Roast Chestnuts


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I got the fire pit going this afternoon and roasted some chestnuts in the brass gizmo my dear wife bought me last year. It's made totally of brass and consists of a hinged and perforated container fixed to an arm about about two foot long. Looking at its construction makes me think it could be Victorian. Whatever, it’s a big improvement on the biscuit tin and bent coat hanger I used to use. The results were brilliant. After a few minutes the charred outer of the nuts cracked off easily to reveal the dark yellow roasted nut within. Delicious. Who else enjoys roasted chestnuts? Remember Johnny Morris on kid's TV in the late 50s stood next to a brazier with a big bag full of roasted nuts.( A word of caution, never stand too close to a roaring brazier or your nuts will definitely get roasted lol)

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I love chestnuts, Mess. They bring back so many memories of childhood.

 

We collect them, in season,from the the foot of trees in the village where a friend lives. The residents, lately moved in, haven't a clue what they are! All the more for us!  Put them on the multifuel stove and wait for them to crack! Delicious! The smell takes me straight back to childhood!

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As kids, we used to go chestnutting  to Wollaton Park via Harrow Road and through a small gate. The Chestnut trees lined the route up to the hall, (the golf course on the left). At Sheffield Park where I  work, we have three Sweet Chestnut trees that are 500 years old and still produce fruit. Never find any though, the bloody tourist nick 'em.

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I’m not a nut person, have avoided them in recent years thinking they might aggravate my tummy issues. However my husband loves nuts and usually sniffs them out when he goes on his long daily walk. He came home with a bag full of chestnuts this afternoon.  What drives me mad is when he sits there continually cracking nuts, it’s a real obsession at this time of year.  

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6 hours ago, Mess said:

Remember Johnny Morris on kid's TV in the late 50s

Wasn't he the "Hot Chestnut Man"? I also enjoyed his character voices in "Tales of the Riverbank" and our kids were brought up listening to cassette tapes of his readings of Rev. W. Awdry's "The Railway Stories" on long journeys in the car.

I have always loved roast chestnuts they are available here and in one of the hills towns a man stands on a corner selling them roasted in a brazier.

As kids we used "winter warmers", a large tin can with holes pierced around the lower half with a long length of fencing wire so we could swing it round our heads and get the coals really glowing to roast our chestnuts.

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Happy days Oztalgian. Yes Johnny Morris was the Hot Chestnut Man. He was on BBC Children’s TV in the early 60s.

I tried very hard to make a “winter warmer” using an empty, perforated Lyles Golden Syrup tin using fence wire as you described but failed miserably. I think I even went and pinched some glowing coals off the open fire in our lounge but still couldn't get it to work. Shame.

I loved the fires my dad and I used to have in our garden in the 50s. He used to get sawn logs from work which we would burn in the house and garden. A very nostalgic smell which contributes to my enjoyment of Autumn.

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  • 2 months later...

Slit them , roast them in the oven when they come out cover them with a tea towel and squash them turn them and squash again. eat them. Or if you've got  frying pan with holes in roast them in that. There are special pans for roasting chestnuts.

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Look on internet for Padella Castagne there loads of pics of the pan for roasting chestnuts on the gas ring.

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1 minute ago, nonnaB said:

There are special pans for roasting chestnuts.

We sometimes do them in the microwave but make sure you pierce the skin in a couple of places as if they "explode" in it they effectively pebbledash the inside of the microwave and it is a bugger to get off.

They are also good roasted on a very low heat on the BBQ. Unfortunately they are not in season here so they are almost impossible to get for your turkey stuffing at Christmas.

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