Walnuts

It used to be that I had big ol walnuts between my legs; a very powerful woman. But the nuts have moved up to my head.

I will eat your nuts. Literally.

The country of Georgia puts them to best culinary use.

Walnut lover here. In savoury dishes, as well as sweets. Love the oil for bread, salad dressings, and marinades. A dash to finish a brown sauce, bordelaise, or quick beef gravy/pan sauce really enriches the flavour too.

R3 I wish the link contained the recipe, but was unable to pull it up.

Squirrels love them, remember that this winter. During the holidays I buy them whole at the supermarket. My mission is to feed the world.

I just finished a murder mystery story where the victim was poisoned by an allergy to walnuts.

R4, here you go:

Ingredients

3 cups toasted walnuts, plus 1/2 cup roughly chopped 5 cups chicken stock 1 1⁄2 cups roughly chopped cilantro 10 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped 1 red Holland chile, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 1⁄4 cup olive oil 2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 1/2" pieces 3 tsp. sweet paprika 1 tsp. hot paprika 1 tsp. ground coriander 1 tsp. ground fenugreek 1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon 2 egg yolks 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar

Instructions

Place 3 cups walnuts and 1⁄2 cup stock in a food processor; puree until very smooth. Add half each of the cilantro, garlic, and onions, plus chiles, salt, and pepper; puree until very smooth and set sauce aside.

Heat oil in a 6-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to pan; cook, turning as needed, until browned, about 8 minutes. Add remaining garlic and onions; cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 4 minutes. Add paprikas, coriander, fenugreek, and cinnamon; cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add reserved walnut sauce and remaining stock; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is tender and sauce is reduced by a third, 30-35 minutes.

Place yolks in a bowl; whisk in 1 ladle of sauce from stew; return sauce to the stew and cook 5 minutes more. Stir in vinegar, salt, and pepper; ladle into serving bowls and garnish with chopped walnuts and remaining cilantro.

[quote]Squirrels love them, remember that this winter.

Yes! They always have them in the store for the holidays, and if you wait till after Xmas you can stock up for half price.

They make my mouth itch

We had two different varieties of walnut trees (black and English) in our yard growing up. I guess our area used to be a walnut orchard. Lots and lots and lots of walnuts. The skins stain your hands brown. And they have a weird smell. But I love walnuts.

Cheers, R8..I'm definitely making this over the weekend. R6 Glad you're feeding the little buggers too.

What we call the English Walnut in the US is also known as the Persian Walnut. There are other walnut species that produce edible seeds. America has Black Walnuts, which are very different, and have a very distinctive taste. Where I live (Midwest) they're occasionally sold in stores, and a regional specialty is Black Walnut ice cream (which I adore). All walnut trees secrete chemicals which tend to poison other plants that grow nearby. So you don't want to plant them near your vegetable garden. The wood is very valuable, though. My brother has a number of mature black walnut trees on his property. He collects the seeds and puts them in his driveway, to drive over them and break them free from their husks. The stain everything that they touch. The leaves have a very distinctive smell.

R11, are you in Southern California? My parents have a walnut tree too -- but it gives off a sort of dark oil/residue and stains your hands. I don't know what variety of walnut it is but they're a bitch to crack.

I like to melt butter with some rosemary and sea salt, toss the walnuts in the butter, place them on a baking sheet, and heat for 10-15 minutes at 350F.

Black walnut ice cream is known on the East Coast.

If you really want to go all-in on walnuts (which is a good thing), I suggest baking Katherine Hepburn's famous brownies.

R16, I was never sure about that. I was Googling, and saw some other brands than the ones I know. I know they can certainly grow there. I've never read about them being grown outside North America.

Walnut dumplings. Yes they are a thing and delicious.

Walnuts, Pair, and Goregandzoila cheese is a classic condo, great with a glass of wine...my favorite way to temper the affects of a doggy dog day.

That would be dried apricots and cheese (not blue!) with a glass of Port for me.

Damn, R19, that took some work.

R21 You make me chuckle... I doubt that's autocorrect, but could very well be Siri.

They are the same as pecans

R23, No they're not, dammit! Pecans occupy their own special pantheon!

Walnuts are great brain food. Their shape even resembles the shape of the brain.

Pecans are better. Walnuts will do in a pinch, or when up north.

r14 I'm in SoCal now, but where I grew up and we had the walnut trees was the Bay Area (East Bay.)

R24 is correct, as pecans don't provide the slightly bitter foil to the sweet, say in a brownie, cake, or ice cream.

I prefer walnuts. Pecans don't pair as well with cheese, either.

English walnuts are definitely better than black walnuts but they all taste like sawdust. Pecans for the win (but only in the pseudo-brain looking category...almonds for the overall nut win).

I love both walnuts and pecans. I prefer walnuts in brownies, but I've never heard of a walnut pie (they probably exist, outside of my experience). But I sure do love pecan pie. My Mom made a really great pecan pie, and I'll be missing it this time of year. She always asked me what I wanted for my birfday (I'm a Scorpio, so it's coming up) and I usually asked her to make a pecan pie.

Wild walnuts are the best. But very hard to crack open and with very little meat. You have to use a pin to scoop it out.

Substitute walnuts into a pesto (instead of pine nuts) and save yourself a few bucks.

We had a squirrel trapped inside our attic and to get rid of him the critter control people used walnut oil on some kind of poison to make him eat it then run out of the house to find water. Anyway the smell of the walnut oil wafted through the vents into my room and made me nauseated. I have hated walnuts ever since.

To me walnut oil is too heavy for any dish (including salads), but I do like walnuts (and pine nuts) as topping for mixed lettuce salads.

Like many people I was traumatized by the Dick Van Dyke episode involving a closet full of walnuts.

I eat organic raw unsalted sprouted walnuts. They are YUMMY.

I do almonds and pecans. No walnuts.

I absolutely hate them and can't eat them. They taste like turpentine to me, even if hidden in a dish.

r24

Yes, they look alike and almost taste alike, they're the same.

Diamond now makes walnut and pecan pie crusts.

Georgian eggplant rolls filled with walnuts.

Balls to the wall walnuts.

I remember someone telling me about a thick Persian braised dish made with walnuts. I think this is what they were talking about:

Maple walnut ice cream is wonderful (is it just a New England thing?). Also maple walnut pie, a nice change from pecan pie.

THANKS everybody, these all sound so wholesome

Had a couple of black walnut trees in the backyard growing up. Hated them! They would stain my shoes and were fucking huge and if one hit you on the head it hurt like a bitch.

Still LOVE black walnut ice cream though.

R45

I believe Maple Walnut is one of the "official" WASP ice creams flavors, along with Butter Pecan and Coffee (I think), according to Paul Fussell's book [italic]Class[/italic].

Georgian beef-walnut soup. Perfect for the fall.

R39 That scent precisely means they've gone off. All vegetable oils when rancid give off that smell. Do not even feed these to animals, as they'll get sick.