Chestnuts

I know it is a little late for chestnut talk since we are so far beyond Christmas time and the whole roasting over the fire thang but whatevs. Chestnuts are tricky little suckers but my lovely husband is now obsessed with them - they are definitely not my favorite, they taste like potatoes. I do want to try them in stuffing next year, could be good.

Roasted Chestnuts

1. First, get your batch of raw chestnuts and soak the in a bowl of water for 30 minutes. This will help prevent them from exploding in the oven. ( I am dead serious here - it sounds like gun shots in your oven when they explode and they are super hard to clean because they go everywhere!)
2. Place the chestnuts down on it's flat side and score an 'X' into the rounded side. this also helps reduce the explosion rate. Preheat the oven to 450 while doing this.
3. Place them on a baking sheet cut side up and roast for 20-30 minutes
4. Now is time to prepare to start peeling them. Dump all of them into kitchen towel and cover the batch completely, let rest for a few minutes to cool slightly. Take the bundle and smash your hand on them a little to break the shell from the nut a little.
5. Peeling is the final step and a fair warning that you will burn and hurt your fingers during this process. Take each nut and crack again with your weight under the towel and start to get the shell off. There is a layer of fuzz that might be on there and I have found it is easier to get it off with a small knife.  Continue to do this until they are all peeled and waiting for their end within someone's tummy.  Also a warning that some may be very hard and those are bad ones, just toss them because you could break a tooth on those suckers!