what can I do with chestnuts?

Forgot to mention it’s from the 1930s.

You could learn to cook from this book alone.  

I can only post one photo per post because of my slow connection,

Here’s a recipe for “Mont Blanc”

Hello,

Please forgive me as I haven't read all of the replies, but I'm posting anyway.

I was taught to cut a cross into the top of the chestnut, like most people. Sometimes the chestnut peels easily and sometimes it's a pain. One day, I stopped to see a friend, who is a professional, when she was processing chestnuts, of which she does a lot. She taught me to not cut a cross, but a full circle, from the top to the tail and back again. Once cut,she puts them in a casserole with a tight fitting lid. And cooks them wherever is convenient, which might be a bread oven, as her husband is a baker, or might be the cooktop. For me, it's the top of the rocket stove. The humidity within the chestnut expands, popping open the chestnut and making peeling much easier!

I also make a sort of pumpkin chestnut soup. But the name is much better in French. I use a sort of pumpkin called potimarron, so the soup is called potimarron aux marrons! I haven't made one yet this year, but probably will very soon.

Right now, I'm trying to come up with a good chestnut pie recipe. My friend makes an incredible one, but I don't want to ask her for the recipe because it is her profession. My latest attempt used four ingredients : chestnuts, eggs, sugar and soy milk (I can't consume dairy). I didn't put in enough sugar and it's not as good as my friend's. Hers tastes lighter and creamier, even if she doesn't use cream in it. If anyone has advice...

Good evening or day to everyone

I’m so happy to see so many folks sharing their recipes, and that so many besides me love these tasty nuts too! They are such a strong autumnal association for me, and so delicious as an accent.

In my family, we always made our Thanksgiving stuffing using boiled chestnuts alongside mandarine oranges, celery, a handful of seasonings, and ofc bread. It remains an absolute favorite of mine, though I am still working to recreate it perfectly since my mother’s sudden passing has left me missing several family recipes. The citrus of the mandarin orange plays so nicely with the chestnut, and the nuts add a nice bit of texture to what could otherwise be a bit squishy of a stuffing.

Another recipe that I have very much been wanting to make is for a chestnut poundcake… (Link: https://www.hirokoliston.com/chestnut-pound-cake/) The recipe uses roasted chestnuts and a sweetened chestnut cream (the recipe to make that at home can also be found on this site, though it is mentioned Bonne Maman sells it as well)
Chestnuts are hard to find where I am at, but it’s almost the time of year where I am able to get them whole at one local market, so I am excited to try it this year!

whoever wrote you cannot eat them raw I beg to differ. I've been handing out samples and a women I met told me she has such fond memories of eating chestnuts from the tree in her grandmothers yard. I gave her a handful. she sat at her desk and peeled and ate them, raw. said they were delicious. At the American chestnut festival last Saturday at Cumberland Mountain State Park one of the Park rangers was cutting an X into the top. put them into a campfire popcorn popper and roasted them over a wood fire until they puffed up and browned just a little bit. we peeled and ate them when they cooled a bit.

In Asia, roasted chestnuts are popular street foods. The vendors use coarse sands in large wok. Sands can be heated to high temperature while keeping the chestnuts evenly roasted. [youtube]https://youtube.com/shorts/h6ZqT1ZGdP4?is=yy5g3N1MaKsing6m[/youtube]

Jon Ashley Mills wrote:Pan fried with gnocchi, cepes and celery leaves.
Stewed with tomatoes, mushrooms and herbs.
Dried, ground and made into fresh pasta with cream and smoked salmon.
Softened in risotto with squash and spinach.
If you have the time and patience to prepare them, and if you have a few trees nearby, sweet chestnuts really are an incredible free bounty to be celebrated each year.

Wow. Who knew?  Well, you and many others, I suspect. They all sound delicious! OK, You've convinced me. There is a small chance that I will step across the street and into the national forest and pluck some of the chestnuts from the tree that voluntarily grew in front of my house.  But, given that a black bear was spotted cheerfully rooting though my yard before it climbed the fence and ambled off in a notherly direction, ah, yeah. . .  The last thing I want is to rangle a black bear for a cluster of chestnuts.

Perhaps I'll buy them.  I will be subbing shitake or brown 'shrooms for cepes. Frankly, I had to look them up figure out if it was a typo or an edible.  

Thanks!