Wild Geese

Unusually mild and sunny weather in East Anglia enabled a pleasant walk from Walberswick to Dunwich along the shingle beach. On our way back to the car park we encountered a skein of geese flying to their roost after a day feeding on the salt water marshes. We also got to see a number of Marsh Harriers returning to roost amongst the dunes.

Sweet Chestnut Puree

Making Sweet Chestnut Puree

First of all do not confuse horse chestnuts with sweet chestnuts.  'Sweet Chestnuts' are delicious to eat after being cooked in a number of ways but 'Horse Chestnuts' contain toxins which are harmful to humans so they should not be eaten.

After collecting your 'Sweet Chestnut's you can either roast or boil them.  The beautiful 'Toot has just made some delicious 'Chestnut Puree' which may be used in cakes, soups or sweet or savoury fillings and stuffings.

Making Puree

• Step 1 - Sort your chestnuts and remove any poor quality nuts and woodland debris.
• Step 2 -  Boil your nuts in a pan of water, a few at a time, for 5 minutes and then remove and place on a board.
• Step 3 - Remove the shell and the fibrous inner membrane covering to the nuts. Do this whilst the nuts are still hot from the boiling water.
• Step 4 - Put the shelled nuts into a microwave safe bowl with a little water and microwave until mushy.  Then mash to a puree.

Chestnut Puree may be kept in a freezer without detriment to its flavour - so a good autumnal harvest can meet all your chestnut needs throughout the following year. Peeling chestnuts is a bit of a pain but the flavour of 'homemade' puree beats 'factory' canned or 'potted' hands down!

My good friend Steve Dongle and  I look forward to enjoying Toot's Chestnut Puree during the  Christmas festivities which are only a few weeks away.