Catch a falling autumn leaf and make a wish...

The seasons are turning and much as I love autumn I can't help wondering where this year went, so if I had a leaf to make a wish on I suppose it would be for time to pass in the way it did when I was a kid. When days seemed unending and seasons were always at their peak.

Still, things being at their peak is particularly apt with regard to this autumn. It has been, in my humble opinion, an exceedingly good year for fruits and now we've reached another seasonal high that I've been greatly looking forward to - namely the chestnut harvest. Here in Kent I have the bonus of living less than a stone's throw from a chestnut coppice, laying these superbly versatile autumnal fruits practically at my feet. Although from experience I have observed that coppice trees don't generally produce the kind of sizable nuts you might expect to see for sale in the shops, these are largely imports from Italy and Spain anyway and so are best eschewed in favour of locally produced ones where you can find them. Better yet, reduce your carbon footprint even further and forage for your own! Careful searching and locating of the largest trees in a woodland will inevitably yield the kind of decently sized specimens that will help make their processing worthwhile.

Chestnuts are fabulous things; unlike other kinds of nut they are high in complex carbohydrates but low in protein and fat and are gluten and cholesterol free. They are easily assimilated by the body, containing potassium and vitamin C which makes them unique among nuts. Eaten fresh and raw, wrestled straight from their spiny burrs and shiny brown hulls with the hairy inner skin still clinging to the pale flesh in places, they are at once astringent and yet sweet and crunchy; a pleasing munch as you forage your way around the cooly crisp autumnal woodland. Let them sit for a week or so and they will dry a little in their skins and become softer textured and sweeter still (although the hairy inner skin is still just as difficult to remove!).

The flavour and texture of a roasted chestnut, however, is unique and it's this that makes them so rewardingly versatile. The crunchiness is replaced by something not unlike the best of a floury textured mashing potato and the inner skin should (should!) peel away more easily, although I confess the chestnut is just as likely to break into pieces as you try to get it off, a mild annoyance if you're trying to make home-made marrons glaces!

As you can see I'm a bit of a fan and I'm hoping that by now you're also keen to grab your basket and get out into the woods. Once you've got yourself a few pounds of these glossy little nuggets of goodness though, what do you do with them?

Well I'll be honest, the processing can be a little tedious. Once you've slit the skins and roasted them you'll have to peel them and so this is a job best done in the evening when you're settled comfortably in a chair with the radio by your side and several bowls handy to collect the nuts and peelings as you work. Cover the freshly roasted chestnuts with a towel to keep them warm (this makes peeling easier) and work as fast as you can, taking care not to damage the whole nuts if you are planning to do something fancy like marrons or chestnuts preserved in brandy - it's no matter though if you're going to puree them for a dessert or soup.

This year rather than engage in the fiddly process of making marrons glaces I've decided to make brandied chestnuts (in Italian, Marrone al liquore) simply because they're relatively quick and easy and the added bonus is that along with the beautifully favoursome nuts you'll also have lovely brandy syrup (imagine that combination served with home-made vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce - mmmm).

Marrone al liquore

2 kilos chestnuts
500g sugar
1 ltr water
500 ml brandy (you can use dark rum if you prefer)

Carefully cross-slit the skin on each chestnut and place them into a heavy bottomed pan over a medium heat on the hob (if you forget to do this they explode spectacularly and messily!). Roast them in batches, shaking the pan constantly to prevent scorching or over-cooking. Once the skins begin to crisp and peel back, remove them from the pan and place in a dish under a folded tea towel to keep the heat in. As soon as you have roasted them all, begin carefully peeling off the outer and inner skins using a thin bladed knife, taking care because the chestnuts will be crumbly. Place the peeled nuts to one side while you prepare the syrup.

Combine the sugar and the water in a pan and bringing it to the boil, skim off any froth that rises to the surface. After about ten minutes turn the heat down low and add the chestnuts to the syrup. Let them simmer gently, without stirring, for a further five minutes, watching carefully to see that they don't stick or over-cook.

Once the chestnuts are done, allow everything to cool and then remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon, carefully layering them in a clean, sterilised wide-mouthed jar.

Return the pan to the hob and bring the syrup back to a boil, skimming off any more froth that rises. Finally stir in the brandy and let the syrup cool to room temperature, then pour it carefully over the chestnuts. If you find that there is not quite enough liquid to cover them you can add more brandy to top up the jar, without stirring.

Seal the jar with a well-fitting lid and store in a cool dark place for at least two weeks, after which you can look forward to a lovely richly flavoured dessert treat (just remember to pop the jar in the fridge once it's been opened - if they last that long!).

The other great thing about this time of year is that if you look carefully whilst you forage you may also spot some woodland fungi and one feature of a predominantly chestnut woodland is the occasional beefsteak fungus that can be found sprouting from the trunk of a chestnut (you may also find it in oak).

Beefsteak is a firm but jelly-like bracket fungus that from the top looks for all the world like a slick, red glossy tongue or even a large hunk of fresh liver, sticking incongruously from the side of a tree. This meaty looking appearance is almost exactly as the more aptly descriptive French name of langue de boeuf suggests, right down to the sinewy-looking markings within the flesh at its stalk. Underneath, the bracket should be creamy white and unblemished - older specimens become solid and woody around the stem and have often been ravaged by slugs and snails. Cut open the deep red flesh and the meat-like illusion continues as the fungus oozes a somewhat disconcerting red liquid but don't let this put you off! It is worth harvesting any young fresh specimens you may find but do leave any that look battered and old or are dry and past their prime.

Beefsteak, with its slippery texture and slight crunch, makes for a very pleasing addition to Chinese stir-fried noodles. It can be mildly bitter (usually more so if it's been growing on oak, I find) but this almost citrusy bitterness is not unpleasant and lends itself nicely to a good oriental black bean or chow mein sauce so I have devised an easy autumn treat that uses both it and a handful of my chestnut haul.

To prepare, simply rinse your beefsteak gently to remove dirt and woodland debris, pat dry with some kitchen towel and then trim away any old, damaged or woody pieces. Slice the flesh into strips and put them to one side. Shred or julienne your chosen combination of vegetables (I like to use carrot, onion, sweet pepper etc.) and lightly stir fry them in oil along with two crushed cloves of garlic. In a separate pan, soften some egg noodles in a little water.

Add the beefsteak to the stir-fried vegetables and cook until the fungi change colour from red to a dark burgundy and you are sure that it has been cooked thoroughly, then add a good handful of peeled and coarsely chopped sweet chestnuts and your chosen sauce. I confess that I do cheat a little here by using a favourite stir-in sauce that's easily obtainable in small sachets from most foodshops - making it ideal for adding a little 'something' to my backpacking and campfire cookery - but of course you could easily make your own from scratch if you wanted to. Continue to heat the fungi/veg/chestnuts and sauce through for a minute or two then strain the water from the egg noodles, add them to the veg/fungi mix and stir everything together. Serve and enjoy.

Carol

photos (c) Carol Hunt 2009 

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