Nuts | Saveur

Raspberry Blondies with Chocolate and Almonds

Benjamin Kemper — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 18:38:08 +0000

Photography by Linda Xiao; Food Styling by Jessie YuChen

Welcome to One Pot Bangers, Benjamin Kemper’s column, where you’ll find our freshest, boldest cooking ideas that require just one pot, bowl, skillet, or sheet pan. Busy week? We’ve got you covered with these low-effort, high-reward recipes from around the globe.

When I’m in charge of dessert but baking is the last thing I feel like doing, these dense and chewy raspberry chocolate blondies always save my skin. Something about the raspberries and almonds puts these bars in fancy-pants territory—even if the batter comes together in a single bowl. Feel free to customize this blondie recipe based on whatever’s lurking in the recesses of your cupboard: White chocolate instead of milk is a no-brainer here, or you can nix the berries and add ½ cup of toasted shredded coconut in their stead.

Yield: 8–10

Time: 40 minutes

7 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled (see footnote), plus more for greasing
1 cup brown sugar, light or dark
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. almond extract
½ tsp. fine salt
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. baking powder
⅔ cup fresh raspberries
½ cup coarsely chopped toasted almonds
½ cup coarsely chopped milk chocolate, or chocolate chips

Instructions

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter an 8-by-8-inch baking pan, then line with parchment or foil, leaving a generous overhang on two sides. Butter the parchment.
In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, brown sugar, vanilla, almond extract, salt, and egg. Sprinkle the baking powder evenly over the top, whisk to incorporate, then add the flour and whisk until just combined. Using a silicone spatula, gently fold in the raspberries, almonds and chocolate.
Bake until the top is cracked and pale golden brown, 22–26 minutes (do not overbake). Cool in the pan, then (lifting the overhang) transfer to a cutting board and cut into squares as large or as small as you like.

Note: For extra-nutty blondies, melt the butter in a small pot set over medium-high heat. Continue to cook, using a silicone spatula to stir occasionally, until it turns light amber and smells nutty, about 2 minutes more. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and cool to room temperature before using in step 2.

The post Raspberry Blondies with Chocolate and Almonds appeared first on Saveur.

Fany Gerson’s Horchata Paletas

Fany Gerson — Sat, 29 Apr 2023 04:47:13 +0000

Photography by Belle Morizio; Food Styling By Jessie YuChen; Prop Styling By Kim Gray

New York City chef Fany Gerson and her husband and business partner Daniel Ortiz de Montellano served these creamy horchata paletas at El Barrio, an outdoor celebration of Latinx food and culture at the 2023 Charleston Wine and Food Festival. Gerson sells these and other Mexican-style ice pops at Brooklyn’s La Newyorkina, and also at Mijo, the pair’s newest collaboration in Manhattan’s Pier 57 marketplace.

Toasting the rice, almonds, and cinnamon before steeping them in the horchata base results in an exceptionally deep and nutty flavor, so don’t be tempted to skip this important step. For even creamier paletas, swap out 2 cups of the half & half for heavy cream; for a vegan version, feel free to replace the dairy entirely with any non-sweetened nut, oat, or soy milk.

Yield: 8–10

Time: 8 hours 30 minutes

¾ cup long-grain white rice
¾ cup raw almonds
One 3-in. cinnamon stick
6 cup half & half
¼ cup sugar, plus more
½ tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch kosher salt

Instructions

To a medium pot over medium heat, add the rice, almonds, and cinnamon stick and cook, stirring frequently, until the rice and almonds are slightly toasted and the cinnamon is very fragrant, 3–6 minutes . Stir in the half-and-half and ¼ cup sugar, bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat, cover, and set aside to cool to room temperature. Transfer to the fridge to steep for at least 3 and up to 24 hours.
In a blender, working in batches, puree the rice-almond-half & half mixture until the rice and nuts are completely pulverized. Line a fine-mesh strainer with cheesecloth, then set over a large bowl. Strain the horchata base into the bowl, pressing down on the solids with a spatula or the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible; discard any solids that remain in the strainer. Working in batches, blend the strained liquid once more; strain into the bowl again, discarding any solids. Stir in the vanilla and salt, and season to taste with more sugar.
Pour the base evenly into a popsicle mold, leaving a little bit of room at the top as the paletas expand as they freeze. Transfer to the freezer until the paletas are slushy, about 1 hour, then insert a popsicle stick in the center of each. Continue freezing until firm, at least 4 hours.
To unmold, dip the paleta mold into a container of warm water. Serve the horchata paletas immediately or place on a clean sheet pan and store in the freezer for up to 1 month. (If storing longer than 24 hours, wrap tightly in plastic wrap.)

The post Fany Gerson’s Horchata Paletas appeared first on Saveur.

Roasted Carrots with Green Labneh and Pistachios

Fatima Khawaja — Thu, 20 Apr 2023 14:34:07 +0000

Photography by Murray Hall; Food Styling by Olivia Mack McCool; Prop Styling by Sophie Strangio

Welcome to In Good Season, SAVEUR’s column on making the most of local produce according to contributing editor Fatima Khawaja. Here you’ll find creative, unfussy meal ideas plus plenty of cooking advice—like what to do with that bumper crop of zucchini or how to store delicate heirloom tomatoes. Follow along, and you’ll learn how to turn the season’s bounty into easy plant-based meals.

We’re all familiar with orange-colored carrots, but the root vegetables actually come in all different gorgeous hues, from white and yellow to magenta and purple. And few vegetable dishes bring me more joy to look at—and of course, to eat—than a rainbow of long petite carrots, their green fringes mostly trimmed but with an inch or so still attached. It’s a beautiful way to present the vegetable.

After roasting the carrots, which brings out their natural sweetness, sprinkle them with chopped pistachios for a sweet, earthy crunch. Serve the dish alongside a bright, herby labneh-based sauce, and you might forget every other dish on the table.

This recipe will work with any carrots, even the larger ones—just trim them down into strips and ensure they’re all similar in size for even roasting.

Yield: 6

Time: 45 minutes

1½ lb. rainbow carrots, leafy tops trimmed, cleaned
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. kosher salt, divided
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
12 oz. labneh, or plain full-fat Greek yogurt
1 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
1 cup coarsely chopped parsley leaves
¼ cup fresh lemon juice, plus more
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
¼ cup roasted salted shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped

Instructions

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400ºF. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil, then place the carrots on top and add the oil, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and the black pepper; toss to coat. Bake until the carrots are browned in spots and tender when pierced with a knife, 25–30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a blender, purée the labneh, cilantro, parsley, lemon juice, garlic, and remaining salt. Season to taste with additional lemon juice.
To serve, spread the labneh sauce over a large platter. Arrange the carrots over the sauce, sprinkle with pistachios, and serve warm.

The post Roasted Carrots with Green Labneh and Pistachios appeared first on Saveur.

Sopa de Maní (Bolivian Beef and Peanut Soup)

Benjamin Kemper — Thu, 13 Apr 2023 13:00:54 +0000

Photography by Belle Morizio; Food Styling Pearl Jones; Prop Styling by Dayna Seman

Welcome to One Pot Bangers, Benjamin Kemper’s weeknight cooking column, where you’ll find our freshest, boldest ideas that require just one pot, skillet, or sheet pan. Busy week? We’ve got you covered with these low-effort, high-reward recipes from around the globe.

If you’ve never heard of Bolivian sopa de maní, or “peanut soup,” you might think it’s in the same gene pool as Taiwanese wedang kacang or West African groundnut stew. But unlike these, the dish’s protagonist is not the peanut but rather fall-apart beef and a vegetable drawer’s-worth of produce. Even so, the peanuts are essential: They thicken the soup while lending it a bass note of umami that will have you going back for seconds.

Though there are as many sopa de maní recipes as there are cooks in Bolivia (not to mention parts of Peru and Argentina), where the dish is a mainstay, the most heavenly version I’ve tasted comes from my friend María Colquehuanca, a La Paz native who’s famous for the dish among her Bolivian family and friends. I love how she browns the dry pasta in oil before tossing it into the peanut-thickened broth, adding yet another layer of nuttiness.

“I got this sopa de maní recipe from my aunt Marina, who comes from Cochabamba,” she told me. “That’s where the peanut fields are, and where the dish is said to have been invented.” María insists that the peanuts be raw and unsalted, and that they be ground to the texture of wet sand. Fried shoestring potatoes or french fries are an optional garnish; they add crunch to an otherwise spoon-soft dish.

Yield: 6

Time: 3 hours

2 lb. cross-cut beef shanks, patted dry with paper towels
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil, plus more as needed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ lb. rigatoni, or any other large pasta
1 large carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 large celery stalk, coarsely chopped
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 medium turnip, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. sweet paprika
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper, or to taste
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
½ cup raw blanched unsalted peanuts, soaked in cold water for 20 minutes and drained
2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into long batons (like thick french fries)
¾ cup green peas, fresh or frozen
Coarsely chopped parsley, for garnish
French fries or shoestring potatoes, homemade or store bought, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

In a small food processor, pulse the peanuts to the texture of smooth peanut butter and set aside. (Alternatively, pound in a mortar and pestle.)
Season the beef generously with salt and black pepper. To a large pot set over high heat, add the oil. When it’s shimmering and hot, add the beef (in batches if necessary) and cook, turning halfway through cooking, until browned, 8–10 minutes total. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Turn the heat to medium and add the rigatoni. Fry, stirring frequently, until deep golden brown, 3–4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a bowl and set aside.
To the empty pot, add the carrot, celery, onion, bell pepper, and turnip and turn the heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and beginning to brown, about 12 minutes. Add the cumin, paprika, cayenne, and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes more. Add the reserved beef and peanuts and enough water to cover by ½ inch, then bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to maintain a strong simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until a fork slips easily in and out of the meat, 2–2½ hours. Season with salt to taste.
Add the reserved rigatoni, the potatoes, and enough water to barely cover. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to medium and simmer until the pasta is nearly al dente, about 8 minutes. Add the peas and continue cooking until the potatoes and pasta are soft, 5–10 minutes more.
To serve, ladle the sopa de maní into bowls and top with parsley and a handful of shoestring potatoes if desired.

The post Sopa de Maní (Bolivian Beef and Peanut Soup) appeared first on Saveur.

Brothy Sherried Pork Chops with Butter Beans and Almond Gremolata

Nigel Slater — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 19:46:03 +0000

Photography by Jonathan Lovekin

This recipe is brought to you by SAVEUR Cookbook Club, our passionate community of food-loving readers from around the globe celebrating our favorite authors and recipes. Join us as we cook through cookbooks new and old, and share your food pics and vids on social media with the hashtags #SAVEURCookbookClub and #EatTheWorld.

Bones are synonymous with feasting. All that goodness and savor, the way their presence turns a meal into something altogether more memorable–a celebration. Whether it is a twee little lamb rib chop or a chunky beef rib, I will always pick them up, chew, and suck, winkling the last little nuggets and meat juices from every crack and crevice.

Yield: 4

Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the pork:

4 thick bone-in pork rib chops (9 oz. each)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 Tbsp. olive oil, plus more as needed
4 small onions, peeled and halved
⅔ cup oloroso sherry, or other dry or off-dry fortified wine
2½ cups chicken stock
4 rosemary sprigs
1 bay leaf
One 15½-oz. can butter beans, drained and rinsed

For the almond gremolata:

¼ cup blanched almonds, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley leaves

Instructions

Make the pork: Season the pork generously with salt and black pepper and set aside. To a large pan set over medium heat, add the oil. When it’s hot and shimmering, add the onions cut-side down and cook until deep golden brown, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a large plate.
Pat the pork dry with paper towels. Turn the heat to medium-high and add more oil if the pan looks dry. When it’s hot and shimmering, add the pork and cook, flipping halfway through cooking, until browned on both sides, about 7 minutes total. Transfer to the plate with the onions.
To the empty pan, add the sherry and continue cooking over medium-high heat, scraping up any browned bits, until reduced by about half, 2–3 minutes. Return the pork and onions to the pan, then add the stock and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and add the rosemary and bay leaf. Cover and cook until the pork is softened and nearly falling off the bone, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Season with salt, then add the beans. Turn the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes more.
Meanwhile, make the almond gremolata: To a small dry pan set over medium heat, add the almonds and cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until golden, about 10 minutes. Add the oil and garlic and cook until the garlic is fragrant and just beginning to brown, about 1 minute. Stir in the lemon zest, then scrape into a small bowl and stir in the parsley.
To serve, transfer the pork to a serving platter if desired (or serve straight from the pot) and sprinkle with the gremolata.

The post Brothy Sherried Pork Chops with Butter Beans and Almond Gremolata appeared first on Saveur.

West African-Style Peanut Stew

Jessica B. Harris — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 14:10:42 +0000

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BELLE MORIZIO; FOOD STYLING BY CHRISTINE ALBANO; PROP STYLING BY CARLA GONZALEZ-HART

“Peanut stews are found across West Africa, with ancient roots in dishes made with native groundnuts before the peanut arrived from the New World in the 16th century,” writes Dr. Jessica B. Harris, historian and author of High on the Hog. “Some are thick and served over rice or millet couscous, others thin and soupy, depending on where in Africa you are.” This version, inspired by Malian maafe and Ghana’s groundnut stews, pairs chicken with a generous portion of okra, tomatoes, eggplant, and hot chiles, which lighten the stew’s intense richness. Still, it’s the indispensable peanut that gives this dish its essential earthy character.

Yield: 4–6

Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

⅓ cup vegetable oil
2 lb. bone-in chicken thighs, skin discarded, patted dry with paper towels
Kosher salt
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
¼ cup finely chopped ginger
4 dried chiles de árbol
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground turmeric
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp. ground cumin
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. fenugreek seeds
3 whole cloves
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
¾ cup smooth salted peanut butter
4 cups homemade chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup canned diced tomatoes
1 medium eggplant (about 1 lb.), peeled and cut into 1-in. cubes
10 okra pods (about 4 oz.), cut into 1-in. lengths
Steamed white rice, for serving
1 fresh red chile, such as peri-peri or bird’s-eye, thinly sliced
Roasted salted peanuts, coarsely chopped, for garnish

Instructions

To a pot set over medium-high heat, add 3 tablespoons of the vegetable oil. Season the chicken generously with salt and cook, turning once, until lightly browned on both sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
To the empty pot, add the onion, ginger, chiles de árbol, and the remaining oil and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add the coriander, turmeric, black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, fenugreek, and cloves and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, until slightly darkened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the peanut butter, tomatoes, reserved chicken, and chicken stock and turn the heat to high. When the liquid boils, turn down the heat to medium-low and cook, partially covered, until the chicken is done but not falling off the bone, about 25 minutes. Add the eggplant and okra and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is very tender and the vegetables are soft, 25–30 minutes more. Season with salt to taste.
To serve, ladle the soup over rice, if desired, and sprinkle with the fresh chile and peanuts.

The post West African-Style Peanut Stew appeared first on Saveur.

The Walnut Whisperers of Georgia

Benjamin Kemper — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 02:47:35 +0000

PHOTOGRAPHY BY NEAL SANTOS

Until I started spending time in Georgia, walnuts were an afterthought in my kitchen. Occasionally I’d toss them into brownie batter and sprinkle them over salads, but truth be told, they usually wound up in the trash, rancid and mealy from months of neglect. What a waste: As I’d learn in the Caucasus, walnuts are far more than a snack or a garnish. They can be the backbone of a dish, blitzed with vegetables into savory spreads, pounded with garlic into heady sauces for meat, or whisked into stews for richness and heft. In other words, your favorite new magic-bullet ingredient might already be in your cupboard.

Many cultures cook with walnuts—see walnut-thickened fesenjan from Iran, or pickled walnuts from Britain—but in Georgia the ingredient is elemental. From the Azerbaijan border in the east to the Black Sea in the west, walnuts are in everything from soup to—well, you get it, imbuing stews, salads, sauces, and desserts with a woodsy richness that’s a hallmark of Georgian cooking. The more walnutty foods I tried in the region, the more I wondered what these walnut whisperers knew that the rest of us didn’t, and how Georgia became such a walnut-loving nation in the first place.

My fieldwork began in the one-church village of Akura at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains. I was at a backyard feast at the home of Tekuna Gachechiladze, whose Tbilisi restaurant Café Littera breezes through 15 pounds of walnuts in a slow week. “So, you want to know about walnuts?” Gachechiladze asked, chuckling. “Go grab a bottle of wine. We’re going to be here for a while.”

Walnuts and Georgian cheeses like sulguni and guda make an appealing appetizer spread. Photography by Benjamin Kemper

Walnuts have been growing alongside humans since neanderthals were our neighbors. Fossil records show that they’ve existed in the Caucasus for millennia, ample time for Georgians to develop their own mythology, traditions, and—of course—foods based on the nut. According to culinary historian Dali Tsatava, walnuts are the oldest-known cultivated food in the Caucasus region. “Walnut trees were always sacred, considered a symbol of abundance,” she explained. “The nuts were offered as a sacrifice at churches, which were often surrounded by walnut trees, and almost every Georgian family had a walnut tree at the gate.”

The spiritual connection to walnuts has been all but forgotten, but the trees and their bounty remain. Between sips of rkatsiteli, Gachechiladze explained that walnut cookery in Georgia comes down to three components: the walnuts themselves, garlic, and khmeli suneli—a spice blend that usually contains coriander, chile, dried marigold petals, and an extra-floral strain of local fenugreek (Trigonella caerulea)—all forced through a meat grinder or pounded in a mortar to obtain a thick paste. “Dilute this mixture with water, and you have bazhe sauce. Stir it into meat stew, and you’ve got kharcho. Work it into cooked vegetables or greens, and you have pkhali. And on and on,” she said.

Gachechiladze is persnickety about her pkhali, which at Littera comes in four colorful varieties: beet, eggplant, spinach, and—my favorite—leek. “You should add enough spices and garlic to flavor the dish, but not so much that they overpower the delicate vegetables and walnuts,” she said. Acid is also crucial as it balances the walnuts’ oily richness—not only in pkhali but in all of Georgia’s savory walnut dishes. Lemon juice, vinegar, and fresh pomegranate juice are all fair game.

But the question remained: What was with the outsize presence of walnuts in Georgian food? Gachechiladze posits that the calorie-rich nuts, high in protein and fat, were historically the most nutritious stand-in for meat, which the peasantry could seldom afford. Further, the whole nation, rich and poor, avoided meat during Lent, which gave rise to an entire canon of vegetarian “fasting” dishes including pkhali and lobio (stewed kidney beans with walnuts and fresh herbs). “I only remember my mother making pkhali when we were fasting,” said Gachechiladze.

Photography by Neal Santos

Like Gachechiladze, chef Meriko Gubeladze of Tbilisi’s Shavi Lomi and Ninia’s Garden grew up in a walnut-loving family. “As children, we’d pick them when they were still green and rub their white flesh on our lips. It looked like we were wearing lipstick!” she told me over the phone. Walnuts contain a chemical called juglone that, when exposed to air, becomes a brownish black pigment.

While the kids dabbled in makeup routines, the grown-ups would be in the kitchen turning the season’s first walnuts into a chthonic spoon-sweet called muraba. This jet-black conserve is so tedious to make that you’re likely to—as the Georgian saying goes—“break a walnut shell between your butt cheeks”: First you have to remove the nuts’ ornery skin (turning your fingers brown in the process), then soak the peeled nuts in multiple changes of water mixed with alum (for color) and lime (for crispness), and finally candy them in sugar syrup and can them for long-term preservation. Georgians serve the resulting orbs with breakfast and tea; me, I like them paired with stinky cheeses and spooned over chocolate ice cream.

In autumn, when walnuts’ tender green skins ossify into brown, brainy exoskeletons, they’re harvested and sent to market. Even at corner groceries, Georgians have the luxury of choosing from several bins of walnuts segregated by size and color. Broken brownish nubs, the most affordable option, are snapped up for soups and pkhali for which color is unimportant, while the prized whiter intact walnut halves lend gozinaki (walnut brittle) its attractive cragginess and sauces like bazhe their requisite ivory hue.

“Anyone can whip up bazhe in five minutes,” said Gubeladze, and she’s right, provided you have walnuts and a few key spices (coriander, fenugreek, and marigold) on hand. Roast chicken with tomato-cucumber salad and a passed bowl of bazhe is Georgian weeknight fare at its finest: gutsy, simple, fresh. Gubeladze’s recipe, my go-to, is lighter and tangier than most, thanks to the double whammy of acid in the form of white wine vinegar and pomegranate juice. It plays as well with sheet-pan veggies as it does with grilled meats and even fish.

Photography by Neal Santos

But for newcomers to Georgian cuisine, the biggest revelation may be what walnuts do for stews. Georgians employ garlicky walnut paste like the French use cream, adding it in the final minutes of cooking for richness, texture, and depth. Walnut-thickened stews are so prized by Georgians that the country rings in each New Year with satsivi, a slow-simmered cauldron of turkey braised with garlic, cinnamon, and allspice and anointed with drops of orange-hued walnut oil. (Food scholar Darra Goldstein, author of The Georgian Feast, makes the case that satsivi descends from north Indian curries, but that’s a tale for another time.)

Bolder and spicier than satsivi is kharcho, a west Georgian meat stew brimming with ajika and walnuts. It’s such a crowd-pleaser that it was adopted by cooks across the former Soviet Union, where it remains a staple from St. Petersburg to Samarkand. Indeed, one of my favorite bites on earth is the beef kharcho at Tbilisi restaurant Salobie Bia, where chef Giorgi Iosava ladles it over creamed foxtail millet akin to polenta. The spoon-tender brisket and silky porridge are so delightfully soft that the combo ought to be prescribed after wisdom teeth surgery.

Back in Akura, Gachechiladze was using kharcho as a verb—“If you haven’t kharcho’ed shrimp, you haven’t lived!” My stomach audibly groaned as we stood and walked over to the overflowing supra table. There, beneath the boughs of a gnarled, old tree, we toasted to friends, to ancestors, and—naturally—to Georgia. When I looked over at Gachechiladze, she was pointing up at the foliage with one hand and down at the table with the other, her eyes glinting: “Any guesses?” she said.

Recipes

Georgian Roast Chicken With Bazhe Sauce

Photography: Linda Pugliese; Food Stylist: Mariana Velasquez; Prop Stylist: Elvis Maynard

Get the recipe >

Georgian Beef Kharcho

Photography: Linda Pugliese; Food Stylist: Mariana Velasquez; Prop Stylist: Elvis Maynard

Get the recipe >

Leek Pkhali (Georgian Vegetable Paté)

Photography: Linda Pugliese; Food Stylist: Mariana Velasquez; Prop Stylist: Elvis Maynard

Get the recipe >

The post The Walnut Whisperers of Georgia appeared first on Saveur.

Stilton, Pear, and Walnut Salad

Ben Mervis — Fri, 23 Dec 2022 13:28:46 +0000

Photography by Sam A. Harris; Food Styling by Rosie MacKean

Stilton cheese, paired with ripe pears, crunchy walnuts, and delicate bitter greens, is a beloved English combination, and for good reason. Dressed with a gentle mustard vinaigrette, the ingredients create a pleasing medley of flavors and textures. The dressing recipe makes more than you need for one salad, but it keeps well for up to a month in the fridge and works nicely with any simple leafy greens. If you can find it, seek out Colton-Bassett Stilton, which is widely available from fine cheese shops, or online from Murray’s Cheese. If unavailable, another crumbly blue cheese (such as Roquefort or Danish blue) is a suitable substitute.

This recipe is adapted from The British Cookbook, by Ben Mervis (Phaidon, 2022).

Yield: 4

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

For the mustard dressing:

1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
1–2 tsp. Dijon mustard
Kosher salt
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil

For the salad:

¾ cup (3½ oz.) walnuts
1–2 ripe pears
3½ oz. mixed salad leaves
5 oz. Stilton cheese
Mustard dressing (from above)

Instructions

Make the mustard dressing: To a small food processor, add the vinegar, mustard, and a big pinch of salt and blend to combine. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the oil until the dressing is creamy, smooth, and thick. (If necessary, add a few drops of very cold water to help the ingredients emulsify.) Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the walnuts out onto it. Bake, stirring occasionally, until the nuts are very lightly toasted, 8–10 minutes. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, very thinly slice the pears, then add them to a large salad bowl. Add the greens, and crumble in the Stilton. Lightly crush the cooled toasted walnuts by hand, then add them to the bowl. Drizzle in 2–3 tablespoons of the dressing and toss the salad gently, adding more dressing as needed to lightly coat the ingredients. Serve immediately, with more dressing on the side for drizzling.

The post Stilton, Pear, and Walnut Salad appeared first on Saveur.

Date-Pecan Cookies

Majed Ali — Fri, 16 Dec 2022 14:41:22 +0000

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MAJED ALI

During the 2020 lockdown, when people around the world were embarking on personal baking journeys—whipping up batches of banana bread to break free from the boredom of social isolation—I found myself drawn to a different ingredient: my favorite fruit, the humble date. As the COVID-19 pandemic surged outside, I filled my days spent indoors with batch after batch of date cookies, date cakes cakes, date ice cream, and date shakes.

In my home state of Dubai—as elsewhere throughout the Middle East and North Africa—the date plays a significant role in the local cuisine. Dates are one of the primary ingredients in baked goods, sweets, and even some savory dishes enjoyed throughout the year, especially during religious celebrations like Eid, Christmas, and Rosh Hashanah.

Unlike other, more fragile plants, the resilient date palm thrives in the Gulf region’s arid heat, ensuring that this important fruit remains accessible to all. It’s because of this that dates are an integral part of the fabric of our culture; in Emirati homes, you’ll pretty much always find a bowl of dates on the dining room table.

When I started my blog, many of my early readers requested recipes featuring ingredients grown in my home country, so I started experimenting further with dates. I found that the super-soft medjool variety—when folded into pastries—took on a smooth, almost toffee-like texture. If you’re not sure if you like dates, these chewy date-pecan cookies will almost certainly win you over.

For the best flavor and texture, I encourage you to toast your pecans before adding them to the dough. Date syrup (also known as date molasses) is a flavorful, date-based sweetener; it can be found at health food stores and Middle Eastern markets, or online.

Yield: Makes 2 dozen cookies

Time: 40 minutes

1 cup (6½ oz.) medjool dates
16 Tbsp. (8 oz.) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup dark brown sugar
⅓ cup plus 2 Tbsp. white sugar
3 Tbsp. date syrup
2 large, room-temperature eggs
1 tsp. vanilla paste or extract
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. fine sea salt
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. freshly ground cardamom
5¼ oz. toasted pecans, coarsely chopped (1⅓ cup)
Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)

Instructions

To a small bowl, add the dates and enough warm water to submerge. Set aside until softened, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F and line 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Drain the dates, discarding their soaking liquid. Coarsely chop and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the date syrup and continue mixing until incorporated, about 1 minute more. Turn the mixer to low and add the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and continue beating until the mixture is velvety and creamy, about 3 minutes.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, fine sea salt, baking soda, and cardamom. With the mixer set to low speed, add the dry ingredients to the bowl gradually and continue mixing, pausing to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed, until thoroughly combined. Add the reserved dates and the pecans and continue mixing just until incorporated.
Using a 1-ounce cookie scoop or a large spoon, divide the dough into twenty-four 2-ounce portions (about 2 tablespoons each). Arrange the scoops on the lined baking sheets, leaving 3 inches between each one (no more than 8 cookies per sheet). (At this point, you can either bake the cookies right away or wrap tightly and refrigerate the dough for a few hours or up to 3 days.)
Sprinkle a pinch of flaky sea salt atop each portion, if desired, then bake, rotating the sheet 180 degrees halfway through baking, until the cookies are dark golden-brown, and the edges are set and crisp, 11–12 minutes.
Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. Leftover date pecan cookies keep well stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

The post Date-Pecan Cookies appeared first on Saveur.

Italian Rainbow Cookies

Dana Bowen — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 22:50:05 +0000

Photography by Belle Morizio

This recipe for the classic Italian American Christmas confection calls for almond pastry filling in place of the standard almond paste, creating a lighter, moister crumb. Italian rainbow cookies—also known as Neapolitans, Venetians, and tricolore cookies—liven up any holiday dessert spread with their vibrant red, white, and green layers.

Featured in “Rainbow Bright,” by Greg Ferro.

Yield: Makes about 120

Time: 2 hours 40 minutes

24 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 cup sugar
One 12.5-oz. can almond filling, such as Solo brand
4 large eggs
12 drops green food coloring
12 drops red food coloring
One 12-oz. jar seedless raspberry jam
12 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted

Instructions

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter and flour three 9-by-13-inch baking pans, then line with parchment and set aside. Using a stand or handheld mixer on high speed, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the pastry filling, beat until smooth, then one at a time add the eggs, beating well after each addition. Add the flour and mix on low speed until just combined.
Divide the batter among three bowls. Stir the green food coloring into one bowl, the red food coloring into the second, and leave the third plain. Using an offset spatula, spread each batter into a prepared baking pan. Working in batches if necessary, bake until just beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Invert the cakes onto wire racks and cool completely.
When the cakes are cool, in a pot set over medium heat, warm the jam until smooth and spreadable, 6–8 minutes. Place the green cake on a large cutting board. Using an offset spatula, spread evenly to the edges with half of the jam. Top with the plain cake, then spread the remaining jam over the plain cake. Top with the red cake, then refrigerate until the jam is set, about 1 hour.
Trim and discard the edges to form an even block, then slice crosswise into 1½-inch-wide strips. Separate the strips slightly, then spread the chocolate over the tops and sides of each strip to cover completely. Refrigerate until nearly set, about 30 minutes. Slice each log crosswise into ½-inch-thick cookies and serve. (In an airtight container, the cookies will keep for 2 weeks in the refrigerator or 5 months in the freezer.)

The post Italian Rainbow Cookies appeared first on Saveur.