It's been 3 weeks since arriving in Tasmania and taking over Alexandria Bed & Breakfast. Autumn is here and the weather has been perfect; warm sunny days and cool nights.
As I sit here snuggled up by the log fire, roasting chestnuts with a glass of port by my side I am feeling very content. My thoughts turn to the coming winter and wonder how I'll be feeling in 3 months time, in the middle of my first Tassie winter when the temperature can drop to zero degrees. A mental image of myself forms...me looking like a strange, mishapen, hobo michelin man in multiple layers of jumpers, jackets, scarves and cringeworthy granny thermals .... Nooo, surely it won't be that cold .... I have a big sip of port go back to enjoying the moment.... and the chestnuts!
When I first moved into Alexandria I was wildly excited to find a huge chestnut tree in the garden, covered in chestnuts which were just beginning to fall. The outer covering of the nuts are extremely sharp and spiky and I found the only way to tackle them is with thick, industrial strength gloves.
When the chestnuts are ripe, this outer covering splits open to reveal the lovely glossy nuts inside. The only preparation when cooking chestnuts is to make a cross in the top of the nut with a small sharp knife. This prevents the nuts from bursting out of their skin and also makes for easier peeling.
Every night for the past week, I have been roasting them in the embers of the fire and eating them scorching hot....delicious! Another way of preparing them is to cover with water & simmer gently with a bay leaf and a pinch of sea salt until soft. They can be eaten simply like this or pureed to be used in a variety of recipe's, such as this beautifully moist Chocolate Chestnut Cake.
Chocolate Chestnut Cake.
225g dark chocolate
6 eggs
1 pinch salt
125g unsalted butter
435g chestnut puree
2 tbsps rum
65g granulated sugar
Whipped cream
Candied chestnuts
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Grease a 23 cm spring form or cake tin
Break the chocolate into pieces and melt in the microwave or in a double boiler (au bain-marie), and set aside.
Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff, but not dry.
In another bowl, whisk butter and chestnut puree with the sugar. Gradually whisk in the egg yolks, then add the rum and chocolate.
Stir in a dollop of the egg white, whisk well to mix everything together, then carefully fold the rest of the egg white in the chestnut mixture.
Pour the batter into the tin and let bake for 40 to 60 minutes. You could do the toothpick test, but it should not come out completely clean. Let the cake cool in it's tin on a rack before you unmold it on to a plate.
Decorate with whipped cream and candied chestnuts.
(Recipe courtesy of Nigella Lawson)
I had never had much luck making bread and on the few occasions I have tried, the loaves were heavy, dense & totally inedible and usually ended up being fed to the chooks, To add insult to injury, my bread was apparently so horrid that even my ever scrounging chooks refused to eat it. This inability to for me produce the most basic staple food had annoyed me for years and it was a recent trip to the local organic food store here in Wynyard that prompted another attempt. I noticed that they had sacks of different flour and most of them Tasmanian grown and milled from this region which immediately excited me. I chose a wholmeal spelt and some strong breadmaking flour. I also got some black sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and whole buckwheat.
