I buy nuts for Christmas every year which is a tradition my grandmother started before she passed away. I decided to go all out last year and get all the nuts that I remember her having including "chestnuts" well this year at Costco I see 6 bags of chestnuts on sale and buy them for this uears bowl. All seems well until I take a bit and realize it is soft and squishy and taste a lot sweeter and a lot starchier. I then go back to pictures from last year and look at each variety of nut. I have almonds, cashews, pistachio, pecan, walnuts, brazil nuts, and "chestnuts". I go and ask my brother to help me figure out what is wrong with the situation because I am feeling stupid at this point. He goes through each type of nuts we can see in the pictures from the Christmas stuff last year and we get to the last one and he begins laughing at me asking if I know what it is. I said "yes its a "chestnut" but they were crunchy and these ones are soft which is why I am confused " he laughs a little longer and says no those are hazelnuts. Now I really feel stupid because everyone was loving the hazelnuts last year and I thought they were Chestnuts so I got the big Costco bag to use. 🤦
TL;DR I bought chestnuts after everyone loved "chestnuts" last year only to find I bought hazelnuts last year.
OR .. you make some squirrels whole year. Even squirrels deserve Christmas .
Maybe I could mix some in for him. Didn't think about that yet.
Our solstice tradition is cutting up old veggies and sending it out into the yard! (We're too lazy to hang it all on trees).Â
Are you not roasting them on an open fire?
The package says fire toasted so I don't know what that means exactly. Also I don't really know how I would roast them again to begin with the only fire thing I have is one of those marshmallow skewers 😂
Wrapped in a foil packet
That description makes me think it's already been done (and because IIRC they're not good raw). But you can roast them in the oven. Slice an X into the shell and then put them on a baking sheet.
You can eat them raw, but you have to be very fussy when peeling them. There's a thin, brown, membranous layer that sticks to the good part and is kind of bitter. Once cooked it seems to come away without any trouble.
You can put them under the grill. Probably oven bake them too. If you do, pierce each one with a knife because they can go off bang.
I believe the ones you bought are pre-cooked. So you just have to open the bag and nom. They're pretty good and so so much less work than doing it yourself.
cut/stab them (tradition is cross cut) and put them in the oven on a baking sheet for 20-25 minutes at 425. You can also boil and peel them if you plan to cook them in a dessert (much easier to peel in my experience)
♫ Chet's nuts roasting on an open fire ♫
I haven't thought of that joke in years...
THATS A LOT OF NUTS
Oh, Betty, i understood that reference
HE JUST LEFT…WITH NUTS
My husband eats them straight out of the bag as a snack. He gave one to the cat and now the cat begs for them when he hears the package opening.
Yea chestnuts are a really weird nut as nuts go. Sounds like you got a ton of them too, bummer.
My old college friend suggested making a pie paste with them so I am looking at doing that since I would use about half of them then.
Pie paste actually sounds like a clutch save. Chestnuts shine way more in baked stuff than straight out of the bag anyway. Turning half of them into something cozy and holiday themed kinda redeems the whole mix up.
Yess you should do this! I believe koreans put them into the bonfire too, and sort of roast it? Look that up also!!
Koreans? Chestnuts roasting on an open fire are a British and American Xmas tradition
Right so much so that it's been immortalized in song.
Jack Frost nipping at your nose!
That would be a fun addition to the Christmas tradition
Roasting them sounds like such a vibe too. There’s something very cozy about cracking them open fresh off the heat. Might even make the whole accidental Costco haul feel intentional.
i was thinking OP bought the chestnut shaped soft pretzels i seen lol
Make some chestnut stuffing.
THIS! My sister makes a chestnut sausage stuffing for the holidays, it's delicious.
Pureed chestnuts are also used in Asian cakes.
Or you could make the classic French Mont Blanc dessert.
you served the fam straight-up gourmet hazelnuts last year thinking they were chestnuts and now dropped Costco money on actual chestnuts nobody asked for 😠lowkey the cutest nut fail ever, you gonna tell them the truth or keep pretending you’re a chestnut connoisseur fr??
"Are these chestnuts or hazelnuts?" is the culinary version of "Is this dress blue or gold?" You have started a family debate for the ages
You could roast them over the open fire and let some guy named jack nip at your nose.
Don't chestnuts have to be specially prepared to remove some sort of toxins ?
Make chestnut kiffles they are the best
Find a recipe for roasting chesnuts on the internet. It’s easy. Roast and serve them at a family gathering.
they taste so good roasted, like baked potato and bacon. you can also make a really good frozen pudding with them (Nesselrode pudding) and various other desserts or make a really rad stuffing
omg the suspense is killing me, what were they if not chestnuts?? i'm guessing they were water chestnuts or something completely different lol.