_Chestnut Time_, by Carla Geri Camporesi, ISBN 88-7246-113-8 The book is all on chestnuts. It has 140 recipes and many of them are based on chestnut flour. It is from Italy and opposing pages are in Italian and English. The copy I saw was imported into the US by the store. It was $16.95. The store is: Kitchen Arts & Letters 1435 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10128 Phone: 212-876-5550 Fax: 212-876-3584 ============ Try the American Chestnut Foundation, at: http://chestnut.acf.org/ (note no www); they're a fine outfit, and if recipes aren't in there somewhere yet, ask: they probably even have a cookbook. ============ The Chestnut Cookbook by Annie Bhagwandin $8 postpaid from Shady Grove Publications, Shady Grove Road, Onalaska, WA 98570. It has wonderful recipes from all over the world, and you also can get dried chestnuts and chestnut flour from these folks by mail order. ============ Has chestnut flour: http://www.experiencetravel.com/mercatomenuchristmas.htm ============ Roasted Chestnuts: a rare treat, and versatile too. http://italianfood.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa103197.htm ============ From: http://www.firenze.net/events/food/bruciate.htm While good castagne will do for boiling and such, you will want marroni for roasting. ============ J. Hill Craddock's Chestnut Links http://www.utc.edu/~best/chestnut.html ============ http://www.internetcom.fr/corsica/uk/discov/prod/chatai.htm http://www.internetcom.fr/corcega/uk/discov/prod/chatai.htm ============ Requirements for a United States Chestnut Industry http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1990/v1-324.html ============ From: http://www.arca.net/recipes/chestnutcake.htm Castagnaccio Chestnut cake * Preparation time: 20 minutes. * Cooking time: 30 minutes. * Standing time: 30 minutes. * 600g chestnut flour. * 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil. * Salt. * 70g raisins. * 40g pinenuts. * 40g walnuts. * Rosemary. Sift the chestnut flour into a mixing bowl and gradually add 800ml of water, whisking continually to avoid lumps forming, until you have a smooth paste, neither too runny nor too thick, but forming ribbons when it falls from the spoon. Soak the raisins and squeeze out the excess water. Add two tablespoons of oil, a pinch of salt, the raisins, pinenuts and shelled walnuts to the batter. Pour the mixture into a shallow, greased baking tray (the cake should only be about 1cm high), sprinkle some rosemary leaves on top and drizzle a tablespoon of oil over. Put in the oven for thirty minutes. Leave aside for about half an hour before serving as the cake should be eaten either tepid or cold. For many centuries chestnuts were part of the staple diet in mountainous and hilly areas and for the poorer classes in general as they provided an inexpensive form of nutrition. The original, Florentine version of castagnaccio, which is also known as migliaccio (black pudding) in some parts of Tuscany, had only pinenuts in it. This recipe is a combination of traditional recipes from both Pistoia and Lucca which I find slightly tastier. © Copyright by Edizioni La Mandragora ============ From: http://www.ari.net/italy/Recipe/recipe6.htm The Italy Italy Kitchen Recipe by Giusi Gallo CASTAGNACCIO ALLA TOSCANA (Tuscan chestnut cake) This classic Tuscan dessert is not very sweet and, unusual for a dessert, is flavored with rosemary and extra virgin olive oil. 10 1/2 oz chestnut flour 2 tbsp pine nuts 2 tbsp dried raisins soaked in warm water walnut meats (optional) fresh rosemary (to taste) salt tepid water extra virgin olive oil (possibly full-bodied in flavor) Sift the flour into a bowl and add enough tepid water to make a fairly liquid batter, using a whisk to prevent it from forming lumps. Add 3 tbsp olive oil and the raisins and mix well. Grease a low 12-inch cake pan and pour the batter into the pan. Garnish with pine nuts, chopped walnuts and rosemary, and a drizzle of oil. Bake at 365 degrees F. for about 40 minutes until it is dark but not too dry. Some cooks make the cake richer by using milk instead of water, by soaking the raisins in sweet Vinsanto dessert wine, by adding sugar, or by frosting with whipped cream. The cake should be served warm, with a sweet dessert wine. ============ From: http://www.eat.com/cookbook/desserts/autumn-chestnut-cake.html [Mama's Cookbook] Autumn Chestnut Cake "If you feel like baking, here's a good one to try. Delicious, especially when it's nice and fresh and maybe still pretty warm." "If you don't feel like baking, try this." 1. "Fly to Firenze." 2. "Walk around the Duomo and sniff around." 3. "Follow your nose until you find who's selling the castagnaccio (chestnut cake) today." 4. "If the vendor is a sweet-looking older man with glasses and a red hat, ask him if his name is Stefano. If it is, buy from him: he makes the best." * 1/2 cup of raisins * 6 cups of chestnut flour * 5 cups of water * 12 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil * a pinch or two of salt * 1/2 cup pine nuts * 4 fresh rosemary sprigs, chopped fine Soak the raisins in a bowl of water. Set aside for one hour. Preheat your oven to 450 F. Mix flour, water, 4 tablespoons of olive oil and salt to form a creamy dough. Add 6 tablespoons of pine nuts and all the chopped rosemary into the dough. Pour 8 tablespoons of olive oil into two 11 inch tart pans (don't use the kind that have a removable bottom, unless you want a big mess!) Add the dough on top of the oil. Drain the raisins and sprinkle the dough with the raisins and the rest of the pine nuts. Bake for 20 minutes, until you see the top of the cake begin to crack. Pour off any excess olive oil. Serve warm. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mama's niece Ana, the lawyer, wrote this next part: Copyright 1998 Lipton, Inc. All rights reserved. webmaster@eat.com ============ From: http://www.cucina.italynet.com/ricingl/dati/499.htm Course: Dessert Cook Book: The Basics of Italian Cuisine Chestnut crust CASTAGNACCIO Ingredients: 1 lb. chestnut flour , 4 Tbs. sugar , pinch salt , 3 Tbs. olive oil , 1 Tbs. grated orange zest , 4 Tbs. soaked squeezed raisins , 2 Tbs. pine nuts , 2 Tbs. coarsely chopped walnuts , milk, as needed Sift the chestnut flour, add the sugar and a pinch of salt. Add 2 pints cold water in a thin stream beating constantly with a whisk so that lumps do not form. Add 3 Tbs. oil, orange peel, raisins, pine nuts and walnuts. Add warm milk little by little until you achieve a stiff consistency. Pour the batter into a greased pan large enough so that the mixture is 1/2" thick. Dribble on some oil. Bake in a preheated 400° F. Oven for an hour. Serve warm or cold. It can also be served with whipped cream. VARIATION: Fennel seeds can be used in place of walnuts ============ From the Epicurious Food database of over 7,600 other recipes from Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines, visit the Recipe File VEAL, CARROT AND CHESTNUT RAGOUT Chestnuts are harvested in the area around Alba and figure in many savory and sweet dishes there, particularly stews like this ragout. Gathered after they have fallen, chestnuts are traditionally served with game, but they also pair well with veal-another staple of northern Italian cuisine. If fresh chestnuts are unavailable, roasted vacuum-packed chestnuts-sold in jars in the specialty foods section of many supermarkets-can be used. Supply crusty bread for soaking up the juices. Accompany with a radicchio and escarole salad, and uncork a Barolo. 18 fresh chestnuts 2 1/2 pounds veal stew meat, cut into 2x1-inch pieces 4 tablespoons olive oil 1 1/2 cups chopped onion 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped garlic 1 bay leaf 2 1/2 cups canned low-salt chicken broth 3/4 cup dry white wine 6 medium carrots, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces 3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage Preheat oven to 400 deg. F. Using small sharp knife, cut an X in each chestnut. Place in roasting pan. Bake until tender and shells loosen, about 35 minutes. Cool slightly. Remove hard shell and papery brown skin from each nut. Set nuts aside. Pat veal pieces dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add veal to pot and cook until brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer veal to large bowl. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in same pot. Add onion, garlic and bay leaf. Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook until onion is tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Stir in broth and wine. Add veal and any accumulated juices from bowl. Bring to boil. Reduce heat. Cover; simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add carrots to stew. Cover and cook until carrots are almost tender, about 25 minutes. Uncover and cook until meat is very tender and liquid is reduced to thin sauce consistency, about 25 minutes longer. Stir in nuts and sage. Simmer until nuts are heated through, about 3 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Transfer ragout to bowl. Serves 6. Bon Appetit October 1997 ============