Savory chestnut toast
The savory mont blanc finger food, perfect as a autumn party appetizer.
If you’re in Japan in autumn, you wouldn’t not see the chestnut cake called Mont Blanc, at least once…it’s literally everywhere. It was actually one of my favorite cakes I looked forward to, come fall. You don’t have to go to a fancy patisserie to get them, you can just walk into any conbini or supermarket to get your fix. But what you wouldn’t see is a savory toast that’s only disguised as one. Except here.
This chestnut pâté is a savory paste that follows a recipe similar to making liver pâté, and it is just as flavorful as its butchered counterpart. As far as raw chestnuts go, I’ve only worked with Japanese chestnuts, and if you’ve tried cooking Japanese chestnuts before, you know you have to wrestle with all the dispiriting skin peeling that can discourage you from touching chestnuts altogether, ever again. And I won’t say that’s me, but I do like making my life easier, and so I used roasted & PEELED chestnuts. If you want to make them from scratch, you certainly can roast or boil chestnuts and peel all the skin before weighing the flesh.
This is a great appetizer to start off an autumn party, and with preparation, it’s quite simple to put together (my definition of simple…may be different from yours).
Ingredients for about 20 toasts
<Chestnut pâté>
200 g roasted chestnut pieces, unsalted
½ small onion (about 40-50 grams), diced
about 20 g celery, diced
about 20 g carrot, finely diced
1 tbsp olive oil
¼ tsp oregano
½ tsp salt
1 tsp brandy
1 bay leaf
Dash of freshly cracked pepper
<Base and garnish>
1-2 curly kale leaves
1-2 small lotus roots
2 tbsp olive oil
Fine-grain sea salt
1 traditional baguette
2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 cloves of garlic
<Equipment>
Saucepan
Spatula
Teaspoon
Small food processor
Peeler
Knife
Small bowl
Papertowel
Sheetpans
Parchment paper or aluminum foil
Oven
Serrated knife
Frying pan
Chef’s press or heat-proof plate with a flat bottom
1 Medium piping bag
1 Mont Blanc or grass piping tip
Kitchen tweezers or chopsticks
To make the chestnut pâté
In a saucepan, heat the olive oil, onion, celery, carrot, oregano, and salt at low heat. Stir occasionally to prevent them from burning.
Once the aromatics are translucent, add the brandy and let the alcohol evaporate.
Add the chestnut pieces and bay leaf and cover with water. Turn the heat to high to bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low. Simmer the mixture until all the liquid is gone, and the chestnuts are soft enough to break with a spatula easily. Remove from heat and let cool.
Once the mixture is cooled, take out the bay leaf, put it into a small food processor, and mix it into a smooth paste, scraping the sides a few times. If the mixture is too thick to blend, add a teaspoon each of olive oil and water to thin it out. Add black pepper and salt to taste.
To make the garnish and put them all together
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Peel the lotus root skin with a peeler or knife, and slice the peeled lotus root crosswise into 1/5 inch (5 mm) thick disks. Soak them in a bowl of cold water to prevent discoloration.
Wash the kale leaves and pat dry with a paper towel. Tear the curly leaves apart from the stem, keeping in mind they should be around the size of the lotus disks but still retaining their shape. Personally, I like the torn sides to be at the bottom for aesthetic reasons. Sprinkle 1 1/2 tbsp of olive oil, and rub it into all the nooks and crannies with your fingers. Spread them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil, ensuring they don't overlap, and sprinkle a pinch of sea salt from about a foot above.
Discard the water from the bowl, and pat the lotus root dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle 1/2 tbsp of olive oil, and rub it into all the nooks and crannies with your fingers. Spread them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil, ensuring they don't overlap, and sprinkle a pinch of sea salt from about a foot above.
In the preheated oven, bake the kale for 10 minutes until crispy but not browned. Bake the lotus roots for 15 minutes, until they are crispy and no longer have soft spots. Set aside to let cool.
Using a serrated knife, slice the baguette crosswise into small rounds, approximately 1/3 inch (≈1 cm) thick.
In a frying pan, heat olive oil on low heat. Place the baguette slices, making sure all slices are touching the frying pan and olive oil. You can put a plate with a flat bottom on the slices to act as a chef’s press.
Once the bottom sides of the slices are toasted, flip the slices and toast the other side. Add more olive oil as needed.
When both sides of the slices are toasted to a golden brown, remove from the heat and rub one side with a raw garlic clove. Repeat for all the slices.
Set the piping tip in the piping bag and fill it with the chestnut pâté. Pipe it onto the baguette toasts on the sides rubbed with garlic.
With a kitchen tweezer or chopsticks, place the lotus roots and kale on the pâté.
Enjoy! Don’t forget to say “eeta ducky mas” before you eat!