Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Monday, November 26, 2007

I love this time of year - it means chestnuts.  And there is nothing better than roasted chestnuts.  At the same time, it makes me a little sad - the blight of American Chestnut trees is an incredibly sad story.  But there’s still hope - there are many organizations in the U.S. trying to save the American Chestnut by replanting with the goal of reintroducing the American Chestnut to American forests in Eastern North America.

Here in Pennsylvania, there are approximately 37 American Chestnut orchards, several of them local.  I don’t think you can purchase edible chestnuts from these orchards, but you absolutely can get edible chestnuts of other varieties from local trees.  Just this past weekend, a farmer from Lancaster County had a couple tables set up in Reading Terminal Market (I have no idea who this farmer is - he’s not there all the time, but it’s sort of the middle of the seating area in the middle of the RTM) and was selling half pints of chestnuts grown on his farm.  I believe they are an Asian variety.

My preferred method of cooking chestnuts it to roast them in the oven.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Cut an X into the flat side of each chestnut (I like to use the really awesome chestnut knife in the photo - my husband bought one for me last year after I nearly skewered myself cutting chestnuts with a regular paring knife), lay them X-side up on a baking sheet, and roast for 15-25 minutes.  You’ll know the chestnuts are done when the X starts to peel up and the chestnuts are easy to peel.