Venison Sausage and Chestnut Stuffing

“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose”  Jack Frost has certainly been nipping at our noses here Montana, actually, I think he’s been biting our noses off.  Our grounds are snow covered and in the last week we’ve had temperatures as low as 7°F.

“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire”  when I hear that song, it elicits visions of comfort and warmth, a nostalgia over takes me.  I have never roasted chestnuts over an open fire, nor have I ever roasted chestnuts period.  I have felt like I was missing out on something important.  this year, I didn’t want to just elicit that nostalgic feeling I wanted to experience it for real.

“Chestnut roasting in a closed oven” (no open fire here)…. I discovered that indeed, I was missing out.  Missing out on peeling the little buggers, talk about difficult.  I followed some instruction I found on the internet…”make an ‘X’ on the nut, roast at 425°F for 15 to 25 minutes, when cool enough to handle peel immediately”.

Not sure where I went wrong, the chestnuts were definitely done.  Did I not score a deep enough ‘X’?  Were they roasted incorrectly?  I think both.  After further research I discovered that there should be a little char on the nuts (which I did not have) and the outer covering should curl back making them fairly easy to peel.  I believe a deeper ‘X’ and better roasting would have made a difference.

Let’s just say they ended up being a labor of love.  I love my Baby boy and I let him do all the labor!

If you’ve never had a chestnut, you are in for a treat.  Chestnuts do not taste nutty as their name would lead you to believe. Rather, they have a more starchy texture with a slightly sweet taste.  I can see why chestnuts are often paired with sausage in stuffing.  The spicy/sweet combo is a great pairing.

Would I do this again?  Yes, yes I would.  But first I will have to work on the roasting/peeling part, maybe I’ll even try it on an open fire, if Jack Frost doesn’t bite my nose off.

Sausage and Chestnut Stuffing

2016-06-12 21:22:24

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Ingredients

1. 1 package seasoned stuffing cubes (I used Pepperidge Farm)
2. 1 1/2 cups chopped celery
3. 1 cup chopped onions
4. 1 pound venison sausage (or any other bulk sausage of your choice)
5. 1 pound chestnuts, roasted, peeled and chopped
6. 2 cups turkey stock
7. Zest of one orange
8. Salt and pepper to taste
9. 2 tablespoons butter, sliced into pats

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  In a large frying pan over medium high heat, brown the sausage.  Use a wooden spoon to break sausage up into pieces.  Remove meat from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Drain all but 2 tablespoon of fat from the pan, sauté the onion and celery until the onion is translucent and tender, about 5 minutes.  Add the stock and bring to a boil, remove from heat.
2. Put stuffing cubes in a very large bowl.  Add sausage, chopped chestnuts and orange zest.  Pour stock/onion/celery mixture over the stuffing, mix gently.  Add salt and pepper to taste if desired.  Transfer the stuffing to a greased two quart casserole.  Top with pats of butter.  Bake for 30 minutes.

The Kitchen Witch https://www.thekitchenwitchblog.com/