Slashfood

Thanksgiving Recipes - Triple Chocolate Pecan Loaves

Slashfood Editor — 2009-11-19T18:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Dessert, Nuts/seeds, Recipes, Thanksgiving, Fall

Skip the pecan pie and take a chocoholic route this Thanksgiving with this velvety-glazed creation.

Get this pecan dessert recipe along with many others after the jump.

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Thanksgiving Recipes - Chestnut Stuffing

Slashfood Editor — 2009-11-19T15:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Nuts/seeds, Recipes, Thanksgiving, Fall

Chestnuts add richness and a level of meatiness to the conventional Thanksgiving stuffing.

Get this stuffing recipe along with many others after the jump.

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Thanksgiving Recipes - Pecan Tartlets

Slashfood Editor — 2009-11-17T15:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Nuts/seeds, Recipes, Thanksgiving, Fall

Honey, I shrunk the pecan pie! These bite-sized pecan tartlets satisfy any sweet tooth -- no silverware required.

Get this pecan pie recipe along with many others after the jump.

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Happy National Baklava Day!

Alexa Weibel — 2009-11-17T13:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Nuts/seeds, Food Oddities, Holidays, Food News

Photo: Harry Harris, Flickr.

Ah, baklava -- the unctuous dessert enveloping honey and nuts in buttery layers of phyllo dough. Happy National Baklava Day!

The European-Middle Eastern delicacy actually has quite an impressive history. Dating back to the 8th Century B.C., the Assyrians used to pile nuts into thin layers of dough and top the whole thing with honey before baking it. The treat was considered a luxury, enjoyed predominantly on special occasions, and affordable only to the wealthy.

It has since come a long way, traveling to the Near East, Turkey and Armenia over time, then finally to Greece with the rise of the Grecian empire -- and the rich, buttery cinnamon-walnut treat has today made it over to the Food Network, with a fabulous classic recipe by Alton Brown. If you're feeling adventurous, try a shot at more Americanized versions of the versatile international dessert with Pear Baklava or even Chocolate Baklava.

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Thanksgiving Recipes - Deluxe Pecan Pie

Slashfood Editor — 2009-11-17T08:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Nuts/seeds, Recipes, Thanksgiving, Fall

Pecan pie is, well, easy as pie to make with the help of six ingredients and an hour in the oven.

Get this pecan pie recipe along with many others after the jump.

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Tip of the Day - Toasting Pumpkin Seeds

Sarah LeTrent — 2009-10-28T09:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Vegetables, Nuts/seeds, Recipes, Halloween, Tip of the Day, Fall

'Tis the season for pumpkin carving, but don't throw out the scraps! AOL Food's toasted pumpkin seed recipe and these tips make it easy to turn a pile of pumpkin seeds (or pepitas) into a tasty and healthy snack.

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Blanching Almonds - Tip of the Day

Monika Bartyzel — 2009-10-22T09:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Nuts/seeds, Tip of the Day

Blanched almonds are a staple in lots of recipes, and surprisingly easy to make at home.

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Restoration Project Targets American Chestnuts

Hanna Raskin — 2009-10-05T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Nuts/seeds, Southern States, Fall

Photo: Barbara L. Hanson, Flickr.

The potential restoration of the American chestnut -- which took a giant stride toward reality with the American Chestnut Foundation's recent announcement that last year's test-planting of hundreds of trees in an undisclosed North Carolina location was successful -- could have exciting implications for the nation's foodies.

Chestnuts were once a mainstay of the Appalachian diet, showing up in stews, sauces and breads. The Cherokee and other native peoples didn't wait until Christmas Day to enjoy their chestnuts roasted: They relied on the nutritious, fat-packed nut to fuel their activities throughout chestnut season. After European settlers shimmied their wagons across the Blue Ridge, they too developed a fondness for chestnuts. Honorary ACF board member and past president Jimmy Carter recalls filling his pockets with chestnuts for snacking.

"People really like them," says foundation spokeswoman Meghan Jordan. Compared to the Chinese and European chestnuts now available, she adds, the American chestnut is "much sweeter and much tastier."

But for the last 50 years, few people have had the chance to test Jordan's contentions. That's because in the early 20th century, blight struck more than 5 billion trees, wiping out a cash crop previously so plentiful that Southerners had little trouble collecting enough nuts to fill northbound railroad cars, destined to sate the cravings of Yuletide-minded city dwellers. "We want to see these trees thriving again," Jordan says.

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Homemade Tamari Almonds

Jennifer Iserloh — 2009-10-02T13:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Nuts/seeds, Recipes, How To, The Skinny Chef

Photo: Jennifer Iserloh.

Tamari almonds make their way into my banana-nut breakfast smoothie as they add a hint of saltiness against the sweetness of really ripe bananas. But as unexpectedly good as they may taste, I was in for another shocker: As I recently reviewed my grocery bill, I realized that those tamari almonds were almost $2 a bag!

Since I had a bottle of low-sodium tamari taking up space in the cupboard, I shopped for the plain, raw almonds with the skins on and tried my hand at homemade tamari almonds.

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Pecan Milk - Feast Your Eyes

Emily Farris — 2009-09-30T10:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Nuts/seeds, Feast Your Eyes

Pecan milk. Photo: Flickr, Alejandra of Always Order Dessert.

To call this creamy, cinnamon-specked beverage simply a "nut milk" is an understatement -- it's clearly not something to be wasted on a bowl of cereal. In fact, on her blog, Always Order Dessert, milk(shake) maker and photographer Alejandra writes, "It's lusciously creamy and tastes kind of like an amazing nutty milkshake, except that it's actually healthy."

When served in a wine glass and punctuated with two perfect pecans, this non-dairy "milk" -- which also contains honey, coconut milk, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, sea salt and sugar -- certainly gives cashew milk (or soy or almond milk, for that matter) a run for its money, even if it does take eight hours to make. We can think of only one thing that would make it more appetizing -- a shot of Kahlua!

[Via Flickr]

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Homemade Peanut Butter - Tip of the Day

Sarah LeTrent — 2009-09-28T09:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Nuts/seeds, Tip of the Day

Why buy a jar of processed peanut butter when you can easily make it at home?

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Buckwheat Cakes Still Popular in West Virginia

Hanna Raskin — 2009-09-23T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Farming, Nuts/seeds, Southern States, Festivals

A variety of buckwheat
in full bloom.
Photo: fishermansdaughter, flickr

Few American festivals celebrate a foodstuff as archaic as this weekend's Buckwheat Festival in Preston County, W. Va., which annually showcases a dish the New York Times deemed outdated nearly a century ago.

"According to millers, the consumption of buckwheat has fallen off not less than 30 percent in the last five years," the paper reported in 1910. "Where once the mounds of well-browned flapjacks, flanked by the molasses jug, reigned supreme at the breakfast table, now the patent breakfast foods alone are to be seen."

Corn flakes weren't the only culprit in buckwheat pancakes' disappearance from the American table: As new chemical fertilizers facilitated the farming of wheat, most growers abandoned the substitute crop. Buckwheat fields -- which occupied more than 1 million acres of U.S. land when the Times printed its buckwheat lament -- accounted for just 50,000 acres in 1964, when the USDA last bothered to count.

A few of those buckwheat farmers, no doubt, lived near Preston County, which pinned its economic hopes on the plant during the Depression.

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Peas If You Please - Feast Your Eyes

Emily Farris — 2009-09-15T10:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Nuts/seeds, Feast Your Eyes

Just-shelled peas. Photo: periwinklejane, Flickr

Looking at these just-shelled, fresh-from-the-garden peas, we are inclined to write their life story -- whether accurate or not.

It all started, we suppose, on a crisp spring night, when a hungry grower put down some pea plants after the last major frost of the season. Forgetting about the peas, she let Mother Nature do her thing until one morning the pea planter awoke to find perfectly plump pods ready to be plucked from their vines. She spent the morning and afternoon picking and shelling these sweet green peas, eating many along the way, before delivering them -- in ridiculously adorable baskets, no less -- to her pea-loving friends. (This is where we insert ourselves into the story.) Before making their way into our very happy bellies, these peas were tossed with penne, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

The end.

[Via Flickr]

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Almighty Almonds - Feast Your Eyes

Rebecca Flint Marx — 2009-06-11T10:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Nuts/seeds, Feast Your Eyes

Ah, almonds. So beautiful in their tidy simplicity, so limitless in their potential. This bowl of almonds, snapped by Andrea of Bella Eats, was destined to become a jar of almond butter. And while it was undoubtedly delicious, this photo speaks volumes about the raw appeal of raw almonds. It's easy to imagine sprinkling them over yogurt with a drizzle of honey, or stirring them into some oatmeal with a bit of brown sugar and butter -- or simply eating them by the fistful, straight from the bowl.

[Via Bella Eats]

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Eggs - 5 Easter Candies in 5 Days

Monika Bartyzel — 2009-04-09T14:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Nuts/seeds, Chocolate, Recipes, Candy, How To, Easter

It's easy to be mesmerized by decadent, complex flavors. Sometimes, though, the sweetest surprise is one that basks in simple, nostalgia-inducing basics.

Peanut butter Chocolate Eggs are a staple of the classic Easter basket. Nestled amongst the malted milk balls, cream eggs and bunnies, they are also a mystery: Seemingly innocuous chocolate conceals a treasure of nutty, buttery flavor. Some might take these treats for granted -- especially in their store-bought incarnation -- but we reckon once candy-lovers taste this incredible homemade variety they may not be able to go back to the bag.

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For Love of Toasted Pine Nuts

Monika Bartyzel — 2009-02-20T09:01:00+00:00

Filed under: Nuts/seeds

Having a nut allergy, for years I never even glanced at anything nut-centric, save for my beloved peanut butter. I slowly realized almonds were also okay, and that pine nuts were too -- I had no idea they were in pesto (oh, the ignorance of the pre-Internet days!). So I'm on the slow bus when it comes to nuts, which is why I never had roasted pine nuts until now.

This is one of those times that I quickly fell in love, but also became quite angry that the revelation was coming after 30+ years on this earth. What a waste! The wonderful smell of roasting pine nuts is addictive, and their taste is rich, roasted heaven. The first batch were mixed into some mayo and put on a sandwich of roasted vegetables. Heaven. The next batch went into a salad. Heaven. The next, well, that went right into my stomach. What comes next, I'm still working on, but I am thinking about some pine nut/popcorn combination.

If you can eat pine nuts and have never roasted them, I demand that you do it now and see for yourself. It's too easy not to -- sprinkle some in any dry pan and throw it on your stove. Heat 'em up, being careful to jiggle the pan and move the pine nuts around once they start releasing their wonderful smell and change color. It will only take a few minutes.

If you're an old fan of the roasted pine nuts, please share any recipes you love below!

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Mixed Feeling About Peanut Butter?

Marisa McClellan — 2009-02-09T16:59:00+00:00

Filed under: Nuts/seeds, Food News

My mom called me yesterday just to report on the status of her favorite brand of peanut butter. She is devoted to Adams Natural Peanut Butter (she's a fan of the 26 ounce size, as once it's empty, the jar is a really useful size/shape) and eats it on toast for breakfast nearly every day. Thankfully, Adams has been found to uncontaminated (they're running a large announcement on the front page of their website to calm consumers) and so her morning routine is uninterrupted.

However, according to the New York Times, peanut butter sales are down 25% across the board, even in brands that have been shown to be salmonella-free. Over the weekend, Jif placed ads in newspapers throughout the country, stating that their product is safe and offered consumers a $.35 off coupon in the hopes that sales will rebound. Peter Pan Peanut Butter has plans to run a similar announcement next weekend, along with a $.50 off coupon.

How are you feeling about peanut butter consumption these days? Are you taking a break from the lunchtime staple or continuing to eat it (after checking to ensure your favorite brand was safe)?

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Candlenut - Ingredient Spotlight

Emily Matchar — 2009-01-31T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Nuts/seeds, Ingredient Spotlight

A staple of Malaysian and Indonesian cooking, candlenuts come from trees in the family Euphorbiaceae, also known as Candle Berry, Indian walnut, Kemiri, Varnish tree or Kuku'i nut tree. The nuts are greenish-brown and approximately golf ball-sized, with a very hard exterior and a high oil content.

In Malaysia, candlenuts are a major ingredient in a popular Indian-influenced curry dish called Chicken Kapitan, imparting a nutty flavor. In Indonesia, candlenuts are ground with chilis to make a spicy, pungent relish called sambal bajak; they're also sometimes rubbed on frying pans instead of oil. In Hawaii, roast candlenuts are ground into a paste with salt to make a condiment called inamona. If you can't find candlenuts, macadamias or Brazil nuts can be substituted.

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Recent Peanut Butter Scare a Reason to Rethink the FDA

Amy McDaniel — 2009-01-30T12:01:00+00:00

Filed under: Science, Nuts/seeds, America, Health & Medical

Let's play the old "Which Item Doesn't Belong" game:

A. Greens and cornbread.
B. Penn and Teller.
C. Food and drugs.

If you picked C, reasoning that the pairs in A and B go together swimmingly while food and drugs don't at all, then you and I and Connecticut Representative Rosa DeLauro are all on the same page. According to a New York Times editorial focused on the current peanut product salmonella crisis, Rep. DeLauro has proposed that food and drugs have no business being united under one umbrella agency.

This idea is not even close to new; I remember hearing it from food scientists a couple years ago. This is the first time I've seen it mentioned in a major news publication, though. Here's hoping the proposal will gain momentum. Not only is the science of regulating food versus approving and regulating medication almost totally separate, but also the drug part of the agency hogs all the resources and, as the NYT points out, all the clout. Compared to crazy side effects and Viagra and cures for debilitating disease, routine checks of food processing facilities is unsexy to say the least. But it is every bit as important, affecting, as it does, everybody.

Sure, we can all forgo our daily Luna bar fix for a bit, but what if a bacon recall is next?

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Napa Valley Mustard Company Mustard

Eric Diesel — 2009-01-28T20:02:00+00:00

Filed under: Lunch, Dinner, Hors D'oeuvres, Snacks, Nuts/seeds, Books, Raves & Reviews, Condiments, America, Europe, Spring, Summer

Quick: what field crop comes to mind of when you think of the Napa Valley? If you immediately thought "mustard," you're not wrong, and you're not alone. In the right circles, the Napa Valley is as well known for its mustard as it is for that other crop which does well there. Those fields of endless yellow are celebrated in festivals, are a staple of local cuisines both formal and informal, and are a welcome sight in the great client-relations tradition of the Napa Valley gift basket.

It was in one such that I recently received a jar of Napa Valley Mustard Company mustard. I received the gift basket around the holidays but what with getting blotto on New Year's Eve and a more recent mishap involving a brace of oysters on the half shell, I just got around to tasting it. Wow. This jar was Whole Grain with Chilis and Garlic.

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