3 chestnut recipes

By Linda Louis, author of the book ""Châtaignes"" (Chestnuts).

Chestnut season has arrived! Those woody hints, those sweet notes, that melting texture are soon to be ours. To cook chestnuts correctly, there are several options available.

Grilling chestnuts over a wood fire

1. Preare a wood fire.
2. While it is lighting, sort your chestnuts by putting them in a bucket of water. Any that float are bad. You should make an incision that is 1cm long on the others (so that they don’t explode) (this stage is not obligatory if you use a Breton grill)
3. Place them in a perforated pan, a simple or rotating chestnut basket. Position it over the embers. Stir from time to time. It takes about 10 minutes to cook them (depending on the size of the chestnuts).
4. Remove the chestnuts from the fire. Wait for a few minutes before removing the brown skin and enjoying the fruit.

Preparing chestnut purée without removing the tan

To make chestnut purée using whole fruit, skin them, remove the tan and cook them in steam or water before mashing them. This requires a lot of time! Here is a method for skipping the lengthy first stage of removing the second skin or tan.

1. Remove the skin from the chestnuts using a suitable knife.
2. Rinse the fruit in hot water.
3. Cook the chestnuts in a big pot of boiling water, over a gentle flame with a lid for 20 to 30 minutes (adapt the cooking time to the size of the chestnuts).
4. Drain and rinse them, put them back in the saucepan and cover them.
5. Place a fine mesh sieve over a saucepan or suitably sized salad bowl.
6. Crush the top of the cooked chestnuts using a spatula. Do this in several stages. If the chestnuts are too dry, you can add a little water to soften them.
7. Take out the pieces of tan that have stuck to the sieve systematically.
8. Keep this natural purée in a sealed box in the fridge before cooking it.

Chestnut jam

Preparation time: 30 minutes - Cooking time: 20 minutes -Standing time: 1 hour - Conservation: 6 months in the refrigerator
For 3 jars that weigh 350 g
700 g of white cane sugar -1 vanilla pod - 1 kg of chestnut purée - 2 soup spoons of brandy

1. Put the cane sugar and 250ml of water in a jam basin (or wide saucepan). Heat gently up to 110 °C (check with a thermometer or count 4 minutes of cooking time after the syrup begins to bubble).
2. Cut the vanilla pod in two lengthwise and remove the seeds with the tip of a knife. Add them to the boiling syrup along with the chestnut purée.
3. Mix the ingredients with a whisk to begin, and then with a wooden spoon once the pulp becomes homogenous. Cook over a hot flame until it thickens.
4. Turn down the heat and leave the jam to stew until it becomes dark and shiny and looks like glacéed chestnuts
5. Meanwhile, wash your jam jars in hot soapy water.
6. Add the brandy to the jam at the last minute, mix and switch off the heat.
7. Pour the jam into the jars when it is still very hot, close them and turn them upside down for 1 hour before turning them the right way up again.
8. You can keep this chestnut cream for up to 6 months in a cool place (preferably the refrigerator) away from the light.

”Dauphine” Chestnuts

Preparation time: 50 minutes - Cooking time: 20 to 25 minutes - Conservation: 3 days
For around 30 “dauphine” chestnuts
250 ml of water - 80 g of butter - 1 teaspoon of salt - 150 g of T65 flour - 3 eggs - 400 g of plain chestnut purée - a little sunflower oil

1. Put the water, the butter cut into pieces and the salt in a saucepan.
2. Bring to the boil over a moderate heat.
3. Away from the heat, add the flour in one go and mix without waiting using a wooden spoon (not a whisk) until you get a homogenous paste.
4. Put the saucepan back on the heat. Dry this paste by kneading it energetically with the tip of a wooden spoon for 5 minutes (a little elbow grease will be required here). From time to time, hold the paste against the hot wall of the saucepan to accelerate the drying process.
5. Switch off the heat and leave the paste to cool (if it is too hot, the eggs will cook in the next stage).
6. Add the eggs one by one, mixing well with a wooden spoon each time, until you get a thick, homogenous paste.
7. Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Incorporate the chestnut purée using a fork, or by hand if you find it easier.
8. Make balls that are the size of a big walnut. Grease your hands from time to time. The balls should be perfectly smooth.
9. Place them on two trays covered in baking paper and place them in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until they become golden. It is also possible to fry them in a 180°C oil bath for 10 minutes.

Enjoy these delicious chestnuts!

Linda Louis is the author of several innovative cookery books. Her work has been translated into several languages and she blends cooking with nature, argues in favour of a healthy diet and demonstrates with talent that delicious pleasures can be very simple to make. For this convinced locavore*, the best grocery store in the world is nature!
* To be a locavore is to eat produce that is grown locally (not more than 250 km from home) and of course to prefer seasonal vegetables and quality products

The photos that illustrate this feature were kindly entrusted to us by Editions La Plage.
© Linda Louis/Éd. La Plage (except the portrait of L Louis, © Fabrice Pouplier).