Here comes a perfect dish for Halloween. Your house/apartment/flat will smell beautifully, promised. And the best chicken and potatoes ever. I think it could be also a good idea in order to make your wife/husband/partner happy, as times are grim right now.
P.S. Indian Summer on the countryside
That recipe sounds absolutely delicious, Martin. How much does the flavor of the chestnuts come through? I’ve truly never cooked with them (and now asking myself if I’ve ever even eaten a chestnut…), so am curious.
What wine did you / would you pair with that?
Brandon,
what, you have never eaten a chestnut before?! Best are chestnuts freshly roasted over fire. In Zurich/Switzerland you could buy roasted chestnuts as a snack on every corner around Xmas. But chestnuts are easily available vacuumed from France. The flavor is very dominant, I would say everybody like chestnuts. After 1h in the oven you have a nutty sweet toffee flavor everywhere, on the chicken, potatoes and in the air.
CHARDONNAY of course. In general chicken&Chardonnay is a perfect match. Maybe also an aged sweet Riesling from the Mosel.
And let me quote Chris Hambleton from London today, who cooked this dish.
“it is wonderful- I’ve cooked this without the chillies and it does indeed make for a fine smelling house and glorious dinner. IIRC we had an As sortes with this which worked beautifully”
Yeah, Martin, they’re just not that common an ingredient around here…at least as far as I can tell. That said, there is an enormous chestnut tree not far from my home. I’m going to have to try this out!
Martin - Looks great. Love roasted chestnuts. (I usually cut a cross in them and soak them in red wine before roasting/baking in the oven).
I think I will try this dish, but may spatchcock the chicken just to get more crisp skin.
Thanks for posting.
I knew the trick about cutting a cross in them. I did not know about soaking them in red wine. Does that add flavor? Or make them easier to open? The latter is always the challenge for me. I reached a stage in life where I am more likely to spend a bit more for already roasted and peeled chestnuts! Though freshly roasted cannot be beat.
Martin – I think you posted this recipe before? If so, I remember making it and loving it – so will have to do so again!
Nice recipe, Martin,
Thanks–partner loves chestnuts, so may give this one a go!
I should warn you, its hard work to peel them. You make a criss-cross on the chestnuts and put them all into the oven and roast them. You will certainly find an instruction on youtube. Good luck!
YES, I posted this recipe already. As people ask me sometimes for the recipe, as they lost the recipe, I thought it is helpful to publish it again. And there are certainly new members here, who haven’t seen the recipe before. AND it is a good moment/time right now to re-cook it.
I’m not sure where you live but if it’s in the U.S. you need to know that the American (edible) chestnut tree was wiped out by blight over a century ago. What you probably have there is a Horse chestnut tree. While the nuts look similar, the nuts from that tree are not edible. I’m not 100% sure about this but I think they may even be poisonous.
The fresh chestnuts I buy in the store usually come from Italy. The jarred ones come from France.
Thanks, Paul! I’m pretty sure it’s a horse chestnut. Thank goodness for the internets: I’ll buy some of the good stuff!