A Guide to Nuts

Chestnuts

Chestnuts can be eaten raw, but often are cooked with meat in a stuffing. Pierce the nut's shell with a knife before cooking, or it will steam inside and explode like popcorn.

Philip Rutter of Canton, in southern Minnesota, is founder of the American Chestnut Foundation. He and his wife, Meg, not only cook with chestnuts; they feed them to hogs to produce tender, juicy pork, and they stuff chops with cooked and chopped chestnuts for an earthy flavor that blends with with the pork.

"An awful lot of people have had bad experiences with chestnuts," Phillip says. "But when they eat ours, they say, 'These are really good!'"