Nov
23
Post by community member: Patrice
Many folks like to snack on nuts. They can be a great source of minerals that the body needs. I know that some of you are allergic to all nuts. If so, please read about Suzanne’s wonderful menagerie of critters instead. I have an allergy to one type of nut, but I can eat pecans. I’m glad, because my sister just gave me a large bag of pecan halves.
Nuts can be a great addition to baked goods. I often have people ask me why some baked goods are clearly better than similar recipes. I believe it’s because of the nuts used. Nuts can be heavy and oily. They contain enzyme inhibitors that make them hard to digest. The book, Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, tells us how to prepare nuts for the best taste and nutrition. Nuts must be soaked in salt water. I have been doing this since I first purchased her book about eight years ago. It makes an incredible difference in the taste.
To prepare pecans or walnuts, I soak them overnight (in a warm place) in water with two teaspoons of salt. In the morning I drain them and place them in the food dehydrator to let them dry all day, or until they’re dry and crispy. Then they can be stored in an air-tight container. To dry raw-skinless peanuts, pine nuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews or macadamia nuts, you raise the amount of salt to a tablespoon.
If you don’t have a dehydrator, the nuts can be placed on a baking pan and kept at no more than 150 degrees for 12-24 hours. I have not tried this since my current, soon to be gone, oven is uneven in temperature.
This method also extends the shelf life of the nuts. Try it and you’ll see the difference.
You can also find Patrice at Everyday Ruralty.Interested in contributing a guest post to the Farm Bell blog? Read information here for Farm Bell blog submissions.
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Comments
8 Comments • Comments Feed
Pete says:
See AlsoThis 150-Year-Old Cookie Recipe Is a Family HeirloomOur Best Pumpkin Roll Recipe on Food52Divinity Candy RecipeEasy Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe (No Chilling The Dough!) - Mirlandra's KitchenThanks for this info, Patrice! Always looking for a better way to keep nuts, because we LOVE them! Raw. Toasted. In things. By themselves, as snacks. And I just don’t like the taste after frozen. (They are fine for baking, but not quite right for just eating out of hand.)
Timely info as well. I just bought a nice store of nuts. Will be experimenting, for sure!
PS The 2 tsp salt is added to how many pounds/cups of nuts?
Patrice says:
Pete-
I generally soak about 4-5 cups of nuts. The recipe says 4 cups. The important part is to make sure they’re covered by enough water.bonita says:
Patrice, your info came up just as I was getting the ingredients together for making Spiced Maple Glazed Pecans…from one of the Martha Stewart sites. Will post recipe.
Helen says:
I’ve done this with nuts a la “Nourishing Traditions”, too, and it really does make a difference.
Btw, the nut butter with extravirgin coconut oil and honey, from the same cookbook, is just to die for.
Razzintaz says:
Helen, can you post that nut butter recipe? I want to try it with pecans and also with almonds for my daughter.
Thank you for this idea! Will try it tonight.
Razzintaz says:
Ok, we tried this. Soaked some raw almonds in one bowl, and some raw almonds in another. After drying in my dehydrator these were NOT my favorite. These nuts were not crispy. They were rubbery and chewy. The flavor was not desirable at all. I used kosher salt as it is what I have. I dried these for 18 hours! More than enough time. I’m not sure why they came out gross.
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