Don’t discard the macerated chestnuts. They can be used in desserts or dehydrated and used as garnish.

Steve Kendall on Working hard on the cottage My heart sank when I read the words "put the cottage on the market", felt very sad for you. Our cottage too will become my wife's pension after I've g… Veronica on Working hard on the cottage We are still happily settled in our little house in France, but have taken to spending a few months in Spain in the winter. At first we tried differen… Chestnut liqueur is the perfect way to finish off an autumnal Italian dinner: one because it’s also a digestivo, and two because it’s not fall if there are no chestnuts on the table, right? With Thanksgiving upon us and then Christmas around the corner, this is the right time to make this liqueur as a gift for friends! Lila Wiese on Perennial vegetables: Tree cabbage Maybe I missed someone stating this but is it possible to obtain seeds for this in the US? If you find any joy, use or help in it, please consider a modest donation - however much you can afford when it comes from the heart, it's the kind of gesture that makes me warm with appreciation.Place the nuts in a wide saucepan and cook very gently in 200ml of water for another 10 minutes with the lid on and without stirring. Carefully remove the nuts and stir in the sugar until dissolved. Return the nuts to the pan and cook gently with the lid off for another five. Place the nuts in a Kilner jar, add the liquor via a fine sieve then add the brandy. As with many autumn festivals across France – such as Normandy’s apple, cider and cheese festival, the Basque country’s Espelette pepper celebration, and many a grape harvest fete – it’s a chance for locals to don traditional costumes, for bands to ring out ancient tunes and everyone to get merry on the local liqueur.

Fiona Nevile on Fiona’s traditional elderflower cordial recipe Hi Peta, Yes it does ferment a little = that is what you want. Simmering would kill the brew. Sweet chestnuts, either native or imported, are scandalously under-appreciated by the British. As the 17th century writer and gardener Evelyn laments: "But we give that fruit to our swine in England, which is amongst the delicacies of princes in other countries". Take chestnut flour; it's useful for making chestnut macaroons, florentines and, since it adds flavour instead of taking it away as flour tends to do, I use it in a roux when making sauces and soups. Don’t cut through the chestnut while making a slit, only the skin. You want the heat to penetrate and steam cook the nut.

We believe great bartending is about hospitality and caring about your craft. We’re here to help our industry learn and grow through sharing what we learn and creating great craft bar tools. Our story. The first step involves roasting the chestnuts, preferably on a bed of coal or over a fire to give the chestnut a slightly smoky flavour. The second step begins with making demerara syrup and leaving it to cool before everything comes together. It is then left to macerate for a minimum period of time. Once the desired flavour is reached, the chestnuts are removed and the liquid is fine strained to remove any solids. The liqueur will most likely have a cloudy appearance. Running it through a coffee filter will remove some of the opacity but will also strip some of the flavour. How to Make Chestnut Liqueur

The promise of this had Danny sitting, knife and chestnut in hand, for a good hour and a half last night. Shelling chestnuts is a bore. It’s fiddly. It’s very frustrating if you have bought a batch with a few bad ones as you can’t tell the state of the kernel within from the external appearance of the nut. But if you can tempt someone to help you, and have something distracting to listen to on the radio, it is well worth the effort. Fiona Nevile on Perennial vegetables: Tree cabbage Hi Lila, Thanks for your comment. You need to look for seeds on your side of the water, unfortunately :0( Import rewsrictions are tough. Something sim… Boil the chestnuts until they become soft, then let them cool and peel them. Immerse them in the liquor and let them macerate while covered tightly for about 20 days. After this period, prepare a syrup by dissolving the sugar in boiling water. Let it cool, then add it to the filtered liquor. Either all or part of the chestnuts can be pureed and added to the liqueur to make it very creamy. The classic, lightweight chestnut liqueur From Saint-Tropez, I drove the first of the winding roads past the town of Grimaud to La Garde-Freinet, a village perched high over the coast where the bric-a-brac shops and galleries sandwiched between family-run restaurants reveal a gentler pace of life than the Riviera. I climbed up to the ruined medieval fort on the hill behind and looked down upon the jumble of terracotta roofs and amber and peach-hued streets. THE RESULTS: SUCCESS! EVEN THE TINY BIT OF GELATIN ADDED TO THE MIXTURE DID SIGNIFICANTLY DELAY SEPARATION – BUT IT DID NOT PREVENT IT ALTOGETHER.Once it’s ready, fine strain to remove the solids and store in a swing top glass bottle in a dark and cool place until required. Veronica on Working hard on the cottage Oh ... only just found this! What a wrench to leave your beautiful cottage, I hope whoever moves in loves it as much as you do. Iy's such a special pl… There are two recipes: a more indulgent, creamy variety and a lighter version. Today we’re sharing both, but we can already imagine which one you’ll go for. The creamy, indulgent chestnut liqueur Ingredients