CookEat Recipe
Chestnuts au Feu de Lucifer
Roasted Italian chestnuts tossed with sugar and rum, flambéed and served warm in the same bowl.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Use a wide heatproof metal bowl intended for culinary flambéing, with a fitting metal lid nearby and a stable heatproof support. Keep the work area clear above and around it, away from the extractor hood, curtains and loose clothing. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Slit both sides of each of the thirty-six large, sound, fresh Italian edible chestnuts and spread them on a roasting pan.
Step 2
Roast for about thirty minutes, until the shells have opened and the kernels are cooked, golden and tender; the time is a guide. Remove the pan and, as soon as the nuts can be handled safely, peel away the shells and thin inner skins. Complete the roasting before proceeding; the rum flame will not finish cooking raw nuts.
Step 3
Put the peeled chestnuts, still warm, into the prepared flambé bowl and add the two ounces of granulated sugar. Keep the bowl stationary on its heatproof support, with a long-handled spoon ready for stirring.
Step 4
Measure the three tablespoons of Appleton Estate Signature rum (40% ABV) into a small saucepan, close the bottle and move it away. Warm the measured rum gently without boiling. Remove it from the heat and pour it over the chestnuts and sugar in the bowl, away from any live burner.
Step 5
Stand back and use a long-reach lighter to ignite the fumes at the edge of the bowl. Stir gently with the long-handled spoon until the flames have completely gone out. Add no more rum; use the fitting lid to smother the flame if necessary.
Step 6
Once the flame is fully extinguished, serve the warm chestnuts in that same bowl on its heatproof support. Do not carry or serve the bowl while it is alight.
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