Ruth's Chestnut Stuffing

This is the first in a series of recipes for the Christmas season that caters for both the cook and his / her guests.

I shall be entertaining this Christmas (am I ever anything else?....)

So I am starting off with Ruth's fantabulous home made chestnut stuffing.

Ruth is my late Mother and the inventor of this recipe. She died in the 1980s when still a young woman. Breast cancer. Here is a picture of Ruth and me (SJ) in 1973. Ruth is on your left and I am on your right. Spooky likeness, huh?

So - enjoy this recipe and - please - raise your glasses to Ruth when you make this, eat it or pass it on to a friend.

The recipe is in two parts, one part for the dish itself (which Ruth did) and one part for the cook (which I did - Mum, you'd be proud of me...XXX)

So....off we jolly well go...

Recipe for Chestnut Stuffing:

600 gm fresh chestnuts (Waitrose organic highly recommended)
3 quarters pint stock (vegetable or bouillon cube, only use beef if you absolutely have to).
4 ozs fresh brown breadcrumbs
Grated rind of half lemon
Squeeze lemon juice from the above half lemon
Freshly ground black pepper
2 ozs butter - preferably salted, not the unsalted, been invented by the Health Police variety and DEFINITELY NOT low fat / olive oil / low cholestrol / polyunsaturates (or anything else) spread
1 small onion, peeled & chopped
Milk to bind (any fat variety version ok)

Items for the cook:

1 bottle good, robust wine (Pinot Grigio tends to work well)
1 x i-Pod or MP3 player stacked up with loads of decent tunes
Nail clippers / nail file

Method:

Take a sharp knife and slit the chestnut skins. Cook the chestnuts in boiling water for 5 minutes.
Drain and peel the chestnuts.

This is where you need wine, music, sharp knife, decent nails and patience. The skins are damned hard and fixed on tight. When the chestnuts are warm it's not so bad. As they cool, the skins get tighter and much, much more of a bitch to remove.

I started off with I Feel Love (Donna Summer), moved on to Like a Virgin (Madonna), Sailing by Rod Stewart and then chose 19th Nervous Breakdown (Stones) and finally Hansel & Gretel's Cottage singing Billie Jean for my Chestnut finale.

After the chestnuts are peeled is when you need the nail clippers. By now any nails that you had will be trashed and broken, and possibly a bit sore. Clip and file your nails as necessary.

Now return the peeled chestnuts to the pan with the stock, simmer for about 30 minutes until tender.

In the meanwhile, drink another glass of Pinot Grigio and place the breadcrumbs, grated lemon and seasoning in a bowl.

The chestnuts tend to absorb the stock - which gives you a clue when the 30 minutes are up - it's once all the stock has gone and just before the saucepan starts burning.

Once the chestnuts are cooked - Ruth's recipe says to sieve or puree them. Can I just say - I remember watching my Mum (Ruth) doing this. Standing over a sieve for hours on end with these damn chestnuts. She used to make batches of this for people she knew - the stuffing was very popular, but very hard work for Ruth.

If you want to do it Ruth's way - the one bottle of Pinot Grigio really isn't enough. If you are truly going to sit (or stand or sway) and push these damned chestnuts through a sieve - then someone is going to have to buy you a serious drink, or employ someone to do this for you.

These days we have food processors and / or blenders. OK - but when you put the chestnuts in - the chestnut puree becomes very thick and the blades look in danger of sticking with the weight of the chestnuts, which aren't very - shall we say - very liquid. So - I popped in the juice of half of a lemon and a little water - just to get the chestnuts to move around a bit in the food processor. It worked!

Thinking about it - I could have given those chestnuts a drop of my Pinot Grigio.....no....that's far too generous.

In the meanwhile, melt the 2 0zs butter, add the chopped onion and fry gently for 5 minutes until soft.

Stir the onion & butter into the mixture. Mix well and bind together with milk as necessary.

Actually - the mixture is very thick and viscose - you need to be patient. but it does work if you keep at it.

I like to freeze the stuffing for future occasions. And - this is how you do it. Take a freezer-proof bowl / dish ( as many as you need). Line with foil, brush with melted butter from the pan used to fry the onion (use the residue) put in the chestnut stuffing. Cover with cling film and then foil and freeze until needed!

By now you should have finished the Pinot Grigio. If you haven't - you should be ashamed of yourself!