Back in the early 1970's my parents lived in Santa Cruz, CA. They had a neighbor who would make a yeasted lemon bread for prosperity and good luck in the new year. My mom remembers it as being small round loaves that were sweet but not cake-y, with raisins and chopped nuts. At the time she did get the recipe, but in last 35 years, the scrap of paper on which the recipe was written has walked away.
She has an itch to make this bread again this year, but after much googling and flipping through cookbooks, we haven't been able to find anything that seems quite right. We know that this bread was traditional to whatever area of the world that this neighbor's family originally came from, but again, we don't know for sure. So, does this New Year's bread ring any bells for any of you out there? If so, we'd love to see your recipe! (Or, if you just have a really good recipe for a yeasted lemon bread with fruit and nuts, that would work too).
To be completely honest, I am not usually impressed too much by nuts, even those coated in sugar and spices. I can easily make my own. So with this in mind, it was a complete surprise to me that I liked the Nutorious Nuts I sampled at the Fancy Foods Show so much.
Nutorious Gourmet Nuts started out as an old family recipe. Deliciously flavored nuts were passed out as holiday gifts to family and friends until their popularity finally pushed the nut-makers into the business world. Using only nuts and a few ingredients, like butter, sugar and spices, every batch of nuts is handmade in one of several delicious flavors that are crazily addictive:
Oooo La La Original - classic buttery sweet combination
Cha Cha Chipotle - savory and a little spicy, an updated bar snack
Door County Cherry Vanilla Crunch (my favorite!)- a sweet nut mix with the addition of some dried cherries coated in the same sugar crust
Cranberry Orange Crunch - nuts mixed with cranberries and tossed in an orangey sugar coating
Chocolate Coconutty (updated!) - amazingly addictive, with chocolate and toasty coconut.
Mendiants are small disks of chocolate that are studded with dried or candied fruits and nuts. Traditionally, they are part of the Christmas celebration in France, where the fruits and nuts on top of the chocolates were chosen to represent "the four mendicant monastic orders and the color of their robes." The original toppings were raisins for the Dominicans, hazelnuts for the Augustins, dried figs for the Franciscans and almonds for the Carmelites. Now, chocolatiers are just as likely to get creative with the toppings for these bite-sized treats as they are with any other confection.
You can always buy a batch that is already made, but making mendiants is a simple process. Start by assembling a selection of toppings, such as cacao nibs, nuts (pistachios, walnuts, pecans, almonds, hazelnuts), dried fruits (cranberries, raisins, cherries, candied orange peel) and anything else that pairs well with chocolate, like small chunks of butter cookies or fleur de sel , as recommended by Clotilde. Melt some good quality chocolate and drop spoonfuls of it onto a sheet of wax or parchment paper to make circles. Place a small assortment of toppings on each disc and set aside to harden. Peel off when ready to serve.
This is a pie that should have been part of our nut themed day yesterday. It is also a pie that should be a hit with math-lovers, food hackers and anyone who really likes pie. This is a fractal pecan pie.
A fractal is a recursive, self-similar geometric object that continuously reproduces into proportionally smaller shapes. This particular one is based on the Koch snowflake, which is made up of triangles. To put this all into layman's terms, these guys made a giant pecan pie that used the same amount of filling that would ordinarily be found in 21 normal-sized pecan pies. The ratio of crust to filling was the same as a standard pie, so the baking time was only a bit longer than average, despite the fact that it had to be done in a custom-built, propane-powered oven. Just make sure that you have enough volunteers to help you eat all the pie (and construct the tin and oven) before baking!
Maybe it's the wonky weather. Maybe it's the coming of the hectic Holidays, but it looks like the food blogosphere has gone completely...nuts! You already knew we here at Slashfood were bonkers, but here's a little proof that everyone else is too:
It's hard to get pumpkin muffins right because the pumpkin itself is often so moist that it makes the muffin seem heavy or overly wet. On top of that, many recipes call for oil instead of butter, which doesn't help to lighten the muffins up at all. Too often, the end product is a very unsatisfying muffin that is gummy and has minimal pumpkin flavor. These, however, are not those muffins.
The recipe is from Epicurious and they use butter, buttermilk, a bit of molasses and lots of spices to turn out a very flavorful muffin. The muffins are moist, but not wet, and have a wonderfully light texture to them. Pecans make a fantastic combination with pumpkin, so I opted to use them instead of the walnuts suggested by the original recipe. Chocolate chips, raisins or dried cranberries would also be good additions to this recipe if you're looking to try a couple of variations.
Nut butters are one of those things that seem more difficult to make than they really are. All you need is nuts and a little bit of oil to help the nuts blend together smoothly - anything beyond that is up to your personal tastes. Instead of using peanuts to make mine, I opted for cashews, which have a richer and slightly sweeter taste. I also added a fair amount of salt to mine to give it a more savory taste that works great as a dip or spread on a sandwich. The overall effect is similar to peanut butter, but much milder. If you're looking to try something even more different, take a look at all the different flavors that Style adds to their peanut butters for inspiration.
The butter may appear to be slightly grainy, but it actually tastes very smooth because the tiny, tiny pieces of nut that my food processor had a difficult time blending are so soft. If you want to try for a "chunky" nut butter, finely chop a handful of cashews beforehand, then stir them into the butter once it is ready.
The recommended daily serving size of nuts is about one-ounce, an amount that should contain approximately 160-200 calories, full of protein and other nutrients (vitamin E in almonds, manganese in hazelnuts and iron in cashews, for example). A nutty snack will also fill you up with a good balance of protein, unsaturated fats and carbs. The problem lies in getting that one-ounce size. I know that if I want to eat some nuts, I don't put them on my scale in the kitchen before I pop them into my mouth, although I do worry a bit about how many I've eaten when a big bowl is placed in front of me. An extra serving or two of nuts can add up quickly, especially if you're indulging a bit extra over the holidays. The trick is to learn what a one ounce portion looks like and nutnutrition.com, which is run by Planters, has a great interactive resource to help you do just that. The site lets you see what one-ounce of nuts looks like when scattered and in a 1/4 cup measure. After a couple of visits to the site, you'll be able to sit in front of that big nut bowl and snack with confidence.
The largest commonly eaten nut is the brazil nut. The 4-5cm nuts grow on one of the largest species of rainforest tree, which reaches about 30–45-m tall and 1–2 m in diameter. The nuts are grown in coconut-like shells that weigh approximately 4.5-lb and contain up to two dozen brazil nuts. The coco de mer, the fruit of a palm tree grown in the Seychelles, is usually considered to be the largest nut in the world. Also grown in a coconut-like shell, the mature fruit can reach up to 65-lbs and contains several seeds, which are also the world's largest.
The rest of the world's largest nuts tend to be of the inedible variety. The world's largest pecan, for example, is located in Brunswick, Missouri and is 7-ft. high. x 12-ft. long, and weighs about 12,000-lbs. The world's largest peanut is in Ashburn, Georgia
Incidentally, the world's largest nutcracker is located in Germany. The device stands about 19 ft high and can crack any nut up to the size of a coconut (which is a drupe, not actually a true nut).
Ever wonder where all of our nuts come from, especially considering that they are easily found in just about every market you could wander into?
Cashews are grown throughout the tropics, but most come from are India and East Africa. They are never sold in the shell because there is an extremely caustic oil between the inner and outer layers which must be burned off before they can be sold.
Almonds originated in the Mediterranean, but California now produces 80% of the world's supply.
Macadamia nuts are native to Australia and were brought to Hawaii about 100 years ago. Commercial production began around 1920 and most of the world's macadamias are now grown on Hawaii.
Walnuts are the third most popular nut in the US and California produces 2/3 of the world's crop.
Pecans are native to the Mississippi valley and are the only nut native to the US. Georgia is the largest producer of pecans.
Hazelnuts, also known as filbert, are primarily grown in Turkey, where 75% of the world's supply comes from. Almost all the US grown hazelnuts are from Oregon's Willamette valley
Pistachio production is the largest in Iran, which accounts for about 40% of the international crop. The US is the second largest producer, with almost 30% of the crop, 98% of which is grown in California.
Peanuts are not really nuts, but are legumes and members of the pea family (only included here as they most often grouped with nuts). China is the largest producer, with almost 40% of the world crop. India has almost 25%and the U.S., the third largest producing country, has only 6%. Roughly 2/3 of the global peanut crops are processed into peanut oil.
Brazil nuts are resistant to cultivation and are still primarily harvested from the wild in South America.
The pumpkins that are the best for carving are not the best pumpkins for eating. They tend to be water, string and rather flavorless, as they are bred to be large and light, with the maximum surface area for carving and the minimum amount of "goop" (as termed by a very young neighbor) inside. All too often pumpkin seeds get tossed out with the rest of the pumpkin innards when a jack o' lantern is being carved out for Halloween and although the rest of the pumpkin isn't that appetizing, the seeds can be a tasty treat.
Pumpkin seeds need to be washed and dried before you start to work with them. Once they are clean, they can be prepared in one of two ways. The first method comes from Simply Recipes and involves boiling the seeds briefly in salted water before toasting them. The second method is much like the one used for the candied pecans I made last week, where the seeds are mixed with egg white and spices before being baked at 375F for about 12 minutes. This is the method used by Heidi at 101 Cookbooks and she provides three different spicing combinations to get you started, although you can use any sweet or spicy combination that strikes your fancy.
Raw nuts make a tasty and satisfying snack. They are a little on the bland side, so it is not hard to stick with the recommended daily serving of a dozen or so nuts. Roasting and salting the nuts really increases their appeal, and you'll probably find yourself eating at least a handful or two before trying to find something to wash them down with. Adding sugar to the roasted, salted nuts makes them dangerously addictive.
Fortunately, candied nuts are also very easy to make. All you need to do is toss the nuts in some egg white and coat with a generous amount of sugar and spices. For this recipe, I used cinnamon and allspice, which combine with the flavor of the pecan to produce a result that tastes exactly of fall and the holiday season. In fact, a batch of these nuts would make a wonderful gift for family or friends, though you'll want to make two so you can keep some for yourself.
Usually, we hear about how foods can help to prevent certain conditions and health problems, not about how they actually reverse them, but there is new evidence to support the claim that walnuts just might be able to do that. A study has demonstrated that some of the chemicals that naturally occur in walnuts can help to undo "some of the detrimental effects of a high-saturated-fat diet." The most important chemical seems to be arginine, which aids the body in producing nitric oxide, which in turn prevents the arteries from hardening as a result of the inflammation caused by a high saturated fat diet.
So, does this mean that you can eat all the supersized fast food meals, cheese and butter that you want to, as long as you chase them down with a handful of walnuts? Not yet, since scientists do not know how strong the protective effect of the nuts is. They recommend incorporating a few as a part of a low saturated-fat diet.
Researchers at Loma Linda University in California have just completed a new study that indicated eating pecans can reduce the risk of heart disease, adding another food to the ever growing list of things that are good-for-you. Published in the Journal of Nutritional Research, scientists say that part of the positive effect was attributed to a high vitamin E content in the nuts. To simply put the results, phytonutrients (nutrients found in plants) in the pecans help to prevent oxidation of fats in the blood ("a process akin to rusting"), which is a good thing for your body.
This is good news for anyone who likes pecans, since the nuts are often overlooked in favor of almonds and other nuts that are slightly lower in fat, although the majority of the fat in pecans is unsaturated.
If you want to get a few more pecans into your diet, try adding them to salads or eating a handful as a snack. For a slightly less healthy - but possibly more delicious - way to eat a few more pecans, try:
Back-to-school season means that more kids will be packing sandwiches with them on a daily basis and, more often than not, the sandwich of choice is peanut butter and jelly. Between nut allergies and simply growing bored with the same old sandwich, non-peanut butters are growing in popularity - which also means that they are more widely available than ever before. A few years ago, almond butter was relegated to health food stores, and now it appears on the regular shelf with cashew butter, soy butters and sunflower seed butter, which is completely nut-free for those with allergies.
These non-peanut butters can be substituted for peanut butter in more than just sandwiches. They make excellent cookies and work well in what would ordinarily be peanut flavored sauces and dressings. Most of the butters come in crunchy and smooth versions, as well.
Do you use non-peanut butters? If you can't find any at a store near your, you can try making your own cashew butter, but once you have a good source, you can branch out into otherrecipes. And don't forget to try them on toast or in pb&j!
Back in the early 1970's my parents lived in Santa Cruz, CA. They had a neighbor who would make a yeasted lemon bread for prosperity and good luck in the new year. My mom remembers it as being small round loaves that were sweet but not cake-y, with raisins and chopped nuts. At the time she did get the recipe, but in last 35 years, the scrap of paper on which the recipe was written has walked away. 
To be completely honest, I am not usually impressed too much by nuts, even those coated in sugar and spices. I can easily 
Mendiants are small disks of chocolate that are studded with dried or candied fruits and nuts. 
The recommended daily serving size of nuts is about one-ounce, an amount that should contain approximately 160-200 calories, full of protein and other 
The largest commonly eaten nut is the 
Ever wonder where all of our nuts come from, especially considering that they are easily found in just about every market you could wander into?
The pumpkins that are the best for carving are not the best pumpkins 
Usually, we hear about how foods can help to prevent certain conditions and health problems, not about how they actually reverse them, but there is new evidence to support the claim that walnuts just might be able to do that
Researchers at Loma Linda University in California have just completed a new study that indicated eating pecans can 
Back-to-school season means that more kids will be packing sandwiches with them on a daily basis and, more often than not, the sandwich of choice is peanut butter and jelly. Between nut allergies and simply growing bored with the same old sandwich, 
DIY Foods: Making homemade sausage
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