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is a little messy because of the oil, but the nut meat soaks up very little in the process.
The next best method is less messy. Roast the prepared slashed chestnuts in a 450°F
(235°C) oven for 20 minutes, sprinkling water over them every 5 minutes to keep them moist
and soft. Peel as soon as they are cool enough to handle.
The chestnut industry is planning to market individually quick frozen chestnuts that are
supposedly as good as fresh. Dehydrated chestnuts from Asia are available, too, but they have
little flavor. Chestnuts also come in cans in the form of purées, creams, pastes and packed in
sugar syrup, all imported from Europe. These products, though costly, have good flavor.
Tips from the chef
Pecans. Pecans are sometimes rather costly, depending on the harvest. Don’t hesitate to
substitute walnuts for them, even though the walnut flavor is more subtle.
Pine nuts. High prices often mean slow turnover in the grocery store, so the pricey little
pine nuts may not be as fresh as you'd like. You can substitute fresh toasted pumpkin seeds or
just plain walnuts anytime a recipe calls for pine nuts. The flavor won't be authentic, but will be
better than using stale nuts, or, heaven forbid, rancid nuts.
Coconuts. Cracking and extracting the meat from a whole coconut takes some know-
how. Freezing the nut whole overnight or baking in a 350°F (180°C) oven for half hour helps to
separate the meat neatly from the shell. You can peel off the brown skin attached to the meat
with a vegetable peeler.
Almonds. It was a common practice in the past to blanch almonds and many recipes still
call for them. Blanching gives them a softer texture and milder flavor. Today we prefer fuller
flavor. If you, too enjoy the fully intense almond flavor, don’t blanch almonds, but roast them.
Should you rather blanch, drop them in boiling water for 1 or 2 minutes. Test one to make sure
the skin slips off easily before you drain and cool them under cold running water for a minute.
Squeeze each kernel gently with fingers and it slips neatly out of the skin.
Almond paste and marzipan are two great almond products that pastry and candy makers
use a lot. Almond paste is a homogenous blend of roasted finely-ground almonds, sugar and egg
white. Marzipan, which is especially popular among European candy makers, is similar to
almond paste, but has more sugar to make it stiff for easy rolling, shaping and sculpting. You
start with almond paste, add sugar and corn syrup cooked to a firm-ball stage and blend. For
good quality and not oversweetened almond paste and marzipan, make your own. Almond paste
is really easy to make with a food processor, but marzipan takes candy making skill.
Almond paste
When a recipe calls for almond paste, nearly everyone writes adds it to the shopping list.
Yet, if you have raw almonds in your kitchen, you can make it yourself in a food processor in a
few minutes, and it will be far better and more satisfying than the commercial paste. Ready-made
almond pastes are considerably sweeter than this one with 30 to 40 percent sugar, roughly the
same amount as almonds in the paste. That is very sweet, but all that sugar ensures long shelflife
and reduces the chance for rancid almond paste.
Most almond paste recipes call for blanched, untoasted almonds. But I like an intense
flavor that only toasted, unblanched almonds produce. Should you prefer a milder version,
play © erdosh 288
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