chestnut chip help, Christmas dinner

Christmas dinner will include orange-dusted seared scallops with a chestnut cream sauce and bacon. I have a bag of freeze-dried chestnut chips I'd like to use to make the sauce. All of the recipes on the chestnut growers' site say to reconstitute the chips first in boiling water, even when pureeing with milk. What I'm wondering is, can I just simmer them in the milk/ cream instead, or will that not hydrate them enough to form a smooth puree? I'd like to minimize water use, as I'm looking for intense flavor - but the suckers are expensive, so I don't want to waste a batch. Anyone have experience in such obscure matters?

Just for kicks, here's the rest of the menu:
- potato latkes with creme fraiche and caviar
- orange dusted seared scallops with chestnut cream and bacon
- pear-lemon sorbet
- salmon poached in rendered salmon fat, served with mushroom-noodle kugel and garlicky green beans
- arugula salad with clementine vinaigrette and pine nuts
- buche de noel with chestnut cream and chocolate ganache

I have no experience with chestnut chips, Kenny, but I'd like to be invited to your Christmas dinner!

I'm wondering if the proteins in milk might possibly make a difference. Why don't you rehydrate just one chip as an experient?

After taking Mhays' advice, I learned that simmering in just milk didn't produce as soft a texture as I needed.. So, I simmered the big batch of dry chestnuts in light chicken stock and thyme sprigs for 30 minutes, then added cream and milk and simmered another 30 minutes. Seasoned with salt and pepper, pureed in a blender. The sauce was absolutely wonderful - very smooth, rich and chestnutty. It matched terrifically with orange-scented scallops and crumbled bacon. Probably the biggest hit at the Christmas dinner table.

On another note, I think freeze dried chestnut chips are a near-miracle product. They taste better, imo - then freshly roasted - and are very versatile. I often eat them for breakfast, raw with milk and fresh fruit. Crunchy and lightly sweet, these are way better than your average packaged cereal.

Kennyz wrote: served with mushroom-noodle kugel

Kenny,

Interesting, I've been eating kugel since an embryo, and made quite a few myself, but mushrooms never occurred to me. A definite must try next kugel.

Your overall meal sounds terrific, I'm going to have to get a bag of chestnut chips and experiment, cream of chestnut soup on the web link you provided sounds a good place to start.

Enjoy,
Gary

Kennyz wrote:After taking Mhays' advice, I learned that simmering in just milk didn't produce as soft a texture as I needed.. So, I simmered the big batch of dry chestnuts in light chicken stock and thyme sprigs for 30 minutes, then added cream and milk and simmered another 30 minutes. Seasoned with salt and pepper, pureed in a blender. The sauce was absolutely wonderful - very smooth, rich and chestnutty. It matched terrifically with orange-scented scallops and crumbled bacon. Probably the biggest hit at the Christmas dinner table.

On another note, I think freeze dried chestnut chips are a near-miracle product. They taste better, imo - then freshly roasted - and are very versatile. I often eat them for breakfast, raw with milk and fresh fruit. Crunchy and lightly sweet, these are way better than your average packaged cereal.

Kenny,

For the last few years we've been using pre-cooked, peeled chestnuts that are sold in foil pouches in most any Asian store for our Greek dressing. They worked out perfectly and are a good, inexpensive alternative to roasting and peeling your own. I wouldn't recommend them for eating out of hand, but for use as in ingredient in another dish, I'll never go back to anything else.

G Wiv wrote:

Kennyz wrote: served with mushroom-noodle kugel

Interesting, I've been eating kugel since an embryo, and made quite a few myself, but mushrooms never occurred to me. A definite must try next kugel.

Gary,

Here's the mushroom noodle kugel (on the left) in a not-so-photogenic pose.




It's not very complicated, but in case you want to start with a recipe next near, here's what I used:

- a pound of criminis, sliced thick
- plenty of garlic (if you look closely at the pic of my green beans above, you'll see how I feel about garlic quantity)
- some thyme
- butter
- one 12 oz package of manischevitz egg noodles
- 6 eggs
- a container of marscapone

Pan roast (maybe just semantics, but I never "sautee" mushrooms. I cook them like meat. Put in med-hot pan, leave alone for a few minutes. Flip with tongs. Cook til done.) the criminis in butter, olive oil and garlic, seasoned with thyme and pepper. Salt them after they're done.

Boil the egg noodles about 5 minutes (about half what it says on the package directions). Drain and rinse with cold water. Drain well again. Beat the eggs with the marscapone and some salt and pepper, then toss the noodles in a bowl with the egg mixture. Transfer to a baking dish and put in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. I made it the day before and reheated at 300 degrees for 15 minutes the next day.

It was a simple, rustic, earthy and delicious accompaniment to the rich salmon, and I imagine it would also be great alongside meat dishes. Or breakfast, for which I am about to take the leftover kugel out of the fridge.