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Stewed Chestnuts
Remove the outer rind from sound chestnuts, then fry them in a little butter, when the inner skin may easily be freed from them. Put them into a saucepan with some good stock, and boil them until they are tender, but unbroken. The chestnuts should be removed from the gravy as soon as they are cooked, and served in a tureen, with a little white sauce poured over them. Time to boil the chestnuts, one hour and a half. To be served as a vegetable.
A straightforward braise of whole chestnuts in stock, finished with a white sauce. Only the timing needs real attention.
- The time is far too longPeeled chestnuts simmered in stock are tender in 20 to 35 minutes depending on size and freshness. An hour and a half will collapse them into mash, which defeats the instruction to keep them unbroken. Test one at 20 minutes with the tip of a knife.
- "Outer rind" means the shellScore each nut on the flat side with a shallow X through the glossy shell, then peel. The "inner skin" is the pellicle, the papery brown layer that must come off or it turns bitter and tough.
- The butter step is a loosening trickFrying briefly in butter, or roasting at 400F for 10 minutes, swells the nut and shrinks the pellicle so it lifts away. Peel while hot, a few at a time; once cool the skin grips again. Reheating them briefly restores this.
- Frozen or jarred chestnutsVacuum-packed or frozen peeled chestnuts are already skinned and need only 10 to 15 minutes in stock. Skip the butter and peeling entirely.
- Good stockThe later reference to 'gravy' suggests a brown meat stock, most likely veal or beef, rather than anything light. Any well-flavoured unsalted stock works; use it barely to cover so it reduces into something worth spooning over. Salted commercial stock will concentrate too far.
- The white sauceA plain bechamel, roughly 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp flour to a cup of milk, cooked out for a few minutes and seasoned with salt, white pepper and a scrape of nutmeg. Keep it thin enough to pour.
- Serving vesselThe "tureen" here is simply a covered serving dish, which keeps the nuts hot; a warmed bowl does the same. Handle them with a spoon rather than tongs so they stay whole.
- YieldAbout 1 lb of chestnuts in the shell yields roughly 12 oz peeled and serves four as a side dish, most naturally with roast poultry, game or pork.