I’m a great fan of both Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson. I find their style of cooking fits my lifestyle – quick (mostly) and tasty. They are both great supporters of chestnuts (especially pre-cooked and ready to use peeled chestnuts) which is an added bonus for someone like me always on the lookout for new ways to enjoy this often overlooked nut.

My daughter gave me a subscription to the Jamie Magazine for Christmas and I got my first issue last week. Being published in the UK it’s out of season with Australia but I don’t mind one bit. There were at least six recipes I will be making over the coming couple of weeks but one in particular obviously stood out – Chestnut & Bacon Mashed Potato.  The preamble said it was a brilliant accompaniment for a roast chook so on Saturday night we cooked up a Lilydale chicken and did the mashed potatoes. You have to fry the bacon and peeled chestnuts in butter until crispy and then fold the mix through the mashed potatoes. There were quite a few chestnuts missing by the time they made it to the mashed potato!

Wow! It was delicious.

However, having mashed potato with a roast just didn’t feel right – I prefer roast veges, with roast meats so I won’t pair this gem of a recipe with a roast again but it would go really well with good quality pork sausages so that’s how I’ll have it in the future. It was also delicious reheated for lunch the next day – and would make a terrific base for bubble and squeak.

Here’s a photo of my pan with the bacon and peeled chestnuts frying. See here for a link to the recipe.