cooking with nuts
Chicken and Cashew Nut Stir Fry
I always have a bottle of soy and oyster sauce in my cupboard ready to add to my stir fries . This nutty one is my favourite .
Serves 4
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 3 tbsp sunflower oil
• 2 garlic cloves
• 450g chicken breast meat , sliced into thin slithers
• 6 spring onions , chopped
• 2 dark green cabbage leaves , shredded into thin strips
• 50g raw unsalted cashew nuts
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 tbsp oyster sauce
• 4 tbsp water
1 . Heat a wok or large frying pan and add the two oils and garlic .
2 . When the wok is hot and the garlic begins to fry add the chicken breasts and fry until it changes colour all over .
3 . Add the spring onions and cabbage leaves and fry for a few minutes stirring continuously . 4 . Add the cashew nuts and mix in the sauces and water . 5 . Cook for a minute or two and serve with noodles .
Nutty Shortbread
This recipe is based on one I found by Yotam Ottolenghi . I have adapted it to our taste , but I highly recommend you take a look at his wonderful book .
Makes 12 - 15 biscuits
• 3-4 cardamom pods
• 200g butter , at room temperature
• 100g soft brown sugar
• 240g plain flour
• 25g ground almonds
• 60g pistachios , shelled
• 2 tbsp milk
1 . Preheat the oven to 150 ° C / Gas 2 . Line a large baking sheet with greaseproof paper and oil .
2 . Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods and grind to a powder . Grind the pistachios until they are still fairly course . They are going to coat the outside of the biscuits .
3 . Place the butter , sugar , flour , almonds and cardamom powder in a mixing bowl or food processor . Either mix with a hand mixer or whiz in the food processor until well combined .
4 . Bring the dough together with your hands and form into a sausage shape about 5cm in diameter and about 32cm long .
5 . Cut a piece of cling film large enough to hold the dough sausage with extra to seal the ends .
6 . Sprinkle the pistachios evenly on the cling film .
7 . Paint the upper half of the sausage with milk and roll into the pistachios .
8 . Paint the other side with the milk and roll the sausage over so it is coated with the nuts .
9 . Press gently with your hands to firm in the nuts .
10 . Roll the sausage in the cling film and twist the ends to seal .
11 . Place in the fridge for 30 minutes . This firms up the dough and makes it easier to cut .
12 . Unwrap the dough and cut , using a serrated knife , into about 15 slices .
13 . Place on the baking tray gently pressing down to flatten a little . Leave a small space between each one and bake for 15-20 minutes .
Variations
Rather than the nuts , replace with 80g pecans . Grind 20g finely and add to the dough before mixing . Grind the rest of the nuts and coat the outside as per the recipes .
Replace the nuts with 25g dark chocolate chips to the dough mixture . Grind 60g hazelnuts coarsely and coat the outside as before .
Omit the pistachios and cardamom pods and add 30g chopped cherries and half teaspoon almond extract to the dough mixture . Roll in 60g of coarsely ground almonds .