http://www.chestnuthilltreefarm.com/Chestnut-Bog.htmlen-usThu Sep 09 17:34:43 EDT 2010Thu Sep 09 17:34:43 EDT 2010CommuniSite RSS Generatorhttp://www.chestnuthilltreefarm.com/Chestnut-Bog.html0http://www.chestnuthilltreefarm.com/Chestnut-Bog.html?NID=268Tis the season to Roast a Chestnut!With the sound of Nat King Cole singing sweetly in the background, here's how to roast your own chestnuts.  First, pick chestnuts at the store that are firm, clean and not moldy.  If you can squeeze them and feel the shell dimple and the hard kernel underneath, the nuts may have dried out and could be moldy inside.  American-grown Dunstan or Chinese nuts are a smooth brown in color, and rounded in shape, whereas imported nuts from Europe are often pointed at one end, and often somewhat tiger-striped in coloration.  If you can find them, the Chinese or hybrid nuts will be better (sweeter) tasting, and peel easier.  What you most often find roasted on the street are European nuts.Traditional roasting is over charcoal or an open flame, with the nuts' shells blackened from cooking.  Special chestnut roasting pans with holes in the bottom to allow the flames to hit the nuts are available in the stores to cook them this way, often with long handles to place the pan into the fire.  If you leave some of the nuts un-cut, when they start to explode (like the song says, pop pop pop!), they are done.  Take them off the flames and let them cool before eating.  To Oven Roast:  With a sharp knife, cut an “X” at the end of the nut.  Be sure to cut through the outer skin down to the meat of the nut otherwise they can explode.  Arrange X-cut chestnuts in a single layer in a roasting pan / baking sheet.  Place in oven at 350 degrees for 15- 25 minutes or until the nut can be easily pierced with fork or knife tip.   Peel and enjoy!!! To Precook and Peel Nuts:  With a sharp knife or cleaver, cut the nuts in half.  Place in boiling water and cook for 10 minutes.  Drain and immediately peel.  The half kernels will peel easily when still hot.  Remove both the shell and the seed coat (the thin skin between the kernel and shell).  Dunstan Chestnuts peel very easily!  Other varieties, such as European imports often found in stores, do not.To Microwave:  Arrange X-cut Dunstan Chestnuts in a single layer in a microwave safe dish.  Microwave on High for about 2 minutes.  Microwave a maximum of 12 Chestnuts at one time so they cook evenly. Bob WallaceTue Dec 08 00:00:00 EST 2009http://www.chestnuthilltreefarm.com/Chestnut-Bog.html?NID=228It's harvest time in Alachua!  Despite it still feeling like summer, 88 degrees today, the chestnuts are falling!  The tree in our yard (we call it 'Behind the Barn' because many years ago there was a barn in front of it...) is dropping nuts.  We've been on the finish mower, cutting the grass one time before the we mow with the flail mower.  We went through in August and bush-hogged the orchard for the first time this year (we planted wildflowers years ago and the Coreopsis and Phlox bloom from April-July!).  One pass with the finish mower gets it down to 2-3" high, and the flail mower cuts it to an inch.  Because our trees are 40-50' tall, they shade out the grass in much of the orchard.We'll start on Monday (Labor Day!) picking up the nuts.  Because of the heat, we harvest every other day, so they nuts don't dry out.  When they are shucked from the burrs, they get soaked overnight in a garbage can of water in the walk-in cooler, then taken out and bagged.It's a wonderful time of year!  September in Florida is like spring up north, when the heat seems to finally break after 4 long, hot, hard months. It is like a re-birth, that life can begin again.  The first Gator football game is this weekend and the chestnuts are starting to fall.  Bird migration is ramping up and the first persimmons are ripe on the trees.  It's my favorite time of year!Bob WallaceFri Sep 04 00:00:00 EDT 2009