Being three-thousand miles from home for a holiday ordinarily means we were treated to our meal. Also considering, our temporary stay (Ruth) was not expecting us! so the use of her kitchen could not be planned for.
Christmas, by comparison, was spent very near to home. For starters, it is the first year that I've actually celebrated Christmas Eve, also called Candlelight. Following the church service, we were invited to a meal which we were wholly unexpecting, with a line of appetizers that outlasted our presence! Our Portuguese hostess truly brought Mediterranean style into her hospitality that competed with any mezza display of memories past. I am convinced that coffee table never saw so much love.
Like Thanksgiving, this year's Christmas was more than a single day. It was, as it always has been, a season, a spirit. On Black Friday, we were on top of a mountain as our nephew cut down his first Christmas tree. Two days after our return home, we were decorating a friend's plastic variety in pleasant company. A week later, the mood finally hit me to prepare something homey, yet basic. The first time I'd made these was, notably, for car snacks on our Christmas road trip 3 years ago; they're tasty, healthy and easy to make. They are roasted chestnuts.
A Few Christmas Nuts
Chestnuts are like potatoes. I meant that as an inside joke, but the longer I think about it, the more I see the resemblance. However, let's first follow the intentional line of thought, because it's storytime. If you recall that post on "potato," chestnuts will always make Jes and I think of one in particular. His name is Charlie, and if you need to ask why, you are much too analytical.
When Jes first moved out here, I found a whole chestnut on the ground and gave it to her. Mind you, a whole chestnut looks very much like a sea urchin, and this one was bright green. We called "him" Charlie, because he bit our fingers. So, in a nut shell (ba-dum), that is the story of Charlie the Chestnut, who lives on in our hearts—and fittingly, in a small chest in our bedroom.
Now, chestnuts are like actual potatoes in that they are full of starch, which is why we bake them. I say bake, because roasting implies the addition of oil and/or seasoning. Fresh chestnuts are also more than half water. This means that they can really hold their heat, and if you were to put them in the oven without performing some precautionary measures, they can explode.
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| December 14, 2015 - Roasted Chestnuts |
One or two stabs with a knife will score the chestnut's shell, which is enough to relieve pressure when they're cooking. I'm sure it doesn't matter, but I chose the flat side of them to cut. The good thing about this recipe is that quantity is very flexible. You could roast one chestnut, I guess if you weren't sure whether you'd like them or not.
Lay them out on a baking sheet with the cut side up and put them in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. They'll steam themselves, as long as you've made the cut, and you won't need to watch them.
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| December 14, 2015 - Roasted Chestnuts |
When they're ready, their cuts will open like the end of a pomegranate. They'll require a moment to cool (like a potato), but afterward, getting to the meat has several methods, none greater or more intuitive than with the aid of a nutcracker. As I have never once used such on all of the chestnuts that I've eaten, I will instead describe the painstaking method of utilizing one's fingernails.
Using those cut marks as your first grip, peeling a single chestnut may take several minutes, and the more that you peel, the less your thumbs will like you. I've actually bled during our road trip where these delicacies had made their debut, but having to eat them all myself made that my burden to bear—and Jes's. Being the passenger has its disadvantages.
Just under the shell is a fuzzy layer that I admit first caught me off-guard. The thing is, a fresher nut will have this cling to the meat, whereas a drier, more ripened nut will have this cling to the shell. When all is said and done, the meat is room temperature again and you begin to wonder why you even roasted them with their shells on.
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| December 14, 2015 - Roasted Chestnuts |
I never noticed before, but chestnuts taste eerily similar to bananas. You can bet we'll be making banana-chestnut bread sometime soon. There are some recipes already in existence out there, but all of them seem to call for chestnut cream or flavoring rather than the actual nut.
The Nutty Professor
I love botany. I study it. But I love cooking, too. And I have to say, I hate botany.
Like learning that cucumbers and tomatoes and zucchini and eggplants are all actually fruits, I suffered as much inner turmoil when I discovered that many of the fruits that we call nuts are not botanically so. You may immediately think of peanuts, which some time ago we were all clued in that these are technically legumes. I guess the etymology is that they are peas which resemble nuts.
The definition of a nut is simply a fruit that naturally sheds its outer covering to reveal its hard seed. If you've ever seen a chestnut tree, those green urchins mature and dry out, and in the process they split. There are often numerous seeds (chestnuts) within, which account for their unique shapes.
Hazelnuts are also considered true nuts, as are, oddly enough, acorns. The former produces an allergen which does not allow some people (my mother included) to eat it; the latter is simply inedible. But if you've ever had a bad chestnut (or a dry persimmon), you'll know what an acorn tastes like. They're excessively high in tannins, prophylactic compounds most notable for their bitter flavor.
From a culinary standpoint, nuts are high in protein and fat. Check out the food pyramid: they're lumped together with meat. Almonds, cashews and peanuts all come to mind; walnuts in particular are 15% protein, 65% fat, and roughly 14% carbohydrates. By contrast, chestnuts are 1% protein, 1% fat, and 44% carbohydrates, and while they are still seen as nuts in the cookbook, in the science book, all of these others are not. Chew on that.
Interestingly, the most common false nuts out there are actually considered drupes, or "stone fruits." The genus Prunus includes many of these, such as the peach and cherry. The almond also belongs to this genus, yet it is unique in that we don't eat the flesh but rather the actual pit, or "stone."
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| Inside the Peach Pit |
The walnut is also a drupe. Jes recalls seeing green baseballs scattering the ground when she was growing up in California. Inside each, a pit that competes with a jawbreaker for both size and hardness. Only a kung-fu master could dare to break one with bare hands.
This Nut Takes the Cake
Walnuts find themselves in a variety of dishes across cultures, whether they are adding the crunch to m'hommorah or are being pickled in England. My mother characteristically bakes them into half of her brownies, while I'm sure everyone is familiar with their showcase in banana-nut bread.
They also inspire the following recipe, which Jes prepared for Christmas in memory of her grandma Dorothy (Ruth's mom), who passed away this December. We were blessed to be able to see her during our road trip while she was still in good health. This recipe for Russian Tea Cakes goes back to holidays past, and both Jes and Ruth thought it fitting to make it on their respective coasts.
Oddly enough, my mother and aunt recalled butter cookies just like these, but they'd never earned a formal name. Instead, they were named after a friend who had baked them many years ago. Maybe that friend knew their real name and never shared it; or, knowing my family, maybe she did share it and we just forgot and made up a new name.
These are indeed butter cookies. You start with 1 cup butter warmed to room temperature. Add to this 1 teaspoon of the ever-potent but impure vanilla extract, and cream it like you were a bully from the 1950s. Jes would've used her hand mixer to accomplish this (or her hands, JD), except that earlier that week her bridal-shower stand mixer took its maiden voyage out of the box as Jackie baked more than a few dozen cookies Done Wright (shameless plug). Business cards to follow.
Once smooth, add 6 Tablespoons powdered/ confectioner's sugar, because you are playing the role of confectioner and your sugar demands a certain level of quality. Cream this a bit more before adding 2 cups flour in increments. If you don't add it incrementally, I imagine something horrific happens. As I don't bake, I can't be sure what that is, so just trust me on this.
Finally come the walnuts. We were shopping, and me being me wanted to get whole walnuts and take a hammer to them. However, walnuts are probably processed along conveyor belts and therefore the labor that goes into shelling them actually lowers their cost. Needless to say, the chopped walnuts give you more per pound (because you're not paying for shell), while unbroken halves require slightly more care and so will cost more because of that.
Anywho, take 1 cup finely chopped walnuts and fold them into the dough evenly. I say "evenly" because it may actually matter. Then, heat the oven to 350 degrees while you roll out two dozen 1½-inch balls and place them on [probably multiple] baking sheets. These will be baked for only 10 minutes.
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| December 24, 2015 - Russian Tea Cakes |
When they're done, let them sit for a minute or two, and then roll each in powdered/ confectioner's sugar (½ cup set aside) while still warm. Be gentle, because Jes had some of these start to crumble, which we speculatively blame on fault lines caused by adjacent walnuts. Let these cool for another 5-10 minutes and finally roll them in a more generous dusting of sugar.
A Tough Nut to Crack
OK, the way I see it, science can call a nut whatever it wants, but the fact that we are consuming the seed instead of the actual fruit is what makes it a nut in a cook's mind. The cashew, for example, has a dual use: some people eat the pulp, known as a "cashew apple," while most people around only know of its seed (myself included until today). So then, linguistically, a nut is simply a hard seed, and I can live with that.
Now, if you thought walnuts were hard, consider the largest seed that we eat. The coconut grows with a fibrous green husk which can be a versatile construction material. In most American grocery stores, however, it has been removed entirely to reveal its one-pound brown, hairy seed. The water of a young coconut contains dissolved nutrients which deposit themselves along the interior of the seed, eventually forming what we would later consider the "meat."
You've probably long-known that coconuts are not nuts, but it is interesting how "nut" ended up in its name. So guess what? If walnuts and peanuts and pine nuts are allowed to be nuts, so is the coconut! On this blog, at least.
When shopping for the right coconut, you should consider where your interest lies. A fresh coconut will have lots of water inside. This, you can feel by its weight, or in most cases a firm shake will let you hear about how much water is within. I buy a coconut maybe once a year, solely for nostalgia's sake, and I usually end up eating it all myself (Jes loathes coconut). But this year's specimen goes down in history for two probably related reasons.
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| December 20, 2015 - Fresh Coconut |
If you're like me, you like a coconut with a lot of liquid. However, I wasn't even expecting half as much as this picture shows. This probably filled half of the inner space, whereas past coconuts had barely yielded two ounces. I like to drink it straight, but this had a sort of pungent taste that even mixing it with milk could not take away. Nonetheless, I stomached it, because Vitamin C.
The first step of opening a coconut is draining it. (Although, considering how this one turned out, I'm curious to see how skipping that step would have affected it.) In most cases, a coconut has three "eyes." One of these is always softer than the other(s), and the degree of its softness goes hand-in-hand with its youth. Using a pick—as part of a nutcracker set—or similar sterile instrument, touch each eye until you discern the softest one. There was literally no effort required for this coconut.
Push the tool through at least an inch to ensure you've reached "the void," and possibly wiggle it around to widen the hole. If you have a power drill, you could make an air hole in the opposite side. But, if you're using power tools, why even follow this method? Get a glass, turn your coconut hole-side-down, and start shaking! I got a good rhythm going by the time the glass was half-full.
When the water is down to a slow drip, it's time to share your well wishes. Optimally, you'll need a plastic bag, a sturdy plank of wood, an old newspaper and a hammer. Minimally, you'll need a tall building. Place the coconut cozily inside the plastic bag so that when it cracks, all of the pieces will be together. Go outside and place your bagged coconut on a plank of wood, to absorb shock and cause the least damage to whatever surface is beneath. Place your newspaper—several pages thick—on top of the bag; past experience has taught me that this will prevent bag-breakage when the hammer finally comes down.
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| December 20, 2015 - Fresh Coconut |
Several swings later, you will know when to stop. Ordinarily, when a coconut cracks, the meat is fused to the shell such that a shucking knife or similar means will be required to separate the two. In those normal instances, smaller pieces of shell are easier to work with. Oven toasting can also help loosen the meat from the shell's hold.
However, for this curveball, you'll notice that the shell fell apart while the meat was still intact in its egg-shape. I'd never seen this before, and I attribute it to the amount of moisture held inside. I know it looks hideous, but it's not moldy. The bottom part of this image, which shows something similar to a leaf, is actually how the back of the meat should appear once properly removed from the shell.
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| December 20, 2015 - Fresh Coconut |
Taking a fork to this made breaking it up much simpler. When the meat is separate, you can bake it in the oven (350 degrees for 15-30 minutes) as is to help dry it out, or grate it beforehand for ease of use in recipes. Another option for drying it out is to leave it open to air in your refrigerator—this, of course, assuming that your refrigerator is clean of mold spores. Otherwise, you're basically feeding them a petri dish.
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