Chestnut & Parsnip Soup

Ingredients

• 300g chestnuts (peeled)
• 300g peeled, chopped parsnips
• 40 g butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 leek, white part only
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 600ml chicken or vegetable stock
• 200ml pouring cream
• juice of half a lemon
• Salt & black pepper to taste

Method

1. Melt butter in a heavy saucepan and slowly saute onion, leek and celery.
2. Add chestnuts, stock and seasonings and bring to boil.
3. Simmer 20 minutes or until chestnuts are soft.
4. Set aside 2 tblspns of chestnuts & celery to garnish.
5. Puree and pass soup through a fine sieve.  Place back into saucepan.
6. Add lemon juice and cream and heat well stirring continuously as soup can easily catch on the bottom of the pan. Turn off heat. Adjust seasonings to taste.
7. Serve  topped with remaining chestnuts and celery.
8. Serves 4-6

Courtesy of Michael Ryan, The Range Restaurant, Myrtleford

Chilli Chestnut Fettucini

Ingredients

• 3 tblspns virgin olive oil
• 1 tspn crushed garlic
• 2 long red chillies, deseeded and finely diced
• 1/3 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 2 cups chestnuts, finely chopped
• 300g cooked fettuccini
• ground black pepper
• shaved parmesan, to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in a large non stick frying pan and add garlic, chilli, chestnuts and parsley and cook until golden and fragrant.
2. Add cooked, drained fettuccini and toss to coat in chestnut mixture and heat through.
3. Serve topped with parmesan.
4. Serves 4

"CHOOSE CHESTNUTS FOR A CHANGE"

Seared Aromatic Beef and Spiced Chestnuts

Ingredients

• 1 kg piece of beef scotch fillet or eye fillet neatly tied

Marinade

• 3 tblspns olive oil
• 3 cracked whole peppercorns
• 2 cracked whole star anise
• 2.5cm knob fresh ginger, peeled and smashed
• 1 long piece orange peel
• 1 tspn brown or palm sugar
• 160ml red wine
• 60ml mirin or dry sherry
• 40ml soy sauce

Sauce

• 500ml beef stock
• 12-18 peeled chestnuts
• 2 tspns Dijon mustard

Method

1. Heat 2 tblspns oil, add aromatics and cook for 30 seconds.
2. Add sugar, mirin, soy sauce and wine and simmer 1-2 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and cool.
4. Place beef in a dish and pour over marinade.  Cover and leave for 3-4 hours turning occasionally.
5. Preheat oven to 220^oC.  remove meat from marinade, wipe dry.
6. Heat oil in an ovenproof pan and sear meat all over.
7. Place in oven for 15 mins, then reduce heat to 180^oC and continue roasting (25 mins for rare, 35 mins for medium, 45 mins for well done).  Remove and cover with foil for 10-15 mins.
8. In a saucepan simmer marinade, stock and chestnuts until tender.  Remove chestnuts and keep warm.
9. Strain remaining liquid and return to pan along with any beef juices. Bring to boil, add mustard and boil 5-10 mins. Strain.
10. Slice the beef and spoon sauce over.
11. Serves 4-6

Chestnut & Chocolate Terrine

Ingredients

This terrine is part mousse, part marquise and very rich.  Serve in small slices with cream & berries. Courtesy of Bille Texler, a chestnut grower.

• 600g chestnuts, peeled.
• 1/4 cup cream
• 125g unsalted butter
• 250g couverture or dark chocolate
• 1 cup castor sugar
• vanilla bean or extract
• 1/4 cup brandy or rum to flavour

Method

1. Put peeled chestnuts in water to just cover and vanilla and simmer till tender.
2. Drain and puree with the cream until smooth.
3. Beat butter and sugar until white and fluffy.
4. Melt chocolate in a double boiler with half cup of water. Remove from heat.
5. When cool add to the butter and sugar mixture.
6. Add pureed chestnuts to mixture and flavour with rum or brandy.
7. Turn into a terrine or loaf pan lined with Glad Bake and chill overnight.
8. Unmould and slice with a wet knife.
9. Serve with 1 cup whipped cream and berries to decorate.
10. Serves 20.

Nutritional Information

Highly nutritious, chestnuts are fast becoming the new ‘health’ food. They are low in fat (99% fat free), gluten free, very low in cholesterol, salt and sugar, are rich in Vitamins C, B1, B2 potassium and protein, are high in dietary fibre and have a low Glycemic Index (GI) for slow release of energy.

Chestnut Cake

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
• 1 cup chestnut flour
• 1/4 cup hazelnuts
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup mild honey (pref. chestnut honey)
• 1/4 cup sugar

Method

1. Place an oven rack in the middle position and preheat to 180C. 
2. Spray a 9" spring-form pan with non-stick spray and dust with chestnut flour.
3. Roast the hazelnuts in the oven for 20-25 minutes.  Rub the nuts in a kitchen towel to remove the loose skins.  Some skin will probably remain.  Chop until medium fine in a food processor.
4. Mix together the chestnut flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Then stir in the hazelnuts.
5. In another bowl, beat together the egg yolks, oil, honey and 2 tbsp sugar until thick and pale - about 5 minutes.
6. Add the flour mixture and mix at low speed until well mixed.
7. Beat egg whites and a pinch of salt in another bowl with clean beaters until they form soft peaks.  Add the remaining 2 tbsp sugar a little at a time until the whites hold a soft peak. 
8. Fold into the cake mix 1/3 at a time until well mixed.
9. Pour into cake pan and bake 30 minutes.  Then loosely cover with aluminium foil and bake another 10-15 minutes.
10. Place on rack to cool. Remove from tin.
11. Dust with icing sugar and serve with whipped cream and chopped hazelnuts.

Adapted from Gourmet Magazine

Castagnaccio (Italian Chestnut Flour Bread)

Ingredients

Castagnaccio is an ancient unleavened bread. It is first mentioned in print in the sixteenth century and it has survived more or less in its original form.

• 115 g sultanas
• 450 g chestnut flour, sieved
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• cold water
• olive oil
• 1 tablespoon caraway seeds (optional)
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh or dried rosemary

Method

1. Cover sultanas with cold water and leave to soak for 15 minutes, drain and dry.
2. Mix together the chestnut flour, salt and stir in enough cold water to make a batter which is slightly thicker than pancake batter.
3. Oil a shallow cake tin and pour in the batter, smooth it with a spoon, then scatter over the pine nuts, rosemary and sultanas.
4. Drizzle a little more oil over the top and bake in a moderately hot oven (190 C) for 10-15 minutes or until the surface is crispy.
5. Serve warm or cold with a glass of chilled white wine.