The Smells Of Autumn… And Chestnuts

chestnuts

Autumn’s best friend could well be a chestnut. Do you know how to prepare tasty chestnuts?

In autumn, people often go for a walk in the woods to enjoy some fresh air and the beautiful color palette nature has to offer. However, this time around make it even more interesting and browse through the leaves for chestnuts. Even if you don’t have a garden, yard, or other space where you could light a fire, you can still enjoy home-roasted chestnuts. Even better, you can also bake or roast delicious chestnuts in the kitchen, both on the stove and in the oven. This way roasted chestnuts will also be less sooty and your fingers less black.

By the way, did you know that chestnuts have some healing powers? Chestnut is a rich source of vitamins (especially vitamin B, which has a beneficial effect on the nervous system and calms us down), energy, and has an extraordinary healing effect on blood vessels. Veins, sword cramps, hemorrhoids, swollen feet, and arteriosclerosis can also be healed or prevented by eating chestnuts.

Step number one: preparation and storage

First thing first: the preparation. Chestnuts will be tastier if you leave them at home for at least two or three days – a week is ideal. Examine all chestnuts and eliminate those that are wormy otherwise the worms will attack the healthy fruits too. Chestnuts can be kept in the cold storage for a week or two, you can also freeze them and use them at a later date – for example making some winter moments even more special.

Cutting is mandatory

Remember to cut the chestnuts so there will be no explosions. Before roasting, every chestnut peel should be cut. It is also advisable to cut the chestnuts before freezing as well, as frozen chestnuts will be difficult to cut later. Cut them along the belly, the more rounded part of the fruit, in the shape of a cross or across the width over the entire side. This will prevent the chestnuts from cracking during roasting, and the roasted ones will peel easily.

Tools of the trade

Chestnuts can be roasted on any cooking hob, gas, electric or induction. On the gas hob you can use a perforated pan, adapted just for roasting chestnuts, but you will have to clean more of the shell fragments that will fall through it afterward. Conventional pans also work just fine – just avoid those with a Teflon coating, a cast iron skillet will be a great choice.

Pour enough chestnuts into the pan to cover the bottom. If there are too many chestnuts they cook unevenly. Roast them for about 15 or 20 minutes, depending on their size, and stirring several times. It’s best to cover the pan with a lid to avoid a smoky kitchen.

If you want to cook more chestnuts at once, Gorenje’s induction hobs have just the solution. Their AreaFlex feature, that a bigger cooking surface, ideal for preparing larger quantities of food. With AreaFlex, two vertical cooking zones can be connected into one, creating a large cooking surface, allowing the food (in our case chestnuts) to be prepared in bigger pots and pans.

Baking chestnuts in the oven is even easier. Preheat the oven to the highest possible temperature, spread the chestnuts on the baking sheet, spray them with water and place them on the highest level in the oven. After 10 minutes, stir the chestnuts, you can also spray them again. The chestnuts will be baked in about the same time as on the stove – after about 20 minutes.

You don’t have half an hour? How about ten minutes? Provided you own a microwave oven. Even if Gorenje microwave ovens, like all the other ones on the market, do not have a »chestnut preparation« mode (yet), trust us, it will work the same. Here is how it goes: put around 20 chestnuts in a glass pie plate (or any other microwave-safe plate), lay them out evenly. Microwave them on high wattage for about 3 to 4 minutes at one-minute intervals, until the outer shell starts to peel back slightly where you made your cuts, stirring them every minute until the chestnuts are soft when squeezed. And be careful not to microwave the chestnuts longer than you need to as they can easily burn.

Finally, when your chestnuts are baked or roasted, wrap them in a wet or damp cloth for 5 minutes, as this will make them easier to peel. And remember, when a chestnut cools down, it becomes harder to peel, so eat it as soon as possible.

Make memories: built-in ovens

HomeMade shape The characteristic rounded shape is one of the most beneficial features of Gorenje ovens. Inspired by traditional wood-burning ovens, it enables hot air to move around freely. Since the food is heated evenly and from all sides, it is always perfectly done: crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.Read more
Share:

You might also like to read