Elos valley - the bright green trees are the chestnut, while the silver green ones are olive.
These photos were taken as we were driving to Elafonisi last summer in July 2008.
Chestnut tree in Elos
Roasted chestnuts
You can see the knife slit I made in this one
To roast chestnuts, you simply need to take whole chestnuts, make a slit in their skin to stop them from exploding in the heat (see how Nihal does a more aesthetic cut than mine) and place them on a baking tray (no oiling is required) in a hot oven. They need no more than 20 minutes to become tender. Once they are done, the skin cracks away easily, revealing the delicious soft nut.
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Hi Maria, How are you feeling? Your chestnut recipe has me all nostalgic. My mom loved chestnuts and used to share her memories of them with me when I was little. This past Christmas, my sister and I talked about getting chestnuts, but it's one thing we never learned how to roast from my mom. Now I know. Thanks for the good memory. It's almost midnight here, and now I want to run out to the market and see if I can find some chesnuts! :-)
ReplyDeleteDespite all the bad things that recently happened at your end, I am ever so glad to see you are well enough to continue with blogging.
ReplyDeleteAll the best
Eva, Vienna
I absolutely love, love, love roasted chestnuts. They remind me of my childhood, too. My yiayia used to roast them in the toaster oven for me all the time. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's a long time since I had roasted chestnuts, it's a very traditional Christmas thing in England, but I know they are yummy.
ReplyDeleteThis hillside is so beautiful. I guess your back for a little blogging? I've never had rabbit.
ReplyDeletethese hillsides really are beautiful - i appreciate them more in the winter when i can take a leisurely walk through them rather than in the summer when it's too hot to even think of approaching them
ReplyDeletei am kind of recycling photos for my posts as i don't have the energy to do much more; we still have to eat in this house, as you can see!
Beautiful photos! I've never seen a such a chestnut tree before - another indication of how processed foods are so common that we're not even familiar with their natural state! Roasted chestnuts are very popular in the Philippines, especially during Christmas. There are stand roasting them all over - I should try to find out if they are imported or grown locally.
ReplyDeleteAre you still finding chestnuts in Crete? Love them roasted--my giagia, mom and aunts would make them every fall/early winter when I was a kid but never made the slit to ease the peeling after roasting. Fortunately, I saw this ona cooking show one day a few years ago and have been making an X slit on one side of the chestnut which allows them to roast beautifully and provide for easy peeling.
ReplyDeleteThe photos of the hills are quite beautiful.
I am so glad you are feeling better! I have been thinking of you and sending get well wishes!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful...you can still find chestnuts at this time of year...love them of course...roast them on an open fire.
ReplyDeleteI zap 3 of them for 2 minutes in the microwave - let them cool a bit and they taste fine. I think oven or even an open fire would be better, but if you only want a couple as a snack - microwave wins.
ReplyDeletethanks for the advice - i forgot the convenience of the microwave
ReplyDeletei know of people who boil them too - of course they dont taste as good as when they are dry cooked
The chestnuts look delicious! Nice you can get them so fresh too.
ReplyDeleteMaria, the chestnuts look really good and so fresh. I think you've done a great job with the slits too. Thanks for the link!
ReplyDeleteHello Maria,
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting the Photo.
I use to make a slit and soak the chestnut for one minute after that. Put in hot oven the water vapour will separate easier the coat from the nut.
Leyla