You’ve probably eaten all the Christmas cookies by now. The candies and chocolates and festive breads and cakes will have gone, too. But it’s likely you still have nuts.
They might be in their shells, testifying to your delight when you spotted the first shell-on nuts of the season in the supermarket last fall. Or maybe you have half-full packages of walnut or pecan halves, sliced almonds or shelled pistachios that you bought to make holiday cookies and cakes.
Using them to produce more sweet baked goods is probably not the best idea given that vows to lose weight are often part of fresh starts to the new year.
No worries. Nuts are versatile. They add crunch and flavor to vegetable, meat and fish dishes. They can even thicken sauces, as they do in pesto. They are also nutritious so some diets recommend nibbling two or three to sate between-meal hunger.
And nuts always bring wisps of glory to a dish. A side of green beans is ho-hum, but green beans scattered with a few sautéed almonds is elegant. A walnut or pecan streusel topping makes a pie or muffin more enticing. Stilton cheese is always a treat, but it’s even better when served, as in England, with shell-on walnuts to crack and eat with it. They go well with other cheeses, too.
The feeling that nuts are special is not new. The Bible story that tells of Joseph’s brothers visiting him in Egypt notes that they take gifts of “the best products of the land . . . a little balm and a little honey, aromatic gum and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.”
In Jewish Talmudic literature, walnuts are noted as both nutritious and popular with children. The Romans enjoyed walnuts so much that they called them juglans — “Jove’s nut” after their highest deity.
The English called it “walnut,” meaning the foreign nut, because it does not grow in England. Americans called it the English walnut because English colonists brought it to Massachusetts in 1629. This distinguishes it from America’s own varieties of walnuts, which include black walnuts and the related hickory nuts and pecans.
Pecans and walnuts both have a high oil content — 71 and 64 percent, respectively. Combined with their striking flavors, this makes them good in coatings for fish or other foods that can easily dry out in cooking.
Almonds have less fat (54 percent) and more protein (19 percent), so they work well when you want a crisp topping to contrast with something softer, such as vegetables or a tender pastry.
You also can buy these nuts ground to a flour-like consistency. In this form they have long been the staple of Spanish, Italian and French confections, and now have become favorites with people on gluten-free diets because they can substitute for wheat in some recipes. Hazelnuts and chestnuts can play a similar role.
Among other nuts, the macadamia has the most fat (72 percent) and pine nuts have the most protein (31 percent). All nuts also have significant amounts of carbohydrates and this combination of nutrients, plus their high levels of B vitamins and other nutrients, makes them valuable nutritionally.
It also makes them filling. This may be one reason why nuts are rarely the central ingredient of a main dish. The other may be that they are quite expensive. This qualifies them as a treat, used in holiday fare, or as garnishes to make something that little bit more special.
Here are some ways to do just that.
These peppers can be served as a vegetable side dish, as a topping for pasta, rice or fish dishes, or if you cut the peppers into handy pieces, as an appetizer to be speared with cocktail sticks. In Spain, where this recipe comes from, they are served as a tapa with chunks of bread. Pistachios or pine nuts could be substituted for almonds in this recipe.
3 large red peppers, (or one each red, yellow and orange peppers)
3 tablespoons olive oil or more to taste
2 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in thin strips
cup slivered almonds
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoons sherry vinegar or other wine vinegar
1 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Roast the peppers until most of the skin is charred black. Do this over an outdoor charcoal or gas grill, or under the broiler of your oven turned to its highest point, or directly on the largest burner of a gas stove.
When charred, put the peppers in a paper or plastic bag, close the top and leave it for 10-15 minutes for the peppers to steam and cool. To remove the skin hold each pepper under running water and rub with your fingers. Recalcitrant bits of black can be removed with a knife, though it’s good to leave a few dark scraps as a color and flavor accent.
Cut the peppers open and discard the seeds and the stem. Cut the flesh into bite-size rectangles and set aside.
Heat the oil and add the garlic. Let it cook over low heat for a minute, then stir in the slivered almonds and the honey. Remove the pan from the heat and add the vinegar. Watch out for sputters. On the heat, stir in the parsley, thyme and the pepper pieces and a little salt. Stir briefly to mix. Off the heat, taste for seasoning. Add pepper, and more salt or herbs to taste.
Flavorful haddock is a good choice for this dish, but other thin fish fillets such as pollock, cod or flounder fillets also work. Chunkier fish — like monkfish — is not such a good choice because it takes longer to cook, and during this time the pecan crust may get too hard. Almonds could be used instead of pecans in this recipe.
1 teaspoon powdered coriander
¾ teaspoon powdered cumin
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon chili powder
1 pound or a little more haddock, cut into 3-4 serving pieces
½ cup (2 ounces) finely chopped pecans
¾ teaspoon fennel seeds
1 small egg, beaten
1-2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons oil for frying
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix the coriander, cumin, salt and chili in a small bowl and then rub into the flesh side of the haddock pieces. Let them rest for 5-10 minutes.
During this time, chop the pecans. They need to be chopped more finely than those that come ready-chopped in packages so they look like very coarse bread or cookie crumbs. The fennel seeds need to be slightly crushed. You can deal with both ingredients together, either by putting them in a plastic bag and bashing them with a rolling pin or a can of food or pulsing them briefly in a food processor.
Put them on a plate. Also have the beaten egg on a plate. Shake the flour over another plate or chopping board large enough to hold the fish pieces in a single layer.
Now dip the fish in the egg, then into the pecan mixture, pressing them into the flesh a little. (No need to dip the skin side into the pecans.) Place the pecan-covered fish pieces skin side down on the floured plate or board.
Heat the oil over high heat until a cube of bread sizzles when dropped into it. Remove the bread and place the fish pieces in the oil pecan side down. Let them cook for 1 minute. Then turn them pecan side up and transfer the pan to the preheated oven. (If you don’t have a pan that will go on the stovetop and from there into the oven, transfer the fish to a preheated oven dish at this point) Cook for 10 minutes and serve immediately.
Winter Vegetable Gratin with Hazelnuts
This vegetable gratin is a warming companion to meat or fish dishes. Equally, it could star in a vegetarian meal with other bean and vegetable dishes on the side. Almonds could be used instead of hazelnuts in this dish.
1 medium rutabaga, weighing about 1½ pounds
2 large carrots
1 medium or large parsnip
Salt to taste
1 cup plus 2-3 tablespoons home-made bread crumbs
½ cup half-and-half or whole milk
5 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon honey
2 eggs, lightly beaten
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg plus a little extra
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Peel the rutabaga and cut it in bite-size pieces. Similarly, peel and cut the carrots and parsnip. Put them in a pan, add a teaspoon of salt (or to taste), cover with water, bring to the boil, and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until tender. Drain and mash the cooked vegetables.
While the vegetables are cooking, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a baking dish or casserole with a little of the butter. Also soak 1 cup of the crumbs in the milk. Set aside one tablespoon of the butter and melt the rest. Add it along with the crumbs and milk mixture, the honey, eggs and nutmeg to the mashed vegetables. Combine into a smooth mixture and season well with pepper. Spread it into the prepared dish.
Mix the remaining 2 tablespoons of crumbs with the chopped hazelnuts and sprinkle on top of the vegetables. Dot with the reserved butter cut into little bits and put into the oven. Check after 10 minutes and if the hazelnut-crumb topping is turning dark brown, cover the dish with foil and lower the heat to 350. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the mixture has formed a soft set and the crumbs are golden. Serve hot. Leftovers reheat well.
Unlike many similar pies, this contains no eggs so it’s good for anyone who can’t tolerate, or dislikes, them. Since Gruyère and Danish Blue taste very different, you can vary the flavor of the pie by choosing one rather than the other. Or substitute another strongly flavored cheese. You could also substitute about one pound of spinach for the chard, and use pecans instead of walnuts if that’s what you have on hand.
1 large bunch Swiss chard
2 tablespoon canola or olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons flour
6 tablespoons whole milk
5 ounces Gruyère, grated, or Danish Blue, crumbled (about 1½ cups)
Salt and pepper to taste
cup walnut pieces
½ pack filo pastry
5-6 tablespoons butter, melted
Wash the Swiss chard in plenty of water. Discard any battered leaves and also trim off 4-5 inches of the stem, leaving only leaves that are springy and fresh looking and stem that is not stringy. Roughly chop these and drop into a saucepan with about 1 cup of boiling water and ½ teaspoon of salt. Bring to simmering and cook until the Swiss Chard is tender and completely wilted, which takes 5-7 minutes. Drain, pressing it firmly down to extrude as much water as possible. Set aside.
In a frying pan, heat the oil and gently cook the onion in it for 4-5 minutes or until it is tender. Add the drained chard and stir it for a couple of minutes so that any excess liquid steams off.
Move the spinach and onion to one side of the pan and stir the flour into the oil remaining on the bare patch. Gradually add the milk to form a sauce, then stir the spinach mixture back in along with the cheese and about half the walnuts. Taste. The cheese is salty so you may not need any more salt, but add it if necessary, along with pepper.
Set this mixture aside. (If it is more convenient, you can make it ahead and store it in the fridge for several hours before continuing with the pie.
Turn the oven to 375 degrees. Use a 9-inch, loose-based tart pan or layer-cake pan. Grease it lightly with a little butter. Remove the filo from its wrappings and cover with a slightly dampened towel. Lift a sheet of filo and position it in the pan with the short edges overlapping the sides. Brush lightly with butter. Add 5 more sheets of filo, positioning them so they overlap each other only slightly until the base of the pan is covered and you have the ends of the sheets hanging out all round. Butter between each sheet.
Pour the Swiss chard mixture into the pan and level it. Arrange the rest of the walnut pieces so that when the pie is cut each portion will have some. Now fold the pastry hanging off the sides in toward the middle. It won’t meet but that’s fine. Butter it lightly. Take about 8-10 more sheets of filo, one at a time, crumpling each one, and placing it on top of the pie, and brushing it with melted butter. When the surface is covered with crumpled pastry, bake the pie for 22-25 minutes or until a rich golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Here’s a recipe that uses not only leftover pistachios but also some of the shiny red crystallized cherries that look so festive on holiday cakes and cookies. Unlike most holiday cookies, biscotti have very little fat, nor do they have as much sugar, so dunking one in your tea or coffee doesn’t torpedo good dietary resolutions. Hazelnuts are an alternative to pistachios here.
1 cup shelled unsalted pistachios
1 cup whole crystallized cherries
1 tablespoons Kirsch (optional)
¾ teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment.
Put the pistachios on a pie plate and toast for 4-5 minutes in the oven. Remove and let cool to room temperature. Increase the oven heat to 350 degrees. Meanwhile halve the cherries and toss them with the kirsch and the almond extract. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar and baking powder. Make a well in the center and add the eggs, melted butter and the vanilla extracts. With an electric mixer gradually incorporate the flour mix into the eggs then beat thoroughly to make a smooth mixture. Stir in the cherries and pistachios.
Divide the mixture into two even portions. Using your hands, form each into an 11-inch log on a lightly floured board. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes or until firm. Remove and let cool for about 10 minutes or until they reach room temperature. Transfer the logs to a cutting board and with a serrated knife cut into ½-inch slices. Place these cut side up onto the lined baking sheet and return to the oven.
Bake for 10 minutes then turn each slice over. Bake for another 15 minutes. Remove and cool on wire racks. Makes about 2 dozen biscotti.