RecipesChestnuts? in My Kitchen Cupboard?
How many of us have cans of "weird and wonderful", packets of grains that we bought in a fit of healthy enthusiasm, slowly ageing in the back of the cupboard? Thank heavens,some of them things do have a long storage life but the longer you keep them, the longer they will take to cook.
Have a look in your kitchen cupboard and tell me hand on heart that you have a recipe for all the ingredients present. You do? so no need for you to read any further and I shall see you again next week. If like me you have just spotted a packet of pearl barley, 5 tins of anchovies, and a can of chestnuts, here is you chance to turn weird and wonderful into a gourmet meal.
I try to eat in season and local as much as I can, food taste better when off the field than off the plane, although pearl barley would not qualify as British food, it is very much associated with British cooking.
But Chestnuts is local, it appears round about Christmas. Having a brief shelf life, they often appear in cans and .....in kitchen cupboards. The name is said to come from a Greek place name. To shell fresh chestnuts, score across the rounded side and put into boiling water for long enough (10 minutes) to make the shell break off when squeezed. cook by simmering in salted water until soft.
But back to my cupboard, It did not take me long to find a cooking recipe by Chef Regis Macon on Gourmandia, I might even have to go back to the supermarket tomorrow to get some more chestnuts.