Food of the month - Chestnuts

Chestnuts are in seasons in Sydney. Yes I know what you are thinking - the time, the peeling, the work. They comes in frozen but the fresh ones are really very delicious and is jammed pack full of essential nutrients. They are available from mid March until July here in Australia.

Nutritionally, chestnuts differ from other nuts that they are low in fat containing 1.3g of fat per 100g. The energy from chestnuts mainly derived from carbohydrates, around 44g per 100g fresh peeled chestnuts. Chestnuts are naturally gluten free. Like other nuts and plant-based foods, chestnuts are great source of potassium and has very little sodium

Now the fun part. How to prepare chestnuts?

As you can see in this photo that I took, I boiled them uncut. Yes - dump them all in a pot and boil. They has proven to be unsuccessful as the furry skin is stuck on the nut itself. Upon consultations with other mum, aka Home Masterchefs, this is my proven method:

1. Place chestnuts as they are in a large pot Cover with plenty of water and boil for 10-15 minutes. Turn the oven on at the mean time to 180C.

2. Drain the water. Using a sharp small knife, make a cross shape cut the nut. Careful they are quite hot.

3. Place them in an oven or a broiler (in my case) for 10-15 minutes.

4. The chestnuts now should be very easy to peel off as the furry skin are now dried.

Now with these deliciousness, I have used them in vegetable stir fry, in an Indian curry and you can snack on them as they are. Around one handful (30g) is the recommended amount. Enjoy!