Boiled Chestnuts in Dulce de Leche
Chestnuts from Celebrating the Chestnut recipes and lore form a Virginia plantation by Angela Mulloy and Edna Lewis.
To prepare chestnuts, either roasted or boiled, split each chestnut with an X on the top of the nut. Place in a shallow pan and cover with water; bring water to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. To roast place in a single layer in an oven proof dish and roast at 325 for 15 minutes. Once the chestnuts have been cooked they must be peeled while still warm. Let them cool enough to touch. If they cool the shells will be next to impossible to remove. When they are cooked and peeled they are ready to eat or use in any recipe. To make puree place cooked chestnuts in a processor and blend with a little half and half until you reach the desired consistency. May be sweetened with sugar or honey.
1 cup of milk
1/2 cups sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 pound boiled chestnuts
3/4 whipping cream
Chocolate curls
Add sugar, vanilla bean and milk in a saucepan. Add chestnuts and boil slowly until most of the milk has been absorbed by the chestnuts. Remove vanilla bean. Process chestnuts into a puree and chill. Whip cream into peeks and fold into chilled chestnut puree. To serve, cover the bottom of the dessert plate with Dulce de Leche.(see recipe November 20). Place a scoop of chestnut puree on top and garnish with chocolate curls.