While autumn chestnuts may be a very common thing in North America, being our first season to encounter them, we are very excited and got a bit carried away with the chestnut collection this past weekend. Look at the big tin full of chestnuts! Aren't we well stocked for winter..., wait, that's a squirrel thing. Not to worry furry little ones, there are still plenty on the ground.
I've been admiring these huge trees since we got here last year, the branches so vast and leaves so thick. These photos were taken in May when the trees were blossoming. Of course I had no idea at that time that they were chestnut trees.
Actually I have noticed these prickly skins and nuts on the ground last fall, but I didn't pay attention to where they came from, and treated the occasionally found few nuts like treasure, put the half dozen or so chestnuts in a jar as part of our nature collection. This year we moved to right across from these gigantic trees, it would be really silly of us to not figure out where the nuts are grown.
The nuts may not be noticeable at first glace, but once we noticed one, we could spot countless others on the tree. Now as we enter the full harvest season, we not only see the sea of chestnuts lying on the ground, often we can spot one dropping down. Luckily none of us have been hit by one of these sharp things on the head! However I did hear a few loud bangs as the nuts hit the parked cars sometimes. Hope it didn't leave a dent!
The outer skin of the chestnut would slit lengthways when it matures, and when it drops the nut inside would bump out. The few that didn't open all the way can be easily peeled (with a few ouches on the fingertips) and the nut will come right out as well.
Those that landed in the park were all whole and well, but the ones that got on the streets weren't so lucky! Look at this crushed-nut party! It isn't exactly "nasty" but still makes me feel a little bit sad, seeing the pretty little things all got run over by cars.
As for our little harvest, we were only going to pick a few to add to our collection for display, but the other day I read this "'tis the season for roasted chestnuts" status update from a friend on Facebook, then it suddenly occured to me, why don't we roast these too? Hence the little hands got a lot more busier.
There were just way too many chestnuts, we quickly filled our hands. Luckily we stopped by a charity flea market earlier that day and got these flower pots, but they overflowed in seconds too!
So then out came the big tin pot we bought, and how easily we filled that up too. The thing with collecting chestnuts was that once we started, it was hard to stop! Because when we thought we have pretty much picked what we liked from this little patch of ground, stood up to take a breath, look down again and we would see there are still so many! Finally we pulled ourselves away from the park with a harvest that the kids could barely carry.
Most chestnuts have one nut inside the prickly skin, but some have multi nuts. We loved the twin nut we found! Gotta bring this one home with the skin attached.
Look at this huge collection! I feel so happy and content by just putting my hands into them and play around with the nuts. I guess this is the true feeling of a good harvest. I'm going to save a bunch as my "pressure relief gadget"! Fiddling with the nuts and listen to the gentle rumble as they get stirred is so soothing.
Finally, after our way overload harvest, we are ready to roast a test batch. I followed a recipe found online: wash the chestnuts and make one slit with a knife, the slit has to be deep enough so you can just see the inside of the chestnut. Put the chestnuts into cold water, bring the water to just before full boil, remove the chestnut from the water, put them on a pan and bake in 425 degrees for 15 miuntes.
As the chestnuts were roasting, we could see the slits opening up, and thick and fragrant serum running out from the nuts, looking absolutely yummy. I also learned that the slit on the chestnut had to be long enough though, as one of the chestnut bursted in the oven due to the opening being too small, one corner of the oven got covered in chestnut dust!
Don't they look delicious? I can smell the chestnut fragrance just by looking at the picture! We really had to hold our temptation to pop these right into our mouths and let it cool a bit.
I peeled the chestnuts open, and although they didn't pop right out as a whole as did in the tutorial, the dense and creamy texture still looked every bit delightful.
Now, the moment of truth. Kai-Chi's expression tells the ending of the story very well. Even though she acted this out afterwards, she did a great job re-portraying the moment!
These chestnuts are BITTER! And not just any bitter, it was a kind of bitterness I have never experienced. I ate a little bit first, and found it quite bitter, and thought it was just a bad nut thing, and tried a couple more. And the three tiny bites was all it took to let me know for sure that these are not for human consumption. So profound and literally spearing, I had a headache after those tiny bits exploded in my mouth with bitterness! Thankfully I baked some brownies the day before, I shuffled a huge piece into my mouth, along with a big scoop of ice cream and some chocolate candies, and only then did I feel not so aweful. The kids were experimental enough to try a even tinier bit before my big realization, and of course got frowny faces. Thank god they didn't eat as much as I did, or I would run out of sugar in my house in no time! I got a cut on my figer while slitting the nuts, a burn on my wrist while roasting them, for what?
Lesson learned: do not take someone else's food! Ok, I will put most of the chestnuts back on the grass, but I will also use my hands, instead of my mouth, to create something with these lovely gems, because they're just really pretty. So until the next chestnut craft post then!
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