Biking & Baking in Las Alpujarras

While Steve is in the mountains (yes I know, it will be -8 on Mulhacen tonight with a moon, meteors, foxes...but that is what he likes) I am concentrating on peeling chestnuts!   Here is my latest, successful technique for which you will need a small, sharp knife, patience and some Eric Clapton on the CD player (or The Band perhaps):

Collect large, clean nuts without holes or damage and keep as dry as possible for up to 3 days.  Peel them raw and set aside for up to 3 days.  Any maggots will probably crawl out and those nuts can be discarded or the nasty bits cut out.  Keep a pan of water simmering at boiling point and heat 6 nuts in a batch, for a few minutes.  Only take out 1 nut at a time as the heat is critical for easy peeling of the inner skin!  Keep re-stocking the pan until all the chestnuts are done, then pop straight into a bag and the freezer.  I bag mine in batches of 250g as that is usually the weight I want for cakes etc.   I may try a bit of light roasting before I freeze them, to enhance the flavour and will post the results next time :)

Back to the man and the mountain...he took 15kg of kit and was going straight up above Trevelez towards the snowline...he set off in glorious autumn sunshine but the air is not so warm now...however, he has a tent, bivvy bag, sleeping bag, merino base layers, 2 cooking stoves (home-made) and my chocolate brownie cake as well as other food, so he should survive!  I certainly hope so!  I'll be thinking of him as I snuggle down with my tea, hot water bottle and a good book...!