Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

Dorie Greenspan says that everyone should have a favorite flavored nut recipe; a specialite de la maison so to speak.  Nuts on their own are rather bland, but the possibilities are endless for flavoring them.  What would be your specialty of the house?  This combination that I found in Bon Appetit Magazine is certainly a contender in my house.  It starts with simple whole almonds.  They are combined with a sugar, fennel, red pepper and salt mixture.  A little water is added and the mixture is put in the oven so that the sugar will melt and coat the almonds.  I love the kick from the red pepper flakes and the unique flavor of the fennel seeds.

Here are a few of the nut recipes from food authorities.  Dorie adds sugar, salt, chili powder, cinnamon and cayenne to her nut recipe. Ina has a recipe using maple syrup, brown sugar, chipotle powder and rosemary.  Giada has a curried version of nuts that sounds very interesting.

The next time you have people over for cocktails, why not put out a bowl of flavored nuts;  your specialty of the house .  I would be curious to hear what that might be.

GLAZED RED PEPPER-FENNEL ALMONDS  (Bon-Appetit)

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole almonds
1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Line a heavy baking sheet with foil; spray with nonstick spray.  Combine sugar, fennel seeds, crushed red pepper, and salt in medium bowl.  Mix in almonds and 1 tablespoon water.  Spread mixture on prepared baking sheet in single layer.  Bake until sugar melts and almonds are deep golden brown and glazed, stirring often, about 22 minutes.  Separate almonds with fork; cool completely on sheet.  Transfer almonds to bowl and serve.  Can be prepared 1 week ahead.  Store in plastic bag.

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I am in love with this cake.  A Gateau Breton is a butter cake from the Brittany region of France.  It is dense, rich and very buttery.  This variation of the cake includes lightly toasted walnuts, ground and incorporated into the batter.  Magnifique!

The recipe was in the book On Rue Tatin; Living and Cooking in a French Town by Susan Herrmann Loomis.  This book has been around for a long time.  As a matter of fact I read it years ago.  But on a recent trip to the library, I picked it up again.  Because of our two trips to France, and the time that we spent in Normandy I looked at it with a fresh eye.  Susan’s historic home is in the Normandy village of Louviers.  She currently offers cooking classes in her charming converted convent home on Rue Tatin.  She also has a website.

This walnut gateau breton is like no other cake that I have eaten.  It is very similar to shortbread.  The amount of butter in it is astounding.  It is not a light cake.  It is very dense and, did I mention buttery?  It is perfect with red wine or with coffee or espresso.  It is traditionally marked on the top with a criss-cross of fork marks.  The ingredients are few and simple.  No need to get out your mixer.  But I do recommend that you use a good quality butter.

I highly recommend this book.  It is the tale of buying and restoring an historic home and learning to live in a small village while cooking in a picturesque kitchen.  There are recipes at the end of each chapter.  The last recipe featured is, of course, a Tarte Tatin.  The Gateau Breton was made to please and influence the local priest.  You can read the book to see if it worked.  Check out “My Favorite Reads” from Amazon on my sidebar if you are interested in ordering On Rue Tatin. 

WALNUT GATEAU BRETON

1/2 cup walnuts, lightly toasted
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
7 large egg yolks
16 tablespoons salted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.  Butter and lightly flour a 9-inch cake pan.

Place the walnuts and 2 tablespoons of the sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind so that most of the walnuts are finely ground but not anywhere near a paste.

In a large bowl, whisk together 6 of the egg yolks and the remaining sugar until the mixture is blended, just a few minutes; there is no need to use an electric mixer here.  It will be thick and yellow but shouldn’t form a ribbon.  Slowly whisk in the walnuts and sugar, then the butter.  Sift the flour over the mixture and whisk it in just until the mixture is homogeneous.  Don’t overmix the batter or the cake will be tough.

Whisk together the remaining egg yolk and 2 teaspoons water to make an egg glaze.

Turn the batter, which will be quite stiff, into the prepared pan and smooth it out.  Lightly but thoroughly paint it with the egg glaze.  Using the back of the tines of a fork, deeply mark a crisscross pattern in the top of the cake, going three times across it in one direction, then three in another. (The marks in the cake will fade, leaving just their trace on the top of the cake.)

Bake in the center of the oven until the cake is deep golden on the top and springs back slowly but surely when it is touched, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Using a knife or cake tester isn’t recommended as it always comes out looking slightly damp because of the amount of butter in the recipe.

Remove from the oven, transfer the cake to a wire tack, and let cool for about 10 minutes before turning out of the cake pan.  Let it cool thoroughly before serving.

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I have to say that this is one of the best apple-walnut salad recipe that I have ever tried.  It is all because of the lemon curd that is mixed into the mayonnaise.  I found the recipe in a Southern Living cookbook.  My menu for one of the nights that our family was visiting included my Fall-Apart Tender Slow Roast Pork.  I wanted something refreshing to go with the rich pork and something that kids would like.  This salad did the trick.  Both Rachel and Cameron ate every bit of the portions on their plates.

The only changes I made to the recipe were to cut down on some of the strong seasonings, like cardamom and nutmeg.  But the lemon curd was a wonderfully refreshing addition to the dressing.  The crunchy walnuts and celery, the sweet apples and the soft dried cranberries all mingled together to make a worthy whole.  I would recommend it as a side to any pork dish that you make during the holidays.

Here are some of the other holiday dishes that we enjoyed.  I will share them with you soon.  Which of them grabs your interest the most?  Merry Christmas everyone.

APPLE-WALNUT SALAD

1 cup chopped walnuts
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup lemon curd
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (I used 1/8 teaspoon)
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I used 1/8 teaspoon)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
6 apples, chopped – A combination of Gala, Granny Smith and Red Delicious is good
3/4 cup thinly sliced celery
1 cup dried mixed fruit  (I used dried cranberries)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake walnuts in a single layer in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring once after 5 minutes.

Stir together mayonnaise, next 4 ingredients, and 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest in a large bowl.  Add apples, celery, fruit mix, and 3/4 cup walnuts; toss well.  Cover and chill 6 hours.  Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup walnuts and 1 teaspoon lemon zest just before serving.

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