peel, many of them are already bad when they come from the store. Now, if I had a local source... I planted six trees, but they are just small babies, barely beginning to have nuts. Eventually.

For now, I buy the canned stuff. Expensive but easy. I make a chestnut, ham, and onion cream soup every year for Christmas.

[Gormy Cuss]

4. Thanks, Denninmi. Into the freezer they go.

Would you mind posting the recipe for your soup? It sounds great.

These chestnuts were the sweetest and most fragrant ones that I've ever encountered, probably because they were so fresh.

[supernova]

5. The usual way to preserve chestnuts

if you are't going to eat them fresh from the fire is to peel them and either:

Put them in syrup as for ice cream topping, or

Or mash them up into a paste like almond paste and freeze it. You can then use in fillings for pie or pastry, anyplace you'd use almond paste too.

[Gormy Cuss]

6. Thanks supernova. n/t

[Denninmi]

7. Chestnut, ham, and onion soup.

1 cup chopped onion (I like to use sweet types if available, but hard to find this time of year)
2 tablespoons butter

Sautee the onions in the butter of medium to low heat, until wilted and golden colored. Then add:

2 cups diced ham. (Here, I prefer leftover spiral sliced, honey glazed ham for a little sweetness).

Sautee again until the ham cubes have just a little bit of brown on them.

Then add:

6 cups of chicken stock or broth.
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or a couple of good sprigs of fresh time.
A little bit of white pepper (1/4 teaspoon or to taste)

Let this simmer for about 30 minutes.

Then add a 16 ounce can of chestnut puree, or a pound of roasted, peeled chestnuts.

Simmer again, about 15 more minutes.

Then, puree with an immersion blender or in a regular blender. You can remove some of the ham pieces first to add back in after you puree if you'd like something a little not completely smooth.

Put back on the stove, heat if necessary until hot but not boiling. GENTLY stir in a cup of heavy cream or half and half (depends on how bad you want to be), and remove from the direct heat so it doesn't break and curdle. Serve right away.

You can add a couple of diced potatos to this also, for a little more body and to extend the chestnuts. That can of chestnut puree will set you back about $8 or $9 already.

[Gormy Cuss]

8. Thanks!

The fresh local chestnuts were only $4.00 /lb so I guess that was a bargain.

[Tab]

9. You can also microwave them

Quick results

[Denninmi]

10. Use caution, though.

I tried that once. I forgot to puncture the shell on one of them -- it exploded with a tremendous pop and left quite a spray of chestnut debris all over the microwave. I decided it was safer to just boil them.