I first experienced the combination of hazelnut purée and dark honey at Slow Foods' cheese festival in Italy. The Piedmont region of Italy is known for its hazelnuts. You can find the most succulent rich hazelnut cakes and cookies. My favorite hazelnut concoction was hazelnut purée and dark honey. My first taste on toast brought about a dionysian state of gastronomical enchantment. The sweet nutty flavors and intensely smooth creamy buttery texture were all so overwhelmingly perfect!
When I returned from my trip, I looked all over NY for another hazelnut and honey mixture. And, I was surprised by the many shops that carried this delicious treat. Recently, Time Out New York had an article about one in particular from southern France called Avelline. This was probably my favorite one that I tried.
How does one enjoy hazelnut purée and dark honey? Besides eating it plain on toast, you can use it as a condiment with cheese. I suggest you pair it with Montgomery's farmhouse cheddar or Stilton Colston Bassett. You can even pair it with a variety of nutty pecorinos.
When the box of snacks first showed up on my doorstep, I was unimpressed. I figured, how different could these be from anything else on the market? Nuts are nuts, right? Turns out, I was wrong. These new snacks from Frito-Lay, called TrueNorth, are fantastic. They are fresh-tasting, unique and made out of easily pronounceable ingredients (when Scott first picked up a package, he said, "Wow, I actually know what everything on the ingredient list is.").
They come in eight varieties, ranging from nut crisps (the peanut ones are amazing with a drop of honey), to nut clusters (by far my favorite and highly addictive), to nut crunchies (I didn't love these quite as much, but they were still quite tasty). The nut clusters are a bit sweet and would make a great snack to take with you on an airplane or car trip, as they are compact, high in protein and have a little sweetness in them as well, which makes them an energizing snack (sugar for quick energy and then protein for the slow burn). With all the crap in packaged food these days, it's really nice to see a large food corporation making food that keeps things simple and natural.
Honestly, the only thing I didn't like about this product was the marketing materials. They're a little cheesy, announcing that "By naming the nut snacks TrueNorth, Frito-Lay hopes to celebrate its passion for nuts and inspire other people to find their own true north." I can appreciate the sentiment behind that statement, but they are still just snacks. I don't think they're going to be changing anyone's life.
I'm a big fan of chocolate-covered nuts: peanuts, cashews, almonds. But not only can they be a big impact on the waistline, the chocolate taste can often overpower the nut taste. But Emerald's new Cocoa Roast Almonds take care of that. It actually has just a dusting of dark chocolate on the almonds, so you can actually taste both the nut and the chocolate at the same time. And because it's dark chocolate, it's better for you (don't go crazy - nuts and chocolate can be good for you in small doses, but you still have to watch the fat and calories).
This is a great addition to the Emerald line, which has come out with a lot of new flavors recently, including Salt & Pepper Cashews (pretty good but way too heavy on the pepper, as many salt & pepper products are), Wasabi Oven-Roasted Peanuts, and Honey Dijon-Glazed Walnuts 'n Cashews.
Last weekend, some good friends of mine got married. It was a lovely, low-key wedding and reception, held on a farm in Lancaster County. Instead of having a traditional wedding cake, they asked the guests to bring desserts for a final course smorgasbord. I brought my favorite flourless chocolate cake, as well as a walnut cake that I've been eying in Cooking for Mr. Latte for quite some time.
The flourless chocolate cake was a huge winner, but the walnut cake wasn't nearly as popular. I ended up bringing the leftovers of that cake home with me, and when I checked back in with it the next morning, I was surprised to discover that it had turned tender and crumbly, and had lost the slight bitterness that it had had on the first day. Of course, Hesser does mention that it does get better from sitting, but I didn't realize how drastically the flavor would actually improve with a little resting time.
I've been eating it for breakfast all week, and I've just been loving it. I highly recommend it with coffee or tea and think it would make a wonderful treat if you were having friends over a simple dinner. The recipe is after the jump.
That's right, in case you hadn't heard, the macadamia nut giant, Mauna Loa, was in trouble with the EPA. It seems that the EPA had told Mauna Loa in 2004 that it needed to clean up three cesspools on its property by April of the next year. But guess what was still there when the EPA inspected in 2005? Yep, the cesspools were still in use.
Everything is all well, now. Mauna Loa has cleaned up, instituted a new wastewater system, and agreed to pay a $75,000 fine to the EPA. Wouldn't it have just been cheaper to do that in the first place?
The feature story this week is on the "greening" of Chicago, with farmers' markets returning to new locations with sustainable produce. The Tribune shares some tips for shopping at the farmers' market, as well as recipes from cookbooks that focus on market fresh produce: Scallops with three peas and prosciutto from Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes, Savory mashed potatoes with garden herbs from Rosalind Creasy's Recipes from the Garden, Butter Lettuce Salad from Fresh, and Watercress, snow pea and shiitake mushroom stir-fry from The Farm to Table Cookbook: The Art of Eating Locally.
Today's Feast Your Eyes post is something of a twofer. You get a really appealing, nicely composed image of some cookies, a cup and a saucer on a fun, striped place mat, as well as a link to a post that will teach you how to make your own cashew milk (if you are so inclined). How can you lose? I admit that while I've heard of almond milk, I haven't really heard of cashew milk prior to seeing this post. However, the mighty cashew is one of my favorite nuts, and so I am certain that its milk is tasty and does a body good.
The news couldn't be more timely with Cinco de Mayo right around the corner.
According to the Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a native Mexican diet full of soups, legumes, tomato-based sauces, meat and Mexican cheeses seems to help prevent breast cancer. Whether the foods and dished are topped with a chili or two wasn't stated, but Hispanic women believe it's the chili in Mexican food that may prevent breast cancer.
So with Cinco de Mayo coming up and resources featuring Mexican recipes, now might be a great time to add Alondigas Soup, bean-based dishes, and moles (might it be the chocolate?) to your recipe repertoire.
But don't let this be an excuse to gorge on greasy, deep-fried tortilla chips!
You know when you are eating your fourth tofu salad of the day for the eighteenth day in a row of this hell we call "diet before bikini season?" And on the salad there is a slab of stupidly healthy tofu that when you bite into it, you close your eyes and tell yourself it's actually a piece of chocolate cake?
Of all the nuts out there, cashews are my very favorite (almonds and pecans do battle for the number two spot). This photo of a mound of cashews, waiting to become part of a Butterscotch Cashew Bar, caught my eye and sent me straight to the kitchen for a handful of cashews. Thanks to Jennifer for adding her picture to our Flickr pool.
This is a breakfast, and you can probably guess from the name that it's not the most healthy breakfast you could have. But you know what? It's really not as bad as it sounds. I mean, they have peanut butter, honey, and granola in them.
This recipe for Crunchy Monkey Peanut Butter Banana Sticks is from one of the Rachael Ray shows on Food Network (I know, I know, she's everywhere, but stick with me here). They make for a good breakfast for when you're in a hurry and need something portable, and I think they'd be a great snack for at night when you're watching television.
Sensitive to peanuts or eggs? Scientists may have found a new antidote.
People who are allergic to, say, pollen or animal dander can receive allergy shots, in which they are injected with small amounts of the substances that make them itch and sniffle.
Similarly, researchers at National Jewish Medical and Research Center are feeding small amounts of the proteins from peanuts and eggs to the allergic patients, to see if their immune systems can tolerate the food. They will consume increasing amounts of the proteins until they get to a "maintenance" level (much like how allergy shots work).
The researchers' hope is to eventually find an actual preventative treatment for people with peanut and egg allergies, instead of just telling them to try their best to avoid the foods that might make them react. And for people with serious allergies like these, this will hopefully be encouraging news.
Some foods practically tell you when to throw them out - they stink, they are covered in mold, or they change colors. This is not the case with peanut butter.
Peanut butter seldom molds because despite feeling wet and greasy, it is actually extremely dry. Peanut butter separates, but that just means it's time to shake it up.
Your peanut butter can, however, become rancid after 9-12 months of sitting around. Among many other facts, Live Science tells us that rancid peanut butter actually won't hurt you if you eat it. It just tastes bad.
In short, if your peanut butter tastes bad, dump it. Otherwise, you can worry about your strange taste buds but you don't need to worry about getting sick.
We once had a jar of peanut butter for over 5 years. We didn't eat from it, but we coated our dog's medicine with it so that he would eat it. Scruffles didn't have any problem with the taste.
What's the longest you've had a jar of peanut butter?
Not to be confused with National Peanut Butter Day, which was in January, this is National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day.
I've already asked in that link above how you make your peanut butter and jelly sandwich, so how about we check out some variations on the classic pb & j? Here's a Grilled Peanut Butter and Jelly from Disney Family, and here's one for Ignacio's Super Peanut Butter and Jelly, which is made with three slices of bread.
Wow, I love these.
That's right, in case you hadn't heard, the macadamia nut giant, Mauna Loa, was in trouble with the EPA. It seems that 
The feature story this week is on the "
This is a breakfast, and you can probably guess from the name that it's not the most healthy breakfast you could have. But you know what? It's really not as bad as it sounds. I mean, they have peanut butter, honey, and granola in them.
Not to be confused with 
Chocolate-stuffed bananas on the grill
Tyler Florence welcomes new daughter
Beware kids' menus!
