And That’s How I Fell in Love With Almonds
Fuck pine nuts dude. Now I don’t normally spite shit just because it’s expensive. I will pay for nice cheeses, maybe a duck salami, homemade cream cheese spun with sun-dried tomatoes. But I just can’t get into footing the bill for pine nuts.
And I’m glad, because then I never would have fell in love with almonds.
It was Bennett’s turn to cook. We thought of this baked orzo dish with lots of vegetables from the market. And pesto. A thick pesto sauce blanketing every little noodle.
I was typing in the bedroom. But couldn’t resist checking in on Bennett. I spied him cutting a pepper, letting almonds dance on a dry pan. And it smelled wonderful. Like warmth and butter.
Modern Man played out of his Android and I quickly wiggled my neck around, pursing my lips, dancing from the shoulders up.
He slid the almonds from the pan and into the blender, grinding them into crumbs. Honestly, we could have tossed the crumbs with oil and have been set. But we put the whole package together with salt and pepper and cheese and basil.
We threw the extra crumbs in the freezer, which have since been blended with Swiss chard and Colman’s mustard for a slightly bitter pesto (pictured above as a spread for a sandwich of oven-dried tomatoes and patty pan sqaush) and then combined with Parmesean to top a baked tomato stuffed with Jersey corn, jalepeno and scallions.
And that’s how I fell in love with almonds.
I really like your recipes and posts but… the F-bomb? is it really necessary?
if you soak the raw nuts they will blend up creamy and milky. mmm.
does soaking work for any raw nuts or just almonds? how long to soak? would it be worth it to soak in a salt water bath for extra flavor?
I realllly want to make a trademark “handful of almonds” quip here but I don’t want to ruin this lovely post’s sincerity. And agreed – pine nuts are stupidly overpriced.
@emily – was totally thinking of you when writing this post.
a handful of almonds is a crock of poop
(see last item: http://bit.ly/q4mAyg )
soaking works for all raw nuts and seeds and beans, though Brazil nuts you don’t have to soak before blending. salt water bath is brining and i don’t know if it will have the same effect to be honest, i never tried it. the raw nut/seed gets soaked and decides it’s going to sprout so it goes through the same-ish process as a bean when you soak it; sucking in water and eliminating enzyme inhibitors. it doesn’t taste the same as a toasted nut, that’s for sure, but it does make for a much creamier (and easy to blend) end product, just like beans. the amount of time depends on the size of the nut – usually almonds are longest at 6-8 hrs, cashews 4-6, sunflower seeds 2-4.
here’s more info ’cause i’m lazy:
http://www.foodmatters.tv/_webapp_262145/The_Benefits_of_Soaking_Nuts_and_Seeds
This post is beautiful, you are one of the most honest and sincere people on the food internet. Please don’t ever stop saying fuck.