Chestnuts for Christmas

The soup was divine. So delicious that I forgot to take a picture of it before polishing it off.
This picture is credited to the Vegetarian Times.

Christmas morning I found myself opening a crudely taped together black paper bag. It was strangely lumpy and heavy. Ruddy brown chestnuts tumbled onto my lap and I distinctly remembered the little argument Happy Boy and I had a few days prior in the supplement aisle of Rainbow over a 15 oz. jar of peeled chestnuts. Even though they were $11.50, I wanted to buy them to make a chestnut, mushroom, and Marsala soup. Happy Boy argued that they were too expensive and promised that it would be cheaper if he were to buy me raw chestnuts to cook. I allowed myself to be persuaded by this logic and did not buy the exorbitantly priced jar of chestnuts.

Today I boiled and peeled those chestnuts to ready them for soup. My hands are red and my fingertips tender from burns. Having never had luck with roasting chestnuts the way they do in New York--mine always turn out chalky and both undercooked and overcooked at the same time (Yes, that is possible.)--I boiled them for 20 minutes after scoring the flat sides with a little X. This was supposed to help in the peeling process. I suppose it did help a little, but A Process it was. I tried peeling them, but usually the scabby brown skin under the shell stayed on and so I had to peel the chestnut yet again. Not efficient, to my mind.


After much experimenting, I settled on this method: I cut them in half and then took a little oval teaspoon and scooped out the center. This proved to be very messy (However, it's all messy, no matter what method), but at least I could wear an oven mitt while I used the other hand to scoop without fear of stabbing myself in the hand. Though I soon wearied of slipping the oven mitt on and off with every nut and just steeled my nerves against the searing pain of tightly gripped hot chestnuts. Hence, the tender red hands. Couldn't I just wait till they cooled off, you ask? No. You can't or the nut hardens back up and sticks to its shell just as stubbornly had you not boiled it. I should point out that boiling chestnuts for longer than 5 minutes will cook the nutmeat, making it fall apart when peeled. This is fine if you plan to puree the soup as I do.

So, if and when you decide to ever make this delicious soup, ask yourself, as I did, is $11.50 too much for a jar of whole peeled chestnuts (or shrink-wrapped as I've also seen them)? The conclusion I came to the difficult way: Absolutely not. Worth every penny!

I should also add that Happy Boy intended to include a coupon for chestnut peeling with the present, but, sadly, it was forgotten in the hubbub. Oh, well. E for effort.

The soup was divine. So delicious in fact that I forgot to take a picture of it. It was rich and creamy. Delicate and complex. A description owing more to the chestnut than the butter and cream (though they never hurt.) A festive appetizer or a light lunch served with crusty bread.

This recipe has been in my stack of "recipes to try" for over two years. I'm glad I finally made it and will definitely make it again soon, the easy way.

Classic Chestnut Soup with Marsala Mushrooms

Serves 8

Soup

3 T butter

1 medium onion, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

1 bay leaf

1 T chopped fresh thyme

1/8 tsp ground allspice

1 15-oz. jar cooked, peeled whole chestnuts, chopped

4 C vegetable or chicken broth

2 T Marsala wine

1/3 C heavy cream

2 T finely chopped fresh thyme leaves for garnish

Mushrooms

1 T butter

1 clove garlic, minced
8 oz. button or cremini mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
2-3 T Marsala wine

1. To make soup: Melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery, bay leaf, thyme, and allspice, and cook 5-7 minutes, or until onion is translucent. Add chestnuts, broth, and 2 cups of water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 20-25 minutes, or until chestnuts are very soft. Remove bay leaf.

2. Puree soup in batches in blender until smooth. Return to pot, and stir in Marsala wine and cream.

3. To make Mushrooms: Heat butter and garlic over medium heat. Add mushrooms, and cook 4-5 minutes or until mushrooms are soft. Add Marsala wine, and cook 1 minute more, or until most of liquid is evaporated.

4. Season soup with salt and pepper, and ladle into bowls. Garnish servings with mushrooms and fresh thyme.

P.S. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO CORRECT THE FORMATTING ERRORS IN THIS POST. GRRR!

Grand Central Tomato Relish

Here I am again, craving food from Portland. I've been able to satiate the desire for this condiment maybe twice a year. Whenever I visit, I sidle up to the counter of my former employer and gorge myself on Bacon Egg Bolos. The best part of those sandwiches is not the farm fresh egg cooked to perfection, not the pepper bacon, not the crusty bolo roll, but the zingy tomato relish. For those of you in Portland, you have only to stroll down to your local Grand Central Bakery to partake, while the rest of us have been left to trawl the internet in hopes of replicating the tangy dance of tomato relish on our tongues.

I'll wager a guess that the recipe I found was probably posted by an old Grand Central commissary employee, as it is pretty right on in taste. Though maybe it was just re-posted from the cookbook they published a few years ago. I've no idea. But thank you, whoever you are, for posting this lovely recipe for tomato relish.



With the end of tomato season looming, I squirreled away some Happy Boy San Marzano tomatoes to make a batch of tomato relish. It jars up easily and keeps in the freezer for many months and in the fridge for many weeks, so that when your lonely winter taste buds crave a dose of acidy, summer warmth, you can just reach into the fridge and spoon some up.

Enjoy!

Grand Central Tomato Relish

1/4 C sliced sun-dried tomatoes (dry-packed)
1/4 C olive oil
1 large white onion, diced
1 large leek, washed and diced
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, drained, juices reserved
2 T firmly packed brown sugar
3 T balsamic vinegar
1 T salt


In a small bowl, cover sun-dried tomatoes with boiling water. Let sit about 10 minutes. Drain and reserve liquid. Puree in food processor, adding a little of the soaking liquid if the puree is too stiff. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and caramelize, about ten minutes. Lower heat and add leeks, cooking until tender, about 6-8 minutes more.
Combine reserved juice from canned tomatoes with puree. Add to the onion and leek mixture in the pan and turn up the heat, stirring until the liquid evaporates.

Add the brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, and salt. Reduce heat to low and cook until sugar and salt dissolve.

Remove from heat, cool, and stir in uncooked diced tomatoes. Adjust seasoning to taste. Store in fridge up to 4 weeks or freeze for up to 6 months.