Roast or boil 6 cups of Italian chestnuts, remove the shell and inner skin and chop them fine or put them through a vegetable mill. Put them in a double boiler with milk enough to cover them and let them cook slowly for fifteen or twenty minutes, or until the milk is all absorbed. Stir frequently, add 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 tablespoon of cream, plenty of salt and a little pepper. The purée should be the consistency of mashed potato.
PEANUT PURÉE
Shell 3 or 4 cups of peanuts, remove the inner skin, and put through a vegetable mill. Put in a double boiler with milk to cover them, season with salt, and let cook gently half an hour, or until tender. Stir frequently, and serve when the milk is absorbed and the peanut purée is the consistency of mashed potato. A tablespoon of whipped cream is an improvement if added during the last moments of cooking.
MICHAELMAS LOAF
Mix 1 cup of finely ground walnuts (or other nuts), 1 cup of finely ground roasted peanuts, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 saltspoon of pepper, 2½ cups of fine bread crumbs, 1 tablespoon of mixed sweet herbs (thyme, sage, and summer savory), and 1 large onion or 2 small ones chopped fine. When well blended bind together with 2 eggs which have been slightly beaten, mould with the hands into a loaf, place in a well buttered roasting tin, and let it cook for ten minutes in a moderately hot oven; then add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 cup of hot water, and baste frequently during half an hour’s cooking. The loaf should be well browned and carefully removed to a hot platter. Make a brown sauce in the pan in which the loaf cooked, and serve with this and cold apple sauce.
CHRISTMAS LOAF
Make as in foregoing recipe, omitting the chopped onion and adding another half tablespoon (or even more) of the sweet herbs. Serve with cranberry sauce.