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And now Chef Jason is here in
the kitchen with me and we're
going to cook with chestnuts.
I'm so excited about this
because I've never had a
chestnut in my entire life.
So what are we going to do?
Simon: Basically we have --
we're going to do a little
chestnut stuffing, we might
throw in Bartlett pears with it
today.
And so basically first I'd like
to do is show you how to I guess
roast a chestnut.
Alright.
Simon: So the chestnuts
basically you've got a flat side
and you've got an oval side.
What we want to do is basically
score it, put an X on the oval
side.
Chestnuts tend to be a little
bit tough.
So you have to push pretty hard
huh?
Simon: You're going to have to
push down pretty good.
I want to get a nice, deep score
across the top of it.
Basically this X is going to
roll into a dish, a little bit
of salt, a little bit of water.
Not a lot of water though.
Simon: No, no, just a little bit
to get basically the bottom of
the dish wet.
Basically we're going to roll up
for about 10 minutes and in the
oven at 350 for about ten
minutes.
We're going to watch these
chestnuts, when they pull out
they're going to bloom up top
kind of like a flower.
Simon: Chestnuts aren't really
that difficult to work with.
The most important part is
basically when you pull them out
of the oven we're going to want
to work with them while they're
still hot because if we let any
time lapse basically chestnuts
tend to wrap back up.
Oh, okay.
Simon: And so the skin won't
peel off.
And these are -- Simon: Right
here is the finished product.
Peeled chestnuts right there.
Simon: We rolled them off
yesterday and in the stuffing we
also want to throw in some
pears, some roasted cauliflower,
some roasted carrots.
I also have bread down here that
was from yesterday, toasted it
off on in the oven a little bit,
warmed it up so basically we've
got some nice tooth or crunch
when we bite down later.
Can I try one of these before we
-- Simon: You bet.
Alright, so just -- mmm, I've
never had anything that tasted
like that.
Simon: Yeah, it's -- chestnut is
its own little creature because
basically most nuts, you know,
dry.
Chestnuts are meaty.
Give you a lot of moisture in
the nut.
It's a little bit sweet.
Simon: Yep.
That's wonderful.
So let's start putting the
stuffing together.
Simon: You bet.
What we're going to do is while
I'm working I'm going to get
this heat going, basically right
here I have a little temperature
of chicken stock and milk, like
probably about two or three cups
of each.
All I'm going to do is get it
warm.
While I'm doing this, take this
spread, start throwing it in
that bowl for me, about half of
it.
Alright.
I can do that.
Simon: And I might -- chicken
stock and milk here I'm going to
throw a little bit of thyme in
with it.
Basically I like infuse my
liquids with a little bit of an
herb, basically thyme, parsley,
sage, anything that is good this
time of year.
The I'm going to throw my
peppercorns in there, some chili
peppers too.
Heat it up a little bit.
Simon: You bet.
All we're going to do is just
get this all tempered together,
have the flavors run through the
milk and the stock.
Alright, is this enough?
Simon: That should be plenty.
Great.
Simon: What I do on this is I've
got this mixing bowl over here,
go ahead and grab that too.
There's my yolks, usually four
to six would be plenty.
As we get this mixture warming
up right here -- we've got all
these flavors working -- I'm
going to take this off the heat,
kill that heat.
Bring this to my egg yolks,
slowly temper it in just so we
don't make an omelet.
You know, you don't want it so
hot that it's going to --
Simon: Absolutely curdles up,
you bet.
Cook the eggs right away, okay.
Simon: Basically the stuffing,
everybody likes their stuffing
like grandma likes it dry, I
don't.
So what we're going to do is
basically depending on how dry
your bread crumbs are, how much
moisture you've got here, it's
kind of like a touch and feel
thing.
So, I like mine a little bit
more wet than most.
Alright, well and the bread, it
didn't feel like all the
moisture was gone out of the
bread.
Simon: No, there's -- Mostly.
Simon: It's crunchy so -- I'm
going to pour this right into it
and we're going to start folding
a little bit at a time just to
see, take it to the consistency
we want.
While you've got that I'm just
going to salt and go.
Okay.
And how do you know when it is
the consistency you want it?
What are you looking for?
Simon: I'm looking for that
moisture -- that liquid to dry
up.
Oh, okay.
Simon: And we'll kind of feel --
kind of a feel after that.
While we're going I'm just going
to start adding all this in too,
a little bit.
Roasted carrots.
Simon: Roasted carrots, got a
little bit of a shallot in there
that I roasted with it, some
thyme, then we've got the
chestnuts.
Wonderful.
And the chestnuts, did you add
any salt or anything?
Or are they just -- Simon: Just
when we roasted them, I peeled
them and all it was, was just a
little bit of salt and a little
bit of oil.
And you didn't add any salt
after?
Simon: No, you don't have to add
anything afterwards.
And here are the cauliflower,
it's roasted too just basically
a little bit of shallot in
there, a little bit more thyme
again, a little bit of butter.
And you browned your cauliflower
a little.
Simon: You bet.
A little pan roast.
And also we've got a little bit
of sweet from the Bartlett
pears.
Nice.
Simon: Yep.
Got all the flavors of the fall
so -- And we're almost, almost
soaked up all that.
Simon: You bet.
While we're doing that I'm just
going to put a little bit of my
roasting dish here, I've got a
little bit of oil in the bottom.
Olive oil usually works best.
I'm going to do, just kind of
basically coat the outsides of
my dish just so I can get
everything from sticking later
on when we pull it out of the
oven.
So basically into the bowl we
go.
Everything should just pile
right in.
And how do you like to serve
your stuffing?
Simon: I like serving stuffing
with, just with about any type
of roasted meat coming out this
winter.
So the old fable people used to
stuff it in turkeys, I'm like,
not a good idea.
Putting stuffing inside of an
animal that never really
actually meets full temperature
inside.
So if you're going to stick it
in there, cook the turkey first,
right?
Simon: You bet.
Alright.
Simon: So basically I'm just
going to pat this down.
And when I'm packing it down I
can see the moisture popping
back out of the bread so I'm
like, everything looks just
right.
So roll with that.
I'm going to roll it with tin
foil and also plastic wrap
underneath.
The plastic wrap is going to
help keep that moisture inside.
Okay.
Simon: You can also cook this in
a water bath.
The water bath, what that will
do, it will help you from
overcooking it.
So basically what we do is grab
a bigger, I guess, roasting pan,
fill it halfway with water,
bring the water up the sides.
Then you could idiot proof your
dish.
Awesome.
Alright.
Then tin foil over that and
we'll pop it in the oven.
Simon: You got it.
Great.
And how long does it spend in
the oven?
Simon: I'm going to put this
size -- probably a half hour
would be plenty, half hour,
we'll do the same at 350.
Alright.
Simon: I'm going to grab the
nuts back out, put this in.
Are they ready?
Simon: They're pretty close.
I should be able to get them
scored, pulled open.
They've opened up a little bit
there.
Simon: A little bit.
Right here we can see how it's
starting to bud open.
So basically it's going to roll
right off.
There's your chestnut coming
out.
Okay.
Simon: Viola, we're good to go.
You've got a little thin skin
here.
Mm-hmm, so you want to peel that
away too so it looks just like
that.
Simon: You bet.
It is edible but for a finished
product it's pretty -- it's very
important not to let them cool
off without peeling them or else
we'll be doing this all over
again which I don't really
enjoy.
There we go.
Alright, wonderful.
Simon: Awesome.
Simon: So we get this baby out
of the oven and then rip this
foil off, check it for doneness
and hopefully we're good to go.
Fantastic.
You can see how the plastic
keeps all the good flav in, yep.
Yep, I can already start to
smell it even with the plastic
wrap.
Simon: There we go.
Everybody is always afraid of
the plastic but that's the best
part, keeps it in.
What I want to do now is
basically throw it back in the
oven, turn up to broil, kind of
get a nice little brownness on
top and it should be viola,
ready to go.
Up on the top rack should be
good, about 10 minutes.
We're good to go.
It looks wonderful and it smells
wonderful.
Simon: It turned out pretty
sweet.
Let's see how it tastes.
Simon: I'm going to take it out
a little bit.
There we go.
Nice.
Alright.
Simon: You bet.
That looks great.
I'm looking for a chestnut.
Mmm, that is delicious.
Simon: You bet, grandma's
stuffing.
Chef Jason, thank you so much.