12.23.2012

Chestnuts Roasting in A Closed Oven

On the 11th day of Christmas I cracked into a few chestnuts. Actually, eleven.

Unfortunately, the only "open fire" was on the television.

In For the Night

Thankfully, according to Martha, an open fire wasn't required. But a chestnut roasting pan was.

Right.

I used a cookie sheet and it worked out fine. Whew.

Chestnuts

Having never made or eaten roasted chestnuts before I wasn't too sure what I was getting in to. After finding the chestnuts at Whole Foods, I sent the hubby the most ironic text ever.

"Do we have a nutcracker?"

The process was super easy. It was just 4 steps. And it turns out a nutcracker wasn't even necessary.

  1. Make a slit in each shell using a sharp knife.
  2. Roast the chestnuts in a 350° oven for 35 min.
  3. Once they're out of the oven and still warm, crack open the shell and harvest the meat.
  4. Eat them up.

Eating the chestnuts reminded me of eating crab legs. It was a lot of work for a relatively little bit of meat. But it was very worth the effort.

Is this a Christmas tradition you've adopted?