I started with soaking almonds. I looked up how to soak them in my Nourishing Traditions book and followed the recipe. Then I got pecans, and it's a good thing I checked the book first, because I totally assumed that soaking almonds and pecans would work the exact same way. But it doesn't, oddly enough.
So here is a guide to soaking different nuts!
It should be noted that all of these are for soaking raw nuts.
Pecans
4 cups pecan halves
2 teaspoons sea salt
filtered water
Combine, cover, and leave in a warm place for at least 7 hours or overnight.
Dry in a warm oven for 12-24 hours.
Walnuts
4 cups walnut halves/pieces
2 teaspoons sea salt
filtered water
Combine, cover, and leave in a warm place for at least 7 hours or overnight.
Dry in a warm oven for 12-24 hours.
Store in your refrigerator.
Peanuts/Pine Nuts/Hazelnuts
4 cups peanuts, pine nuts, or skinless hazelnuts
1 tablespoon sea salt
filtered water
To peel hazelnuts, place on a cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees until skins turn dark and begin to crack. Place in a kitchen towel, wrap tightly andrub and squeeze the bundle in your hands.
Combine, cover, and leave in a warm place for at least 7 hours or overnight.
Dry in a warm oven for 12-24 hours.
Almonds
4 cups almonds, preferably skinless
1 tablespoon sea salt
filtered water
Combine, cover, and leave in a warm place for at least 7 hours or overnight.
Dry in a warm oven for 12-24 hours.
Cashews
4 cups cashews
1 tablespoon sea salt
filtered water
Combine, cover, and leave in a warm place for no longer than 6 hours.
Dry in a 200-250 degree oven for 12-24 hours.
Cashews have such a short soaking time because they contain a toxic oil called cardol between the inner and outer shell. Before the nuts hit the shelves of your market they are cracked and roasted at 350 degrees twice. After they have been roasted twice they are marketed as "raw." Because they are not truly raw, soaking them longer than 6 hours produces a slimy nut with a rather disagreeable taste according to Nourishing Traditions.
Macadamia Nuts
4 cups macadamia nuts
1 tablespoon sea salt
filtered water
Combine, cover, and leave in a warm place for at least 7 hours or overnight.
Dry in a warm oven for 12-24 hours.
~~~
The reason walnuts are the only nuts that need to be stored in the refrigerator is because almonds, pecans, cashews, macadamia nuts, and peanuts have a high content of stable oleic acid. This means that they do not go rancid easily, and once prepared (soaking/dehydrating) they can be stored for a number of months at room temperature in an airtight container. Walnuts, unlike the other nuts, contain large amounts of triple unsaturated linolenic acid and will go rancid much easier.
So there you have it. That is a list of all of the nuts included in the Nourishing Traditions book.
Happy soaking!
Showing posts with label Dairy Free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dairy Free. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Almonds Everywhere!
Sprouts recently had a bulk almond sale for $3.99 a pound of raw nuts. I jumped on it, before I learned that you should buy refrigerated nuts because the natural oils can go rancid quite fast and who knows how long anything has been sitting out in the bulk section of your grocery store. I'm not sure yet if the cheap side of me will win this one; I may continue to buy bulk nuts that are on sale in favor of refrigerated nuts simply because of the price difference.
At any rate, the almond sale means I've been making a lot of things using almonds.
I made almond milk last week that was delicious. I turned it into an awesome tapioca pudding (I love tapioca pudding!). I also ate some cereal with it, because sometimes convenience wins - I should just stop buying cereal altogether at this point.
I made almond meal/flour with the ground nuts leftover from the milk making process. To do that, all you need is an oven or dehydrator to dry out the nut meal. Once it's dry, if you want a finer texture toss it into a blender or food processor for a minute or so, depending on how fine a texture you're looking for.
I mentioned in my last post that I was going to try making flour-less brownies with it, but what I ended up making was a batch of thumbprint cookies. They turned out deliciously, I'll definitely be making them again.
I also made a batch of almond butter with the extra 3 cups of nuts leftover from soaking for the milk. All you need to make almond butter is a food processor and some patience. I might play around with adding things like cacao powder for a chocolate butter, or honey or something, but you really don't need to add anything. The only thing you should be sure of is that your nuts are properly dried after soaking.
After making my own almond butter I've decided that I'm never buying nut butter from the store again. It's so easy to just make your own, and it tastes a ton better.
Actually, all this writing about almond butter is making me crave it. I'm gonna go have some.
At any rate, the almond sale means I've been making a lot of things using almonds.
I made almond milk last week that was delicious. I turned it into an awesome tapioca pudding (I love tapioca pudding!). I also ate some cereal with it, because sometimes convenience wins - I should just stop buying cereal altogether at this point.
I made almond meal/flour with the ground nuts leftover from the milk making process. To do that, all you need is an oven or dehydrator to dry out the nut meal. Once it's dry, if you want a finer texture toss it into a blender or food processor for a minute or so, depending on how fine a texture you're looking for.
I mentioned in my last post that I was going to try making flour-less brownies with it, but what I ended up making was a batch of thumbprint cookies. They turned out deliciously, I'll definitely be making them again.
I also made a batch of almond butter with the extra 3 cups of nuts leftover from soaking for the milk. All you need to make almond butter is a food processor and some patience. I might play around with adding things like cacao powder for a chocolate butter, or honey or something, but you really don't need to add anything. The only thing you should be sure of is that your nuts are properly dried after soaking.
After making my own almond butter I've decided that I'm never buying nut butter from the store again. It's so easy to just make your own, and it tastes a ton better.
Actually, all this writing about almond butter is making me crave it. I'm gonna go have some.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
...and in the mornin' I'm makin' WAFFLES!
Today is post 100! Woot!
Today I want to share a recipe I discovered recently for super delicious waffles. I might play around with the flour combinations a bit - I've been playing with pancake combos like wheat, buckwheat, and corn flour (which turned out awesomely). I'll share some pancakes with you next week.
Lately I've been really into soaking things. I even tried soaking popcorn. I've also been really into pairing things with fruits high in vitamin C, especially for breakfast. So here is an awesome waffle recipe I came up with:
Soaked Strawberry Almond Waffles
1 cup unbleached flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 Tbs whey
1 3/4 cups filtered water
1/2 cup cooking oil
chopped, soaked (not dried) almonds
diced strawberries
Combine the flour, whey, and water in a bowl. Cover and let sit overnight. In the morning, whisk mixture until smooth, add eggs, baking powder, salt and cooking oil, mixing until combined. Fold in chopped almonds and diced strawberries to taste.
I used almonds that were soaked but not dried and I found that the waffle maker cooks them just right so you have crunchy nut bits in your waffles. I've used dried soaked almonds as well, and that's good too, but I like the texture the wet ones give to the waffles much better.
To soak the almonds:
4 cups almonds
1 Tbs salt
filtered water
Combine, cover, and let sit overnight. Drain and rinse in the morning.
With the remaining almonds (because there's no way you can fit 4 cups of almonds in your waffle batter) you can make almond milk, or you can dry them in a warm oven for 12-24 hours for snacking awesomeness or to make almond butter. Or you can do both!
To make almond milk:
1 cup soaked almonds (not dried)
4 cups filtered water
cheesecloth, nut-milk bag, or thin material for straining
Put the almonds and 2 cups of water into a blender (or all 4 if your blender is huge) and blend until smooth (I gave it 5 minutes just for good measure). Pour the almond mixture and extra water into a bowl lined with a straining cloth. Squeeze as much liquid out of the pulp as you possibly can. Enjoy.
Supposedly you can use the pulp for baking after you dry it thoroughly, and I'll be giving that a shot because I'm weird about throwing edible things away. I'll let you know how that turns out - I'm going to try to make flour-less brownies with it.
Today I want to share a recipe I discovered recently for super delicious waffles. I might play around with the flour combinations a bit - I've been playing with pancake combos like wheat, buckwheat, and corn flour (which turned out awesomely). I'll share some pancakes with you next week.
Lately I've been really into soaking things. I even tried soaking popcorn. I've also been really into pairing things with fruits high in vitamin C, especially for breakfast. So here is an awesome waffle recipe I came up with:
Soaked Strawberry Almond Waffles
1 cup unbleached flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 Tbs whey
1 3/4 cups filtered water
1/2 cup cooking oil
chopped, soaked (not dried) almonds
diced strawberries
Combine the flour, whey, and water in a bowl. Cover and let sit overnight. In the morning, whisk mixture until smooth, add eggs, baking powder, salt and cooking oil, mixing until combined. Fold in chopped almonds and diced strawberries to taste.
I used almonds that were soaked but not dried and I found that the waffle maker cooks them just right so you have crunchy nut bits in your waffles. I've used dried soaked almonds as well, and that's good too, but I like the texture the wet ones give to the waffles much better.
To soak the almonds:
4 cups almonds
1 Tbs salt
filtered water
Combine, cover, and let sit overnight. Drain and rinse in the morning.
With the remaining almonds (because there's no way you can fit 4 cups of almonds in your waffle batter) you can make almond milk, or you can dry them in a warm oven for 12-24 hours for snacking awesomeness or to make almond butter. Or you can do both!
To make almond milk:
1 cup soaked almonds (not dried)
4 cups filtered water
cheesecloth, nut-milk bag, or thin material for straining
Put the almonds and 2 cups of water into a blender (or all 4 if your blender is huge) and blend until smooth (I gave it 5 minutes just for good measure). Pour the almond mixture and extra water into a bowl lined with a straining cloth. Squeeze as much liquid out of the pulp as you possibly can. Enjoy.
Supposedly you can use the pulp for baking after you dry it thoroughly, and I'll be giving that a shot because I'm weird about throwing edible things away. I'll let you know how that turns out - I'm going to try to make flour-less brownies with it.
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