Bet you didn't know chestnuts grew in Florida. Well they do, up north and in the panhandle of Florida there are multiple orchards of chestnuts. They are water based nuts that have no gluten.
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Panhandle Florida
grown chestnuts, copyright 2013 by Helen A Lockey |
This past October I went to a panhandle Florida chestnut orchard and got a lesson on how to eat prepare and eat a Florida chestnut.
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Scoring Florida grown chestnut
copyright 2013 by Helen A Lockey |
First you cut an x or score the surface of the chestnut with a sharp knife making sure the cut goes all the way through the shiny skin.
Next you can have to cook it to convert the starches into sugar.
You can do this either with an conventional oven or with a microwave. This demo used a microwave. Depending on the power of your machine, cook the chestnut for between five and 15 seconds.
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Cooked Florida chestnut copyright
2013 by Helen A Lockey |
When you notice the skin around the cut curling back then the chestnut is ready for the next step.
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Peeling Florida grown and cooked chestnut, copyright
2013 by Helen A Lockey |
Take a knife and carefully start peeling the chestnut. Make sure to go through the shiny outer skin and fuzzy inner skin to reveal the yellow inner meat of the chestnut.
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Peeled, cooked, Florida grown chestnut,
copyright 2013 by Helen A Lockey |
And before you know it you'll have peeled your first chestnut.
A freshly cooked Florida grown chestnut can taste slightly sweet to caramel sweet with an earthy finish.
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