It's very nearly chestnut time again. The trees are full and the
chestnuts are very nearly ripe and about to begin to fall.

How do you like to use your collected chestnuts - just roasted and eaten
with salt or do you have a favourite chestnut recipe?

"Corey Richardson" > wrote in message
...
> It's very nearly chestnut time again. The trees are full and the
> chestnuts are very nearly ripe and about to begin to fall.
>
> How do you like to use your collected chestnuts - just roasted and eaten
> with salt or do you have a favourite chestnut recipe?

For some unknown reason I have never *ever* sprinkled salt over roast
chestnuts. I do like them plain roasted and I suspect I will like them even
more when sprinkled with salt. Thank you.

p.s. I LOVE SALT! And I'm now at an age when extra salt will not make a single
bit of difference to the length of life left to me. Come to think of it, extra
salt has not cut me short as yet, though YMMMV. Do you know, I even salt my
coffee after I learned that trick in the Netherlands when I lived there many,
many years ago?

I did stop the "excess" use of salt some years ago after listening to some
"expert nurses" and other assorted quacks: I stopped having my little pile of
salt with things like a stick of celery, scallions (spring onions) and hard
boiled eggs.

Then maybe ten years ago I started using salt again just as I used to use it
in my youth and younger days:

There is nothing tastier than a fresh picked scallion, rinsed, then dipped in
a small pile of salt. Likewise, a fresh stick of celery - wave it around while
you are speaking to your lunch/dinner partners, then plunge it into that
little pile of salt and snap off a big bite! Heaven! A hard boiled egg without
salt is nothing. It ain't even an egg! And a radish without salt is like a day
without sunshine! Salt, salt, gimme salt!

It ain't killed me (yet!). It has not changed for the worse any of my "read
outs" which the nurses in particular seem to relish revealing to me when I go
for some sort of "check-up". (The specialists never seem to bother or care
about such figures - do they know something we do not?)

--
Pete

On Oct 13, 4:39*pm, Corey Richardson >
wrote:
> It's very nearly chestnut time again. The trees are full and the
> chestnuts are very nearly ripe and about to begin to fall.
>
> How do you like to use your collected chestnuts - just roasted and eaten
> with salt or do you have a favourite chestnut recipe?

I like them unroasted- just peel & eat!

Pete Wilkins wrote:


> p.s. I LOVE SALT! And I'm now at an age when extra salt will not make a single
> bit of difference to the length of life left to me. Come to think of it, extra
> salt has not cut me short as yet, though YMMMV. Do you know, I even salt my
> coffee after I learned that trick in the Netherlands when I lived there many,
> many years ago?

I add salt to pretty much anything homemade that is chocolate flavored.
Vanilla, too, for that matter. I would say that salt adds depth to
sweet flavors. Non-foodies describe homemade vanilla frosting or
chocolate fudge with added salt as tasting "rich".

I've never tasted salted coffee but I suspect that the effect would be
similar.

merryb > wrote in message
...
On Oct 13, 4:39 pm, Corey Richardson
>
wrote:
>> It's very nearly chestnut time again. The trees are
>> full and the chestnuts are very nearly ripe and
>> about to begin to fall.
>>
>> How do you like to use your collected chestnuts
>> - just roasted and eaten with salt or do you have
>> a favourite chestnut recipe?
>
> I like them unroasted- just peel & eat!

ROASTED CHESTNUT SOUP WITH DUMPLINGS
from Essence of Emeril EE2A02

INGREDIENTS:
* 1 1/2 pounds Fresh chestnuts, roasted and peeled
(or 2 10-ounce cans whole chestnuts, drained)
* 1 cup chopped onions
* 1/2 cup chopped celery
* 1 tablespoon garlic
* 2 bay leaves
* 1 large Idaho potato, peeled and coarsely chopped
(about 2 cups)
* 2 quarts light chicken stock
* 1 sprig of thyme
* 1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
* 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh basil
* Juice of half a lemon
* Dash of Worcestershire sauce
* 1 cup warmed heavy cream
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* DUMPLINGS:
* 1/4 pound ground pork
* 1/2 tablespoon chopped garlic
* 1 tablespoon chopped green onions
* 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
* 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1 egg yolk
* 2 tablespoons heavy cream
* 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon quatre d'epices
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 16 wonton wrappers

In a saucepan combine chestnuts, onions, celery, garlic, bay
leaves, potato and chicken stock and simmer until potatoes are
tender, about 45 minutes. In a blender, puree the soup in
batches along with fresh herbs, lemon juice, and Worcestershire
sauce. Stir in heavy cream and season with salt and freshly
ground black pepper.

DUMPLINGS:
In the bowl of a food processor combine pork, garlic, green
onions and parsley and process until smooth. Add the
Worcestershire, egg yolk, heavy cream, crushed red pepper,
quatre d'epices and salt and pepper and pulse until thoroughly
combined.

To assemble dumplings, use a spoon to place a tablespoon-sized
dollop of filling in the center of a wonton wrapper. Use your
fingers to wet the edges of the wrapper, then fold in half,
easing edges so that they meet to form a triangle. Press firmly
to seal dumplings.

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook dumplings in small
batches so as not to crowd. Dumplings are done when they float
and wrappers are tender and translucent, 5 to 6 minutes. Serve
dumplings floating in hot chestnut soup.

Yield: 16 dumplings

This has been requested lots since I first made it. And it
stores nicely, too, so you can really batch it.

The Ranger

"Kathleen" > wrote in message
...
> Pete Wilkins wrote:
>
>
>> p.s. I LOVE SALT! And I'm now at an age when extra salt will not make a
>> single bit of difference to the length of life left to me. Come to think of
>> it, extra salt has not cut me short as yet, though YMMMV. Do you know, I
>> even salt my coffee after I learned that trick in the Netherlands when I
>> lived there many, many years ago?
>
> I add salt to pretty much anything homemade that is chocolate flavored.
> Vanilla, too, for that matter. I would say that salt adds depth to sweet
> flavors. Non-foodies describe homemade vanilla frosting or chocolate fudge
> with added salt as tasting "rich".

I've more or less gotten back to the "pinch of salt" school after having
abandoned it for many years due to what I now firmly believe to be "health
scares".

I don't eat a lot of anything these days but a couple of days ago I had a
craving for some home made salt/smoked brisket I had in the fridge. When I
looked back at what I had eaten over the past couple of days there was a
distinct lack of protein in my consumption. There were loads of other things
available in the fridge but I suspect my body was telling me I needed a bit of
protein and a bit of salt?

> I've never tasted salted coffee but I suspect that the effect would be
> similar.

It is definitely worth a try. *Not* a huge pinch - with coffee a very little
goes a long way, but a tiny pinch of salt does make a vast difference to the
taste.

I always remember being challenged by a junior mess room steward:

*"WHY ARE YOU PUTTING SALT IN THE COFFEE???"*
(He challenged me as if I was trying to poison everyone in the camp.)

A very big Dutchman sitting in the messhall said:

*"Everyone puts salt in their coffee!!!"*

It was end of argument but beginning of very big discussion among the workers
there. Some had heard of salt in coffee, some had not. And as a lot of them
said, well, when the boss makes the coffee it tastes pretty good. (This even
included some Italian divers who also appreciated the extra services I made
sure was supplied to them when they were forced to live in their hyperbaric
chamber.) They too liked my coffee.

--
Pete

merryb wrote:
> On Oct 13, 4:39 pm, Corey Richardson >
> wrote:
>> It's very nearly chestnut time again. The trees are full and the
>> chestnuts are very nearly ripe and about to begin to fall.
>>
>> How do you like to use your collected chestnuts - just roasted and eaten
>> with salt or do you have a favourite chestnut recipe?
>
> I like them unroasted- just peel & eat!


My dad used to like them roasted and dipped in butter.
He had a friend who roasted them in a large bonfire
and served them with homemade red wine.

gloria p

Pete Wilkins wrote:

> It is definitely worth a try. *Not* a huge pinch - with coffee a very
> little goes a long way, but a tiny pinch of salt does make a vast
> difference to the taste.
>
> I always remember being challenged by a junior mess room steward:
>
> *"WHY ARE YOU PUTTING SALT IN THE COFFEE???"*
> (He challenged me as if I was trying to poison everyone in the camp.)

> A very big Dutchman sitting in the messhall said:
>
> *"Everyone puts salt in their coffee!!!"*
>
That's funny! The guy probably thought it was some kind of prank.

nancy

"Nancy Young" > wrote in message
...
> Pete Wilkins wrote:
>
>> It is definitely worth a try. *Not* a huge pinch - with coffee a very
>> little goes a long way, but a tiny pinch of salt does make a vast
>> difference to the taste.
>>
>> I always remember being challenged by a junior mess room steward:
>>
>> *"WHY ARE YOU PUTTING SALT IN THE COFFEE???"*
>> (He challenged me as if I was trying to poison everyone in the camp.)
>
>> A very big Dutchman sitting in the messhall said:
>>
>> *"Everyone puts salt in their coffee!!!"*
>>
> That's funny! The guy probably thought it was some kind of prank.
>
> nancy

LOL! Yes, Nancy, I think the young mess steward *did* initially think I was
doing a dastardly deed in salting the coffee. I just never ever considered
things to be otherwise, than:
filter paper in + so many scoops of coffee + pinch of salt = switch on!

Apparently only me and the Dutchmen thought the same - and I was English! (But
I had lived in Holland for a while.)
I hope everyone reading this will one day try a very *small* pinch of salt in
their coffee just to see what it tastes like. After all, if I'd never met any
Dutchmen (and US expats who also liked their coffee that way!) I'd never known
any difference and would still be drinking the same old "quarter of Kenya
coffee, medium ground, please," like my mother always drank.

--
Pete

merryb wrote:

> On Oct 13, 4:39 pm, Corey Richardson >
> wrote:
>
>>It's very nearly chestnut time again. The trees are full and the
>>chestnuts are very nearly ripe and about to begin to fall.
>>
>>How do you like to use your collected chestnuts - just roasted and eaten
>>with salt or do you have a favourite chestnut recipe?
>
>
> I like them unroasted- just peel & eat!

How do you peel them? They seam so hard.

Dave

"Dave" > wrote in message
...
> merryb wrote:
>
>> On Oct 13, 4:39 pm, Corey Richardson >
>> wrote:
>>
>>>It's very nearly chestnut time again. The trees are full and the
>>>chestnuts are very nearly ripe and about to begin to fall.
>>>
>>>How do you like to use your collected chestnuts - just roasted and eaten
>>>with salt or do you have a favourite chestnut recipe?
>>
>>
>> I like them unroasted- just peel & eat!
>
> How do you peel them? They seam so hard.

Suck 'em and seam - or you could always ask G or M!

--
Pete

Gloria P wrote:

> He had a friend who roasted them in a large bonfire
> and served them with homemade red wine.
>
> gloria p

Oh yeah, my dad would do that too.

Kathleen wrote:
>
> Pete Wilkins wrote:
>
> > p.s. I LOVE SALT! And I'm now at an age when extra salt will not make a single
> > bit of difference to the length of life left to me. Come to think of it, extra
> > salt has not cut me short as yet, though YMMMV. Do you know, I even salt my
> > coffee after I learned that trick in the Netherlands when I lived there many,
> > many years ago?
>
> I add salt to pretty much anything homemade that is chocolate flavored.
> Vanilla, too, for that matter. I would say that salt adds depth to
> sweet flavors. Non-foodies describe homemade vanilla frosting or
> chocolate fudge with added salt as tasting "rich".
>
> I've never tasted salted coffee but I suspect that the effect would be
> similar.

Here's what these people have to say about salt in coffee:

http://www.saltinstitute.org/29.html

Improving coffee - A pinch of salt in coffee will enhance the
flavor and remove the bitterness of over-cooked coffee.

On Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:58:36 +0100, "Pete Wilkins"
> wrote:

>
>"Corey Richardson" > wrote in message
.. .
>> It's very nearly chestnut time again. The trees are full and the
>> chestnuts are very nearly ripe and about to begin to fall.
>>
>> How do you like to use your collected chestnuts - just roasted and eaten
>> with salt or do you have a favourite chestnut recipe?
>
>For some unknown reason I have never *ever* sprinkled salt over roast
>chestnuts. I do like them plain roasted and I suspect I will like them even
>more when sprinkled with salt. Thank you.
>
>p.s. I LOVE SALT! And I'm now at an age when extra salt will not make a single
>bit of difference to the length of life left to me. Come to think of it, extra
>salt has not cut me short as yet, though YMMMV. Do you know, I even salt my
>coffee after I learned that trick in the Netherlands when I lived there many,
>many years ago?
>
>I did stop the "excess" use of salt some years ago after listening to some
>"expert nurses" and other assorted quacks: I stopped having my little pile of
>salt with things like a stick of celery, scallions (spring onions) and hard
>boiled eggs.
>
>Then maybe ten years ago I started using salt again just as I used to use it
>in my youth and younger days:
>
>There is nothing tastier than a fresh picked scallion, rinsed, then dipped in
>a small pile of salt. Likewise, a fresh stick of celery - wave it around while
>you are speaking to your lunch/dinner partners, then plunge it into that
>little pile of salt and snap off a big bite! Heaven! A hard boiled egg without
>salt is nothing. It ain't even an egg! And a radish without salt is like a day
>without sunshine! Salt, salt, gimme salt!
>
>It ain't killed me (yet!). It has not changed for the worse any of my "read
>outs" which the nurses in particular seem to relish revealing to me when I go
>for some sort of "check-up". (The specialists never seem to bother or care
>about such figures - do they know something we do not?)

I sometimes (often?) have a "thing" about salt too. It's not unknown for
me to eat a stick of rhubarb by dipping its end in salt!

On Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:37:50 +0100, "Pete Wilkins"
> wrote:

>A very big Dutchman sitting in the messhall said:
>
>*"Everyone puts salt in their coffee!!!"*

I think I'll try this tomorrow, thanks for the tip.

On Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:14:03 -0700 (PDT), merryb >
wrote:

>On Oct 13, 4:39*pm, Corey Richardson >
>wrote:
>> It's very nearly chestnut time again. The trees are full and the
>> chestnuts are very nearly ripe and about to begin to fall.
>>
>> How do you like to use your collected chestnuts - just roasted and eaten
>> with salt or do you have a favourite chestnut recipe?
>
>I like them unroasted- just peel & eat!

Really? I understand that not only are they tough in that state, but
they're also dangerous to eat because of the tannic acid levels?

On Oct 14, 2:24*pm, Dave > wrote:
> merryb wrote:
> > On Oct 13, 4:39 pm, Corey Richardson >
> > wrote:
>
> >>It's very nearly chestnut time again. The trees are full and the
> >>chestnuts are very nearly ripe and about to begin to fall.
>
> >>How do you like to use your collected chestnuts - just roasted and eaten
> >>with salt or do you have a favourite chestnut recipe?
>
> > I like them unroasted- just peel & eat!
>
> How do you peel them? They seam so hard.
>
> Dave

They are a pain in the ass, especially the furry skin- sometimes it
comes off easily, other times not. I don't eat a lot of them as they
are so expensive, but I do buy a dozen or so every year.

On Oct 14, 6:22*pm, Corey Richardson >
wrote:
> On Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:14:03 -0700 (PDT), merryb >
> wrote:
>
> >On Oct 13, 4:39*pm, Corey Richardson >
> >wrote:
> >> It's very nearly chestnut time again. The trees are full and the
> >> chestnuts are very nearly ripe and about to begin to fall.
>
> >> How do you like to use your collected chestnuts - just roasted and eaten
> >> with salt or do you have a favourite chestnut recipe?
>
> >I like them unroasted- just peel & eat!
>
> Really? I understand that not only are they tough in that state, but
> they're also dangerous to eat because of the tannic acid levels?

Not sure about that! Not sure if you would consider them tough, but
they are crunchy...

On Oct 15, 9:09*am, Waldo Centini >
wrote:
> Op Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:40:58 -0700 (PDT) *merryb illuminated the masses
> with this:
>
> > They are a pain in the ass, especially the furry skin- sometimes it
> > comes off easily, other times not. I don't eat a lot of them as they
> > are so expensive, but I do buy a dozen or so every year.
>
> I just pick 'm off the ground....
>
> --
> *** Waldo ***
> The most useful tool for dealing with management types is, of
> course, an automatic weapon.

Lucky you- you must be in Europe somewhere? I thought I heard
something about a blight that had wiped out lots of trees here in the
US...We have to pay about $5 a pound...

merryb wrote:
> On Oct 15, 9:09 am, Waldo Centini >
> wrote:
>> Op Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:40:58 -0700 (PDT) merryb illuminated the masses
>> with this:
>>
>>> They are a pain in the ass, especially the furry skin- sometimes it
>>> comes off easily, other times not. I don't eat a lot of them as they
>>> are so expensive, but I do buy a dozen or so every year.
>> I just pick 'm off the ground....
>>
>> --
>> *** Waldo ***
>> The most useful tool for dealing with management types is, of
>> course, an automatic weapon.
>
> Lucky you- you must be in Europe somewhere? I thought I heard
> something about a blight that had wiped out lots of trees here in the
> US...We have to pay about $5 a pound...


I don't know when it happened but the common wood trim in the older
houses around here is chestnut. When I was a kid I remember quite a few
adults talking about when they were kids they had chestnut trees in
their yards or you could walk into any wooded area this time of year and
collect as many as you could carry.

Found this:

"The chestnut blight was accidentally introduced to North America around
1900-1908, either in imported chestnut lumber or in imported chestnut
trees, and by 1940, mature American chestnut trees had been made
virtually extinct by the disease."